Gov. Ned Lamont previewed some of the budget adjustments he’ll propose in his State of the State next month to business leaders at a Connecticut Business and Industry Association event.
The adjustments will increase funding for child care, workforce development and housing. But they will stay within the fiscal guardrails agreed to in the bipartisan two-year budget passed by lawmakers last year.
“Let's stick to what we said we were going to do nine months ago,” Lamont said. “We have a pretty good budget. We did this together. We set in place guardrails. We voted on that almost unanimously. Let's keep to what we said we were going to do.”
That means the budget amount has not changed from last year.
“There’ll be some adjustment within the budget, but adjustment doesn’t mean you raise the top line because there we don’t have as much room,” Lamont added.
Unlike its neighbors, Connecticut’s population has increased since COVID, so the emphasis will be on making sure the state continues to maintain and attract the trained workforce needed for businesses to thrive.
Some lawmakers have argued for more flexibility with the fiscal guardrails to enable an increase in aid to cities and towns.
