Patricia Dillon

Although we did not have session this week, we’ve been busy in committee.
Just before 3:00 PM today,  we voted the last bill on the Appropriations agenda after beginning the day with Judiciary matters.

Click here to access the Appropriations agenda and click here to access the Judiciary agenda.
 
First, good news – neighbor Mark Abraham was honored for his amazing work at Data Haven. Click here to read about his work.

Second, budget negotiations continue. The Appropriations Committee is bound by the spending cap so we could not add some items important to the community and our members. Education is particularly complex. The leadership of House Democrats recommended $150 million in education / property tax relief. Although some want an overhaul of education, only the governor has the authority to break the spending cap. Since I don’t serve on education, I asked our nonpartisan staff for an analysis of the effect on New Haven schools, and hope to get more information next week.
 
New Haven has had other issues – for example, last year the executive branch said we owe the state $35 million because expenditures of school construction had not been properly documented. That issue is negotiated in the Finance Committee. We got a more positive report from the city recently on documenting expenditures. Further, the delegation toured our schools during the pandemic and was surprised at the poor maintenance. It isn’t clear that maintenance has been improved, or who has oversight – is it the Board of Ed?  the Education Committee of the Board of Alders? That will continue to be of interest.
 
Identifying these issues is important to make progress.
 
There’s a lot more! but it’s late Friday.   Enjoy your weekend!