According to the state Comptroller, the budget for the current fiscal year is almost $200 million in deficit.

“A year ago, we dealt with a shortfall in excess of $3 billion – 15 percent of our total budget,” Rep. Walker said. “This year, we are looking at a shortfall that is about one percent of the state budget. I’d say that to come within one percent on a budget of this size and complexity is extraordinary work.”

One of the hallmarks of the fiscal year 2013 adjustments is a commitment to education.

“We know that students in schools with school-based health centers and family resource centers do better than students at schools without those resources. That is why we include funding for 22 school based health clinics and expansion of the number and capacity of family resource centers in underperforming schools,” Rep. Walker said.

In addition, the bill acknowledges the critical importance of early childhood education, by underwriting 1,000 school readiness slots for preschoolers and funds several initiatives to improve early reading success.

Despite cuts in many areas, funding for cities and towns has been saved. Other highlights of the legislation include:

• Funding for the Youth Employment Summer Jobs Program and adult education
• Funding for the Small Business Express program and seed funding for a Connecticut Made program to promote products from local employers
• Economic development funding for Jackson Laboratories
• A renewed commitment to arts and culture
• An urban youth anti-violence program

The legislation lists various diseases for which marijuana could be prescribed to ease related pain and symptoms including cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. Licensed pharmacists approved by the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) would fill the prescriptions.

“We heard very personal and touching stories from people who suffer every minute of every day,” said Walker. “Marijuana will ease their pain.”

Rep. Walker noted that no insurance company would be required to provide coverage for prescribed marijuana. In addition, medical cannabis could only be grown and dispensed within Connecticut borders and could not be imported or exported. Use of the herb by patients would be prohibited in public, the workplace or in the presence of a minor. DCP along with an 8-doctor board would oversee implementation of the new medical marijuana law.

The legislation received bipartisan support and now moves to the state Senate for consideration. If passed there and eventually signed into law by Governor Malloy, it would take effect October 1.

A total of 16 states have enacted laws legalizing medical marijuana with California being the first in 1996 via statewide referendum. Rhode Island’s legislature overwhelmingly approved the use of medical marijuana in 2006.

Rep. Walker, House Chair of the Appropriations Committee, received the recognition for showing a strong commitment to early childhood issues in her district and at the legislature.

“Investments in early childhood education are an investment in our children’s futures,” said Rep. Walker. “I’m honored to receive this recognition and want to thank everyone at the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance for this award and for all the great work they do.”

“Rep. Walker was chosen as a 2012 Children’s Champion for demonstrating a strong level of commitment to early childhood through leadership on policy issues during the 2012 legislative session, and active involvement on local early childhood initiatives,” said Maggie Adair, Executive Director of the CT Early Childhood Alliance.

The Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance is a statewide membership and advocacy organization committed to improving developmental outcomes in the areas of learning, health, safety and economic security for children ages birth to eight.

An Act Authorizing Bonds of the State for Traffic Calming and Economic Development in Westville Village would provide grants for street lights, crosswalks and traffic calming measures to improve pedestrian traffic and access to local merchants. There are currently 400 jobs in that part of the Whalley Avenue corridor.

“This is an important investment in a vibrant New Haven neighborhood,” Rep. Walker said.

The legislation is also being sponsored by Rep. Pat Dillon (D-New Haven) and Sen. Toni Harp (D-New Haven).

Despite fiscal constraints, the Appropriations Committee restored funding Thursday for health care for the poor and the University of Connecticut Health Center, canceled a second wave of transit fare hikes and rejected several agency mergers sought by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration.

The plan the Democratic-controlled committee adopted in a 34-15 vote along party lines also restored two crucial posts for the state's top elections watchdogs and preserved separate grants for more than a dozen of the state's top tourism attractions. Republicans tried unsuccessfully to amend the committee proposal with their own plan, which would spend about $340 million less, but offer modest income and sales tax cuts.

The $20.73 billion committee plan shaves just over $936,000 off the bottom line Malloy proposed in February for the fiscal year that begins July 1 -- a minute difference of 1/221st of 1 percent. But the administration raised concerns Thursday that the panel budget doesn't include funds to continue the conversion of state finances to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

The committee's proposal would maintain existing benefits and eligibility in a Medicaid program that serves poor adults without minor children, a contrast to the Malloy administration's plan to reduce benefits and restrict eligibility to save $22.5 million in the coming fiscal year.

