House Democrats have approved a plan to spend as much as $400 million in unused American Rescue Plan Act funding on various priorities next year.
The bill, which garnered a 103-48 vote, now heads to the Senate. Prior to the vote, Rep. Matt Ritter (D-House Speaker) made a plea to Republicans to support their stabilization bill.
“What I would say if I were a moderate republican is I wish I had opened the budget, but I'm going to vote for this because it’s an ARPA allocation and there’s some good things in there,” he said.
Democrats were able to pick up four Republican votes in the House, but most sided with concerns from Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) that lawmakers neglected their duty to reopen the current two-year budget.
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“These guys are going to come in and spend $400 million additional amounts of money that is going to impact this year’s budget,” Candelora said. “But they don’t want to call it a budget because they don’t want the scrutiny of those guardrails.”
Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General William Tong ON Tuesday seeking a legal opinion on whether the state constitution requires lawmakers to reopen the budget.
Among their concerns, Republicans say the bill makes changes that can only happen by reopening the budget. Those include revenue changes and savings within the budget.
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They also say the budget will be out of balance and that this is the reason Democrats give Gov. Ned Lamont authority to make $129 million in cuts.
“He wants Republicans’ fingerprints on the murder weapon of the state of Connecticut,” Candelora said.
Ritter stood by his view that the stabilization plan is legal. On Monday, he told reporters he got a legal opinion from the legislature's nonpartisan analysts that the legislature can move revenue from funds that don’t fall under the state’s spending cap.
Ritter also noted Tuesday that the current budget is projected to have $256 million in the fiscal year that ends June 30 and will put an additional $1.1 billion into the pension fund. The budget, for now, is also on pace for a surplus next year.
“So you can cry whatever you want to cry, the facts on the street are different than what’s being said here today,” he said.
The stabilization bill spends $360 million in unused American Rescue Plan funds on various priorities, including $160 million for higher education.
The bill also allocates money for mental health services, early childhood education and nonprofit service providers, among other programs.
It also identifies as much as $40 million more – bringing the potential to $400 – for higher education if Lamont finds more unused funds.
If the state does not spend the ARPA funds by the end of the year, the money is returned to the federal government.
