Connecticut Democrats have offered a $55.5 billion two-year budget plan. It spends millions of dollars more than Gov. Ned Lamont's plan submitted to lawmakers in February.
The Democrats’ plan was announced in the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
Representative Toni Walker, the House co-chair of the committee, said lawmakers had wanted more spending in anticipation of federal funding cuts from the Republican-controlled Congress.
“We also have to face the fact that we have Washington and the lack thereof coming from them to cover the services that we know Connecticut needs,” she said.
“We are half a percent in the first year over the governor’s. And three-quarters of one percent over the second year of the biennium,” said Senator Cathy Osten, the Senate co-chair of the committee.
The governor’s plan stays within the state’s spending cap, while the Democrats’ plan is one percent above.
The plan spends more than Lamont on UConn, the state college and university system and the UConn Health center in Farmington. It also spends more on public education and calls for hiring more state workers.
The two plans are the basis for final negotiations between the governor and lawmakers. An agreement is expected before the legislature adjourns in June.