Instead, the committee proposal would save $20 million in Medicaid by increasing efforts to recover funds from insurance companies that also cover some clients in the program. The proposal would fund two positions in the state Office of the Healthcare Advocate to seek payments from insurers that cover people served by Medicaid and could be responsible for paying for the care the patients receive. The efforts are likely to focus on behavioral health services.

"What we've tried to do is stabilize the budget," Sen. Toni N. Harp, D-New Haven, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said during a midday press conference, noting that lawmakers were skeptical that federal Medicaid regulators would allow some of the changes sought by the governor.

"One of the things we wanted to do is not have a budget that was full of surprises," added the panel's other co-chairwoman, Rep. Toni E. Walker, D-New Haven.

The committee proposal would also cut in half Malloy's projected savings from changing the way medication is administered to home care patients in Medicaid. Malloy proposed allowing nurses to delegate responsibility for administering medication to unlicensed workers in some cases, as well as using assistive technology to help some clients get their medications, and reducing the rates paid to nurses for administering medication. Altogether, that was projected to save $20.6 million. The committee reduced the savings to $10.3 million.

Fare hikes, consolidations rejected

The Appropriations panel recommended scrapping the 2013 hikes aimed at rail and bus service, as well as for transit programs serving the disabled. This move would save consumers more than $4.6 million next fiscal year.

Another $900,000 was added to the budget to support bus service linking the New Haven train station with Southern Connecticut State University.

Lawmakers also reduced from $7 million to $5 million funding for Malloy's Pay-As-You-Go program, which uses operating cash to fund road and bridge maintenance and roadside tree-trimming.

The panel balked at several consolidations the Democratic governor recommended in his most recent budget. During a public hearing earlier this month, several committee members noted that based on the administration's own numbers, these mergers save very little money in the coming fiscal year.

One of the merger plans that the budget panel passed on involved moving the Chief State Medical Examiner's Office under the auspices of the UConn, given that the examiner's office is located at the UConn Health Center campus in Farmington.

Malloy has proposed moving all the state's affordable housing into the Department of Economic and Community Development. The committee rejected that proposal and the Department of Children and Families $6.4 million will keep its housing subsidy program that helps the agency avoid taking children away from their parents because they are homeless.

The committee also opposed moving the Workers Compensation Commission into the Labor Department, though it did back Malloy's proposal to close the commission's Middletown office, one of eight WCC regional branches.

Lawmakers backed a Malloy merger plan last year that brought 81 departments and agencies to 57, but Walker said the half-dozen new consolidations the governor sought this year weren't essential right now.

"We found out that many of them we did last year still are not working," she said, adding that when it came to the new proposals, "there was no savings, no real reason to make those consolidations."

Other mergers that the committee recommended against involved moving:

• The Teachers' Retirement Board into the comptroller's office;
• The Department of Construction Services into the Department of Administrative Services;
• The Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities into a new joint agency.

Legislators also declined to back Malloy's proposal to scrap separate arts and culture promotion accounts and move the $1.6 million they would receive into the statewide tourism marketing effort. Instead the committee proposed taking an extra $1.5 million from statewide marketing, while adding $470,000 in promotion funds for select tourism sites and creating a new $500,000 grant to promote community theaters.

"We're in that situation where committees do what committee do and five weeks out we've got a lot of work to do," the governor responded Thursday. "That won't be the final budget."

Still, Malloy added that "there are a few things in there that are non-starters, quite frankly," citing the lack of GAAP conversion funds as one example. "Any changes with respect to the ability of my administration to administer the budget will be opposed quite vigorously, including all tools at our command."

GAAP rules are a series of common financial guidelines established by the Government Accounting Standards Board to emphasize transparency. Unlike the modified cash basis that state government has long used, GAAP rules require that funds be on hand to cover expenses as they are incurred.

State government would need another $1.7 billion in its coffers to cover all its obligations under GAAP rules. And that differential grows annually with inflation. The governor pledged to use the first $75 million of any surplus this fiscal year, and another $50 million in 2012-13, to cover that inflationary cost and stop the GAAP differential from growing.

Health center, election watchdogs, DCF get extra money

One of the largest funding increases recommended by the budget panel involves adding $11.85 million for the UConn Health Center to ensure its 2012-13 funding matches current levels.

The State Elections Enforcement Commission, which warned lawmakers twice this past winter that it could not properly monitor the public financing program for state elections this summer and fall without additional staff, was another of the few winners in the committee plan, albeit not a big one. The commission would receive $126,000 to fund two new auditor posts. But the budget panel would pay for those posts by reducing "other expense" accounts by a total matching amount from the SEEC and eight other watchdog agencies.

