Gov. Ned Lamont presented his two-year, $55.2 billion-dollar spending recommendations to 黑料吃瓜网 lawmakers Wednesday, kicking off this session.
The spans July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027, and includes the Lamont administration鈥檚 budget proposal and bond package.
鈥淯nlike other states, which are cutting back,鈥� Lamont said, 鈥渙ur budget will increase by over $1 billion in each of the next two years, all the while making a transformative investment in early childhood education and another round of tax cuts.鈥�
Lamont鈥檚 plan provides a tax cut for the middle class, and also includes more funding for special education, which cities and towns say is a growing cost taking up a lot of school district budgets. The proposal would also increase Medicaid rates for providers.
The also comes just over a week after President Donald Trump issued an executive order halting federal grants 鈥� causing chaos and confusion across the state and .
The Democrat acknowledged the federal uncertainty in his speech before state lawmakers, calling out billionaire Elon Musk's . Lamont said that could cost 黑料吃瓜网 hundreds of millions of dollars used to provide Medicaid health coverage for people with low incomes.
鈥淲e have no idea how the feds will impact Medicaid costs,鈥� Lamont said. 鈥淲e've got the [Department of Government Efficiency] 鈥� hopefully they're gonna root out fraud. That's good. Or they may just cost-shift Medicaid expenses to the states. That's bad. If all they do is cost-shift, 鈥楧OGE鈥� is just a dodge.鈥�
Jeffrey Beckham, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, told reporters Wednesday morning that state budget talks began months ago, so federal cuts didn鈥檛 factor in, but they鈥檙e monitoring the situation.
鈥淚f an agency tells me that a specific stream is interrupted, then we'll pivot and think about how do we deal with that,鈥� he said.
In the coming months, lawmakers will hold public hearings on the proposal, and make their own budget suggestions in April. A final spending package will go for a vote before the General Assembly in June, and require Lamont鈥檚 final approval .
A 鈥榙ownpayment鈥� on universal pre-kindergarten
The Lamont administration earmarked $300 million to expand pre-K. The plan draws on a budget surplus from the last fiscal year 鈥� by working around one of the state鈥檚 spending caps known as 鈥�fiscal guardrails.鈥�
鈥淪aving parents thousands of dollars and giving them the freedom to get back to work 鈥� because parents, businesses need you,鈥� Lamont said.
Democratic lawmakers and advocates had been calling on the governor to loosen the 鈥済uardrails鈥� enacted in 2017, to help fund essential state services.
Lamont鈥檚 new 鈥渦niversal pre-school endowment鈥� proposal would create free pre-K spaces by 2032 for families earning up to $100,000. His administration said it could reduce costs for tens of thousands of existing spaces.
Many advocates were happy to see a major commitment to the sector, but said universal preschool ultimately isn鈥檛 a cure-all for the state鈥檚 child care crisis.
鈥淚nfant toddler care is really where we have the biggest shortage,鈥� said Merrill Gay, executive director of the 黑料吃瓜网 Early Childhood Alliance. 鈥淎nd it's the place that parents have the biggest trouble both finding care and affording care.鈥�
鈥淧utting money towards the concept and the idea of universal pre-k does not address the root issue that the industry is severely underpaid,鈥� said Adrean Rodriguez, SEIU union leader representing Care 4 Kids family child care providers. 鈥淲e need to address that first if we want to see success in our childcare industry in 黑料吃瓜网.鈥�
Rodriguez pointed to this year that looks to build on last year鈥檚 legislative efforts to fund the child care sector in the long-term.
黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Matt Dwyer contributed to this report.
