Connecticut Democratic Governor Ned Lamont says he wants to cut back on state borrowing for school construction and other projects, telling the Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that the state needs to go on a "debt diet.”
Lamont says the state budget he’ll present next week will scale back Connecticut’s borrowing by 39 percent – equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The governor says he wants to reduce Connecticut’s long-term debt service payments, potentially saving the state as much as $2 billion over the next decade. He says his proposal would drop annual bond debt to less than $1 billion. The Malloy administration averaged nearly $1.6 billion worth of bond authorizations each year.
Connecticut borrows for large projects including new schools and municipal infrastructure. Lamont says his cutbacks will not affect transportation infrastructure projects and projects that are already in the pipeline. He says the state will continue to contribute to construction and renovation of public schools through the bond package, but that state officials will be selective.
State Senate Republican Minority Leader Len Fasano says Lamont’s comments are encouraging and long overdue.