The committee restored $13 million in proposed cuts to the Department of Children and Families. Malloy had recommended raiding the $24.4 million the department will save from the major changes they have implemented over the last year. This money was saved by removing fewer children from their families and moving children back home from costly out-of-state facilities and large group homes.

Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz told the committee last month that she needed to keep a portion of those savings so that she can move forward with paying for more community-based services and other supports to keep the state's 4,700 abused and neglected children in state custody in the most appropriate living situation.

The committee signed off on the governor's plan to create a new position in the state's Office of the Healthcare Advocate so that the state can begin appealing the decisions of a child's private insurance company to deny covering mental health benefits.

DCF reports that one of every five children that the state is picking up the tab for their mental health benefits has private insurance, and without coverage they could potentially end up in the state's mental hospitals. Malloy's budget did not bank on any immediate savings by appealing insurance denial, but the committee was a bit more optimistic, estimating it will save $2.5 million during the upcoming year.

The committee also maintained funds in several other health and social service programs that Malloy proposed cutting, including:

• Uncompensated care grants for hospitals and community health centers. Malloy proposed cutting the grants by $2.89 million, while the committee would cut $944,263.
• The LifeStar helicopter program, which is run by Hartford Hospital and receives a state subsidy. Malloy proposed cutting $600,000 from the subsidy, but the committee did not propose any cut.
• Alzheimer's respite and outreach for the HUSKY program, both of which Malloy proposed cutting by 10 percent.
• The Children's Trust Fund (Malloy proposed a $2.34 million cut) and the Jobs First Employment Services pilot program (Malloy proposed a $150,000 cut; the program hasn't started. The committee declined to cut it).

In addition, the committee proposed reversing a change made last year that increased what seniors must pay to participate in the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders. Lawmakers last year increased the cost sharing requirement from 6 percent to 7 percent, a move that critics say made the program unaffordable to some and posed a hardship for others. The committee's proposal would spend $626,400 to reduce the cost sharing to 6 percent. The committee would also add $2.5 million to the budget by increasing the asset limit for seniors to qualify for the program.

The committee also proposed spending $750,000 to provide 300 more Rental Assistance Program vouchers, which help poor families pay for housing in the private market. The program has a waiting list. Half of the new vouchers would cover scattered site supportive housing.

Very little fiscal wiggle room

The committee had little room to maneuver with its spending plan given two challenges presented by Malloy's proposal.

The governor's plan fell fell just $5.9 million under the cap, based on administration numbers, a cushion of just 1/35th of 1 percent. And Malloy has insisted he will not seek to legally exceed the cap as his predecessors have done, though he is seeking a new exemption to cover increased contributions to the state employee and teachers' pension funds.

The governor's proposal also has raised concerns among some lawmakers from both parties because the administration's own projections show it to be in balance only for one year.

In 2013-14, that package would run $424 million in the red, and $650 million over the spending cap. But Malloy officials have been quick to note that there is plenty of time to address that problem in the regular 2013 session, which begins next January.

Other changes recommended Thursday by the Appropriations Committee include:

• Reducing the debt service by $30 million to reflect improved interest rates secured in bond financing.
• Cutting $250,000 Malloy sought to assist his business tax study task force.
• Restoring $2 million for Operation Fuel, a winter heating assistance program for low-income households.
• Restoring $39,153 the governor would reduce from grants to regional training schools for fire departments.

The lawmakers said hallmarks of the governor’s proposals remain intact: $50 million more for the state’s Education Cost Sharing grant program (ECS), funding for the so-called Commissioner’s Network of distressed schools to be prioritized, and funding for twice as many school readiness, early education slots in Priority Districts.

“In addition, a $1 million appropriation will fund a kindergarten-through-third-grade reading proficiency program and $2.8 million will fortify the state’s vocational / agricultural schools with a dual purpose: to provide public education options and to spur economic development in that sector,” Senator Harp said. “The budget approved today also calls for a $7.6 million contribution to the Teachers Retirement Board, representing the state’s share of funding for the revised healthcare formula for retired teachers.”

“This is a fair, transparent budget,” Rep. Walker said. “It is the product of a bipartisan process where Democrats and Republicans met, made suggestions and worked to produce a budget that was under the governor’s spending level and under the spending cap.”

