Politics & Government
Proposed Groton ECS Cuts Reduced Significantly: Reps. Bumgardner, Scott
The two state reps said they were encouraged by certain parts of Malloy's latest proposed budget but said more work needs to be done.
State Representatives John Scott (R-40) and Aundré Bumgardner (R-41) said they were encouraged by certain provisions of Governor Malloy’s latest proposed budget regarding Groton’s Education Cost Sharing funding, but cautioned that this is only a proposal and more work needs to be done.
Rep. Scott represents the 40th district, covering Groton and Ledyard. Rep. Bumgardner represents the 41st district, covering Groton and New London.
“The cuts proposed today by Governor Malloy are far less draconian than those of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee but this is only a start and difficult conversations will continue at the Capitol,” Rep. Scott said in a prepared statement. “Sustainable budget solutions will come only with structural changes to the state’s budget process and we must work together to avoid the piecemeal approach and last-minute budget fixes of previous years that serve only to cause confusion and uncertainty for local municipalities across our state.”
“Governor Malloy's budget is a step in a better direction due to the fact that it recognizes the true budget deficit, and more fairly levies reductions to the ECS formula throughout the state,” Rep. Bumgardner said. “We have a collective duty to balance the budget without raising taxes; not in a way that unfairly places a financial burden that our town and schoolchildren would directly bear.”
The Republican legislators held a press conference on Monday morning with Groton Mayor Bruce Flax, Superintendent of Schools Michael Graner, members of the town council and RTM, and other school officials to decry massive proposed cuts to ECS funding for Groton made by the legislature’s Appropriations Committee just last week. Superintendent Graner said the cost of educating children from military families is compounded because those who live on base do not pay local property tax and ECS and federal funding only cover a portion of that shortfall. Mayor Flax said if those cuts went through the result would most likely be tax increases.
That Appropriations Committee budget fell woefully short of projected deficits for fiscal year 2017, and would reduce Groton’s ECS funding on the order of $4,629,727. However, that budget didn’t fully account for the total projected state deficit and only closed about $560 million of a projected $933 million shortfall. In response, Governor Malloy took the unusual step this week and released a second budget proposal in an effort to plug the massive state budget deficit for fiscal year 2017.
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