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Fairfield Legislator Condemns ‘Sham’ State Budget

TRUMBULL, Conn. -- Republican State Reps. David Rutigliano, Laura Devlin and Ben McGorty all oppose the state budget passed by the General Assembly last week, calling it a "sham."

Trumbull Reps. Laura Devlin and David Rutigliano

Trumbull Reps. Laura Devlin and David Rutigliano

Photo Credit: Contributed

“This budget reflects the wrong-headed priorities of the Democrat majority. They decide to go after the most vulnerable in our state by eviscerating our state hospitals with a $130 million cut," said Rutigliano. “They also slash state mental health and addiction services – while the state is in the midst of an ongoing opioid addiction crisis in our state.”

Rutigliano (Trumbull), Devlin (Fairfield, Trumbull) and McGorty (Shelton, Stratford and Trumbull) said the Democrat's proposal provided only a stop-gap solution and said they had a better, more balanced solution for the next fiscal year and beyond. 

Rutigliano, Devlin and McGorty hosted an Opiate Addiction community forum in January and worked with Trumbull prevention advocates to craft legislation that passed the General Assembly last month. 

They also hosted an Opiate Addiction community forum in January before working with Trumbull prevention advocates on legislation that passed in the General Assembly in April. 

“This budget, forced by the majority, is a 'get me through an election' budget. It represents business as usual, with no long-term structural change that will turn our state around," said Devlin. "Connecticut can and should do better than this budget. It relies on fund sweeps, and the hope that state residents drink, smoke and gamble to provide additional revenue. Budgets cobbled together like this will only encourage more companies like GE and our residents to leave our state.” 

“The budget that the majority Democrats put out today is more of the same and worse,” said McGorty. “It is balanced on the back of local property taxpayers while making deep cuts to education, hospitals and social services. Without meaningful structural changes to the way we budget, we will never get the state back to the economic strength it ought to have.”

The budget includes a $30 million state cut to hospitals and creates a $130 million total cut to hospitals; a $1 million cut to grants for DCF Psychiatric Clinics for Children; $13.8 million cut to DMHAS; a $580,000 cut to the American School for the Deaf; a $2.2 million cut to services for the poor; a $32.2 million cut to Education Cost Sharing; a $4.3 million cut to special education; and eliminates a $23.3 million grant for school transportation.

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