Almost the entire Connecticut delegation voted in favor of a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government running for two more weeks, giving lawmakers more time to negotiate a longer-term bill for fiscal year 2011. Both Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Democrat Richard Blumenthal voted yes, as did 4 of the state’s 5 House members.
The delegation’s lone hold-out in this week’s showdown was Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat who represents Connecticut’s 3rd District and is a high-ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee.
She said in an email that she voted against the stop-gap funding bill because it cut important social programs, while preserving corporate subsidies.
“It did not start by cutting waste and special interest spending, like $40 billion in oil subsidies or even $8 billion in farm subsidies,” DeLauro said. “Instead, the new House majority made deep and reckless cuts that will hurt middle-class families, like slashing nearly a billion dollars from education and eliminate worthy programs such as Teach for America, and Special Olympics.”