The lawmakers said the revised spending plan for Fiscal Year 2013 is approximately $1 million less than the governor’s proposed budget and remains about $700,000 beneath the state’s Spending Cap. The lawmakers said today’s bill also reflects a few additional, legislative priorities, among them:

• Elimination of the need for mass transit fare increases ($3.9 million)
• a small appropriation to guard against closure of the submarine base in New London ($300,000)
• a year ‘round jobs program for young people ($1 million)
• a youth violence prevention program ($1.5 million)

On the heels of today’s vote, additional changes to these mid-term budget adjustments are expected as negotiations among legislative leaders and administration officials get underway.

An Act Concerning Early Childhood Education and the Establishment of a Coordinated System of Early Care and Education and Child Development (SB 1103) requires school districts to offer preschool; provide additional school readiness grants, and requires the Department of Education to begin a state-wide longitudinal evaluation of the school readiness program.

NBCSL's breakdown on Connecticut's education reforms are available online.

Rep. Walker, with Rep. Bruce Morris and PCSW's Teresa Younger, at MBE Day.

Rep. Walker was joined by Teresa Younger from the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, Ted Hsu of MBE, Steve Harris from the African-American Alliance and business owners as they discussed ways to improve opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

Rep Walker said, “The Legislature must continue to champion the cause for women-owned and minority-owned business.”

Rep. Toni Walker at a recent forum on the impact of poverty,
race and education on a family's economic success.

Rep. Walker said, “Forums like this allow legislators and the public to hear and learn from different agencies, organizations, and Connecticut communities in order to foster the change we so need.”

Participants included legislators and policy advocates. Discussions focused ways to increase opportunities for economic success as well as specifically looking at Connecticut's declining and demographically-changing workforce.

One way of looking at the business of state government -- especially human services -- is through numbers.

The state's population of about 3.5 million breaks down into about 1.3 million households, according to the U.S. Census.

Of those, more than 190,000 households last year claimed the federal EITC -- earned income tax credit -- a good indicator of families living on the financial edge.

But Friday afternoon, in a room in the state Legislative Office Building, a single, small number seemed to stand out and tell its own story.

The number was 83, and it referred to the number of children who are in state custody for only one reason: their families have no home.

DCF Commissioner Joette Katz: 'to me that translates to we have children for no other reason than poverty.'

Of the children who "could go home if there was a home to go to," the Department of Children and Families said, more than half were living with strangers as foster children. Others were living in large group homes or in shelters. And 24 of those 83 were living with other family members.

"So to me that translates to: we have children for no other reason than poverty," DCF Commissioner Joette Katztold lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee Friday.

State law forbids DCF from removing children from their homes because of poverty. But the agency has no alternative because there is limited space in subsidized housing.

The agency reports that each month it refers 100 families with children to the state's subsidized housing program. About 800 families referred by DCF are on the waiting list for the Connections program.

Sen. Toni N. Harp, D-New Haven, and co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, wants to allow homeless families with children to cut to the front of the long line of people vying for public housing.

"Since resources are limited, we've got to make decisions about who gets it first. I think the people you serve should get it first," Harp told Katz. "This is an awful reason to lose your children."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposed budget preserves the $6.3 million this housing program received last year. He also recommends adding 150 new subsidized housing units to be offered to the elderly, disabled and those families at-risk of losing their children to DCF.

Without a line-jumping change in policy or huge influx in funding, a backlog of children deemed eligible to go home will inevitably remain in DCF custody.

Evelyn Torres: 'My daughter was in care of DCF because I was homeless.'

Evelyn Torres was one of the lucky parents that landed an apartment through DCF.

"My daughter was in care of DCF because I was homeless. After this program we reunified again," the mother of four from Waterbury told the Appropriations Committee. "Without support[ive] housing, I don't know where I would have gone."

But David Fink, with the Partnership for Strong Communities, said creating a line-jumping policy would not solve the underlying problem.

"You can't have so many low-income families and so little affordable housing units," he said. "It's a really bad choice to have to make who gets it and who doesn't"

Fink, who advocates for the expansion of affordable housing, said it takes years to land a state subsidized housing unit for homeless people and those on the verge of becoming homeless. When the wait list for Middletown's affordable housing units opened recently, 50,000 people applied for 1,000 seats.

Management consternation

When parents enter DCF's housing program to avoid having their child taken away, their dealings with the agency doesn't end there.

Members of the Appropriations Committee were told the agency follows up to make sure these children are safe. Additionally, the program aims to get parents out of poverty so their children are not at risk of being removed for other poverty-related incidents, such as lack of food or health care.

So when Malloy proposed having the state's economic development agency run the program, legislators were stunned.

