Gov. Lamont Issues Veto: Here's Why, What To Know

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont returned from a trade mission in India Monday, and vetoed nearly $43 million in funding that was approved by the Connecticut state legislature.

The governor line-item vetoed the planned spends in two bipartisan bills, including House Bill 7066, which allocated $2.88 million in funding for 33 nonprofit service providers, and House Bill 7067, which included $40 million for special education.

The grants included $800,000 for Planned Parenthood, $387,500 for the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, Inc. and $225,000 each for the New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, Inc. All 33 nonprofits had seen their funds recently cut on the federal level by the Department of Government Efficiency.

In his letter to Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, Lamont said, "While the missions of these organizations are undoubtedly valuable to their communities, the process by which these funds were allocated raises significant concerns."

The special education funding had been emergency certified a year ahead of when state officials would have spent it.

"I think it’s the wrong way to budget – buy it now, pay later, we’ll figure out how we’ll do it," Lamont said during a news conference in Hartford Monday morning. "That's just the type of budgeting that got this state into the ditch over the last 20 years."

Lamont said there was "no need for us to rush into it right now. I’m going to do a line-item veto on both bills," and then he did, later on Monday.

The vetoes set the stage for a dust-up between the governor and state lawmakers, who have the ability to override them. If they do, it would be the first time Lamont was so challenged in his six years in the Governor's Mansion.