Watch: Ned Lamont’s Budget Address Highlights More Dough For Special Education

From Keith Phaneuf, CT Mirror:

Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled a $55.2 billion biennial budget Wednesday that would loosen Connecticut’s “fiscal guardrails,” launch a major early childhood development initiative, provide a $50 income tax cut and restructure hospital taxes to secure more federal aid.

The plan also would boost Medicaid rates for caregivers, corporation taxes and transit fares, invest in special education and preserve already-planned increases in town aid.

The budget would spend almost $27 billion next fiscal year, up 3.8% from current levels, then jump another 4.6% to $28.2 billion in 2026-27.

Thanks to a controversial maneuver that shifts about $300 million outside of the budget, the governor’s proposal falls a razor-thin $1.8 million under the spending cap in the first year and a more comfortable $261 million under the limit in 2026-27.

Full story here