State Comptroller Sean Scanlon on Tuesday joined Mayor Joe Ganim and members of the city’s legislative delegation including State Senator Marilyn Moore, one of three announced mayoral challengers this cycle, to highlight investment successes from the General Assembly as well as Scanlon’s pivotal role to reform the state’s pension system saving Bridgeport millions of dollars.
As a unit the nine-member delegation jawboned an extra $17 million in state dough to help keep the local tax rate steady, boost education spending and wrangled $15 million additionally to modernize the city’s 10,000-seat arena that will help keep the Bridgeport Islanders hockey team the anchor tenant.
0
What do they have in common?
They all have an emotional devotion to Bridgeport.
So, we needed an extra 17 million to hold the line on taxes?
We needed to hold the line on Loud!
For crying out Loud, what the fluck are you talking about?
Lol Laud.
I smell a rat. Out of the $17 million, $15 million is earmarked for Arena improvements. This leaves $2 million “to help keep the local tax rate steady, boost education spending …” What’s the big deal about this? As I recall, last year, Senator Marilyn Moore plugged a $2.2 million Bridgeport budget shortfall with one phone call to Ritter in about 15 minutes. I doubt that reforming the pension system benefitted Bridgeport only, if at all possible in the long term. Do notice that no monetery amount of savings is provided.
Who is paying for all this and more? I was tracking House bill 5673 and Senate bill 999 which passed committee. These bills called for the increase of municipal assesment ratio from 70 to 75. Did the House and or Senate pass bill 999 Lennie? Are we in for a surprise in October? How did the Bridgeport delegation vote on the two above mentioned bills?
Speedy, first of all Moore did not leverage $2 million from Ritter last year. That was the House delegation. As for the arena, it’s $15 million additionally for improvements on top of the $17 million extra for schools and general fund.
Come on Lennie! The house delegation? Last year and the prior year, there was NO Bridgeport delegation in true meaning of the term. Bradley was pretty much powerless lame duck. Moore was the lone Bridgeport Senator. One of the State Representative was, has been and is still sleeping in a coffin in his funeral home. Hennessy was on the rocks. For most of those two years, it seemed as if Chris Rosario was the Bridgeport delegation.
There was what you call a delegation in Hartford begging for the 2.2 million plug–they failed. At the same time the mayor had his staff reaching out to the powers that be–they got nowhere. Then there was the Council’s budget commitee trying to balance the budget. It was Aidee Nieves who upon being notified by the budget committee, decided to call Senator Moore. The next day the mayor and Chris Rosario credited Governor Lamont for what Moore accomplished. Google it and read the ctpost article. Give credit where is due.
Lennie, take a look at the photo. Where’s the funeral director? Why did you pass on the question of bills 5673 and 999? Lets say that the $17 million for schools and the general fund will be evenly devided or say $8.5 million each. This tells me that last year, we had $2.2 million deficit/shortfall and now an $8.5 million deficit/shortfall or greater if one assumes that the BOE will get less than $8.5 million. I SMELL A RAT!
Good morning Lennie. What does the indeendent Office of Fiscal Analysis has to say about Connecticuts budget? Look what I just found:
https://www.the-red-line.com/2023/05/31/ct-budget-bulletin-revenue-is-still-falling?fbclid=IwAR14m4PbZR4tF4–EalLuBdZZ4WT_RoqkmUyIWU0qL4tne4k_hj9f_QaeIc
First, watch Joel Gonzalez toss Lennie to the mat, putting him in a defensive position — nobody wins a defensive fight…
And then the journalistic diss continues as Gonzalez tracks House bills and uses independent evidence to make his point about state expenditures.
There’s nothing artificial about that intelligence.