"That has really caused some uncomfortableness among us," said Rep. Toni E. Walker, D-New Haven, and the other chairwoman of the Appropriations Committtee.

The move could also put the state at risk of not qualifying for federal reimbursements for the Connections housing program, said Ruth White with the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare.

"It will make it difficult if not impossible" to qualify, she said. "Disrupting this risks destroying the very nature of that nationally renown program," she said.

The intent of moving the program to the Department of Economic and Community Development was an effort to move all the state's housing programs under one roof, a spokesman said.

"Consolidating the state's housing fuctions into one centralized office located within DECD will streamline, facilitate and strengthen a coordination of these needs for those who need it most throughout the state," David Bednarz said.

There are currently 83 children in state custody, not because of abuse, but because their families have no place to live.

“Families with children need to jump the line for subsidized housing,” Rep. Walker said. “We need to make this a priority.”

Rep. Walker said line-jumping is only a short-term solution and the state needs to make a real commitment to affordable housing.

Residents are invited to speak with Rep. Walker in meeting room one at New Haven City Hall from
5:00-7:00 p.m. October 18th, November 15th and December 20th.

Residents unable to meet on the scheduled dates and times are encouraged to call Rep. Walker at
(800) 842-1902 in order to schedule an alternate time.

“We will get people access,” Rep. Walker said. “We will make sure the community colleges are accessible so you and your family and your neighbors can hone the skill needed for gainful employment.”

Mothers for Justice, a women’s group from New Haven, is dedicated to improving the lives of low-income families. The goal of Mothers for Justice is to empower women and their families, increase awareness of social issues through advocacy and action and improve the quality of life for families and the community as a whole.

New Haven will receive an increase in municipal aid of $7,464,461 in fiscal year 2012 and $7,907,002 in fiscal year 2013 when compared to the $198,484,899 the Elm City received in fiscal year 2011.

The final budget includes lower taxes than Governor Dannel Malloy’s original proposal – including the elimination of the governor’s gas tax increase and the restoration of the property tax credit to $300 – and shifts some of the tax burden to wealthier residents through the progressive income tax and a tax on luxury goods.

“This is a fair budget that cuts spending and asks everyone to share the load,” Rep. Walker said. “We crafted a budget that protects the safety net, middle class and cities and towns.”

Under the biennial budget, more than a dozen state agencies will merge or be consolidated in the name of efficiency, even as the vital functions of those agencies are preserved.

Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden) said, “We have made significant spending reductions, consolidated 30 percent of our state agencies and maintained important investments that will help grow businesses and protect families. After 3 years of economic hardship, our state’s finances are stabilized and Connecticut is moving forward on the road to economic recovery.”

“We are turning a corner, putting our fiscal deficits behind us and moving forward with the business of creating jobs and growing our state’s economy,” said House Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden). “Unlike the budgets in New York and New Jersey, we are protecting funding to cities and towns. Schools, town services and local property taxes will not be impacted. We’ve made real deep cuts, reduced the debt, fully funded our pension obligations and restored the rainy day fund. Making tough decisions is what the people of Connecticut expect us to do.”

The Malloy administration will continue its negotiations with state employee unions to come up with the labor concession package that is the final piece of this budget.

The lawmakers said more than a dozen state agencies will merge or be consolidated in the name of efficiency, even as the vital functions of those agencies are preserved.

“This is a fair budget that cuts spending and asks everyone to share the load,” Rep. Walker said. “I’m proud of the hard work of the Appropriations Committee and my co-chair, Sen. Harp. This was a team effort between the committee, the Governor’s office, legislative leadership and staff. Together, we crafted a budget that protects the safety net, middle class and cities and towns.”

“With responsibility for public safety, criminal justice, public health, public education and transportation – just to start the list – our state undeniably has bills to pay and in many cases, rising costs associated with the programs and services provided,” Senator Harp said. “I’m particularly pleased that with these obligations in mind, we’re able to avoid cuts to municipal aid, to the benefit of local property tax payers, and education funding, to the benefit of today’s students who will soon become tomorrow’s workforce.”

“Furthermore, the safety net for Connecticut’s most vulnerable residents remains intact under provisions of the budget bill approved today,” Senator Harp added.

The lawmakers said the budget bills approved today in the Appropriations Committee and Finance. Revenue, and Bonding Committee will undergo continuing scrutiny and refinement before they are considered by the entire House and Senate. For its part, the Malloy administration will continue its negotiations with the coalition of state employee unions toward the full value of the concession package also included in the budget package approved today.