Connecticut’s record $12.5 billion in budget surpluses since fiscal constraints were implemented in 2018 have come at the cost of critical state investments in children and families, according to a report released by the advocacy group Connecticut Voices for Children on Tuesday.
The report finds that the state’s surplus is double the $5.8 billion in surpluses that had been projected when the budget constraints were adopted.
That’s why the report recommends that Gov. Ned Lamont and state lawmakers adjust the fiscal guardrails in their budget negotiations next year to allow for more spending on state programs, said Emily Byrne, the executive director of Connecticut Voices for Children.
“The experience of the broken early care systems, broken healthcare and housing systems and broken employment systems just don’t add up,” she said.
“Families are seeing the state tout the savings and the surplus, and yet in their own lives, it’s a struggle. And they don’t understand why their government can’t help them a little more,” Byrne said.
She said studies have shown that more state spending would actually improve Connecticut’s economy, which has been lagging other New England states.
Some Democratic leaders in the state legislature have said they support adjusting the fiscal guardrails.
But Lamont has not been in support.