Senate Makes Quick Fixes to New Connecticut Budget

It took the Connecticut Senate just about two minutes to make some fixes to the recently passed bipartisan budget. 

The Senate voted 34-0 on Tuesday in favor of the bill, which, among other things, makes various changes to a tax on hospitals that provides the state and hospitals with key federal reimbursement funds. 

Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy had urged the fix, arguing the original language risked up to $1 billion in federal revenue the state is expecting. 

His office released a statement, saying they are grateful that legislative leaders recognized the need to fix the language for implementing the hospital supplemental payments and provider tax. 

“The adopted language was fundamentally flawed and violated federal law, and the action by the Senate today makes the law workable,” Kelly Donnelly, Malloy’s director of communications, said in a statement. 

“It’s important to keep in mind that there are no guarantees when it comes to approval from the federal CMS agency. In addition, our state still some issues left unresolved in this arena, such as the tax on the ambulatory surgery centers, that we’ll need to work on cooperatively moving forward,” Donnelly added. 

The bill also fixes language that held up $26.4 million in financial assistance for certain elderly and disabled renters, and changes the years when some tax changes will take effect. 

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the same changes to the two-year, $41.3 billion state budget. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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