Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Nonprofits ‘greatly concerned’ about prospect of emergency budget cuts

  • Money
  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • January 6, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Mark Pazniokas :: CT Mirror

Nonprofit advocates staked out the governor’s office during last year’s legislative session.

Connecticut’s largest coalition of nonprofit agencies urged Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration to avoid cutting community-based social services as it seeks to close a small hole in state finances.

The CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, which has been pressing Lamont to pump more resources into the hundreds of agencies that deliver the bulk of state-sponsored social services, also questioned why emergency cuts are being considered even as state budget reserves are projected to grow.

“We appreciate that the governor is managing the state budget prudently, with an eye on the future,” Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the alliance, wrote in a statement. “But we are greatly concerned that with a de facto $300 million surplus, that there is any discussion of emergency budget cuts. We urge Governor Lamont to reject proposals that would cut essential services.”

Lamont’s budget director, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw, warned in her last monthly budget forecast that the administration was considering emergency spending cuts in response to a modest deficit forecast.

“While the projected shortfall represents only about 0.1 percent of the General Fund, agencies are making efforts to curtail hiring and discretionary expenditures, and the governor is prepared to exercise rescission authority if necessary to mitigate against ending the year with an operating deficit,” McCaw wrote on Dec. 20.

Her office projects the deficit at $23 million, while Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo, who issues the state’s official budget projection, pegs it at $28 million. Both represent a tiny fraction, roughly 1/7th of 1%, of this fiscal year’s General Fund.

State law gives the governor tremendous discretion to unilaterally rescind spending ordered by the legislature, allowing line-item reductions of 5% or less in many areas. 

Traditionally, those cuts have fallen heaviest on higher education, community-based social service programs not backed by Medicaid, and miscellaneous state agency accounts.

Arielle Levin Becker :: CTMirror.org file photo

Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance

“Connecticut residents rely on state-contracted, community-based nonprofits for a wide range of vital services, including substance abuse and mental health treatment, support and residential programs for people with developmental disabilities, homeless and domestic violence shelters, re-entry programs and more,” said Casa, whose organization represents more than 500 nonprofits. “Community programs are some of the most cost-effective state services and are already stretching limited state dollars to continue operating. Without these vital programs, the costs of care would only increase, for more expensive emergency treatment.”

Chris McClure, spokesman for the govenor’s budget office said “Governor Lamont does not take his rescission authority lightly and would not exercise the authority without a comprehensive review of the affected expenditure and the impact on our state and its residents. Stabilizing our state budget and ensuring we improve Connecticut’s financial position are essential to mitigating volatility and reducing the uncertainty that has plagued our state over the recent decades, limited our growth, and caused service reductions during difficult times.”

Currently, more than a half-dozen state departments collectively spend roughly $1.4 billion to hire private, nonprofit agencies to provide social services, health care, job training and other government functions for the poor, disabled, and those struggling with mental illness and addiction.

Though these resources are scattered among more than 1,200 contracts, involving hundreds of nonprofits, together these payments represent more than 7% of the General Fund.

In terms of dollars, that’s larger than the departments of Transportation, Correction and Motor Vehicles combined.

Since 2002, state spending for nonprofits has grown by about 10%. After adjusting for inflation, nonprofits say they have lost money.

The governor declined a request from nonprofits last fall to dedicate as much as $100 million from state budget reserves to help reverse this funding trend.

Connecticut has $2.5 billion in its rainy day fund. And while the General Fund is on pace to finish the fiscal year on June 30 about $28 million in the red, another program that forces the state to save a portion of tax receipts tied to investment income is on pace to add $318 million to the reserve.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf A winner of numerous journalism awards, Keith Phaneuf has been CT Mirror’s state finances reporter since it launched in 2010. The former State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Keith has spent most of 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. A former contributing writer to The New York Times, Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
With billions in federal relief on the way to CT, legislators assert their role in deciding how to spend it
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

With an unusual bill, state legislators are reminding Gov. Ned Lamont they have significant role in disbursing federal coronavirus relief.

CT hasn’t started collecting new payroll tax from state workers
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut established a new payroll tax surcharge on Jan. 1 but still isn't deducting it from state workers' paychecks.

Lamont’s budget offers another round of tax amnesty
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal waives penalties and caps interest at 3% over each of the next two fiscal years.

Senate sends data center incentives and town aid pledge bills to Lamont’s desk
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Senate endorsed an omnibus fiscal bill that lays the groundwork for a major boost in PILOT aid to many municipalities.

House approves big municipal aid pledge, tax incentive bills
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

The House approved bills Wednesday pledging $100 million-plus in new municipal aid and offering tax incentives to attract data centers.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The public health bill no one is talking about, but should be
by Brian Festa

On February 16,  the legislature's Public Health Committee conducted a public hearing on two bills, S.B. 568 and H.B. 6423, both of which would eliminate the religious exemption to mandatory vaccinations for Connecticut schoolchildren.  The hearing was capped at 24 hours, depriving nearly 1,500 members of the public who had registered for the hearing their opportunity to be heard.  The vast majority of those who did testify, and who submitted written testimony, opposed the bill.  The committee is expected to vote on the bill as early as  today. 

Opinion Students need more resources, fewer officers
by Tenille Bonilla

"School resource officer" is just a nice way to say cop. But what students really need is more resource and less officer.

Opinion The Board of Regents’ changes must not shortchange its students or faculty
by Carrie Andreoletti, PhD

As a university professor and a lifespan developmental psychologist, I tend to approach my work from a developmental perspective. This means I aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help others find a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as confidence in their ability to reach their goals. My approach to higher education is shaped by my desire to provide the best possible education for my students. This is why the recent Board of Regents’ proposed changes at the four state universities have me worried.

Opinion How to close schooling opportunity gaps created by the pandemic
by Carol Gale

We ask school district leaders to trust your public servants whose daily work life involves assessing student needs and planning or modifying instruction to meet those needs. Listen to their voices, as we have, and allocate precious resources on interventions that will offer increased opportunities for Hartford students to succeed.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO