Published March 10. 2021 7:42PM | Updated March 10. 2021 10:36PM
By KEITH M. PHANEUF, The Connecticut Mirror
During his first two years on the job, Gov. Ned Lamont rarely passed up an opportunity to decry Connecticut’s excessive borrowing while pitching a “debt diet” for state government.
Yet the first budget Lamont signed delayed a plan to wean state government off a practice that many fiscal purists find disturbing: effectively borrowing more than $100 million annually to pay off other borrowing.
And now, the Democratic governor wants to abandon that reform effort entirely.
“As a Republican leader that cares about fiscal responsibility, I’m still searching for common ground with this governor,” said House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, who warned the governor’s proposal could jeopardize Connecticut’s reputation on Wall Street. “This reversal, I think, is not only bad for our (credit) rating agency outlooks, but it encourages that bad
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By Paul Hughes, Republican-American
HARTFORD Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess and state legislators from the Naugatuck Valley made another pitch March 3 to expand service on the Waterbury branch line of Metro-North Railroad.
The request again received support from members of the legislature’s Transportation Committee during a hearing on one of the bills proposing to increase the number and frequency of trains running on the Waterbury line.
The legislation from Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, also proposed to add stops in Seymour, Derby and Shelton on the commuter rail line connecting Waterbury and Bridgeport.
The years-long effort to expand service on the Waterbury line got a big boost from Gov. Ned Lamont this year. He proposed funding in his two-year budget plan to increase the number of trains servicing the Waterbury line from 15 to 22 cars, starting in the 2023 fiscal year.
With a bill emphasizing its authority to appropriate discretionary federal COVID-19 relief, lawmakersare signaling Gov. Ned Lamont that they will play a significant role in deciding how this money is spent.