State lawmakers approve special education funding despite Lamont's objection

The state Senate unanimously approved a bill that includes $40 million in emergency special education aid.

That sends to the bill to Gov. Ned Lamont, who said in a statement that he doesn’t support the move.

Senators approved the expansive bill after it cleared the House of Representatives Monday.

Sen. Martin Looney (D–President Pro Tem) said local school districts need the funding for the current school year, meaning they can’t wait for the state budget process to play out.

“There's a, we perceive, a current crisis in the current year in special education,” Looney said.

Lamont, who is currently in India on a trip seeking to bolster economic ties between the country and Connecticut, criticized the vote.

“These concerns, combined with expenses that are already pushing beyond the spending cap, are why I cannot support adding this significant expenditure this late in the fiscal year without a plan to cover budget overruns,” Lamont said in the statement.

He proposed including an additional $40 million in the next budget, which takes effect July 1.

Prior to the vote, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Jeffrey Beckham also said the vote comes late in the budget year, making it difficult for the state to make the cuts needed to get back under the spending cap.

But Republicans expressed confidence the state can find the funding and agreed with Democrats that the money is needed now.

“I think that municipalities are going through crises right now,” said Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Minority Leader). “They need this funding and I think you’re going to see broad support from our caucus.”

If Lamont does veto the funding, lawmakers can override that with a two-thirds majority in each chamber. The bill easily received that level of support in both the House and Senate.

Republicans were less supportive of another bill that included $2.9 million in funding for Planned Parenthood, LGBTQ-plus groups, and other nonprofits.

The bill, if signed by Lamont, would also require school districts to adopt a policy that requires immigration agents to show a warrant before entering schools.

Additionally, it would allow collegiate programs to share revenue directly with athletes. The vote comes at the NCAA awaits a judge's approval on a settlement that would allow schools to pay athletes.

Republicans criticized some of the provisions directly, including aid for the nonprofits and the ICE-related policy.

They also questioned why the bill was rushed to a vote through the emergency certification process, which allows lawmakers to skip the public hearing and committee process.

Looney said some of the impacted groups couldn’t wait for votes later in the session, which ends June 4.