Politics & Government

Durham Lawmaker Questions Malloy's Debt Figures

State Rep. Vin Candelora issued this press release.

The following post is a press release from State Rep. Vincent Candelora.

In response to a recent criticisms during a State Bond Commission meeting by State Representative Vincent Candelora bemoaning the state’s borrowing practices, Governor Malloy claimed that his administration has improved the state debt situation, actually lowering the state’s bonded indebtedness compared to the month before he was sworn in as Governor in 2011.

Following a bond commission meeting in September Malloy claimed the bonded indebtedness stands at $19.76 billion, down from $19.97 in the month before he took office (www.ctnewsjunkie.com, 9/27/13). Candelora, however, pointed to recent information from the State Treasurer’s Office and the non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) that shows Malloy’s budget practices will increase our indebtedness by a whopping $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year- that’s more than a 5% increase in just one year.

“This administration has continued to increase bonding and debt that the taxpayers are responsible for at an alarming rate,” said Candelora, a member of the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding committee. “The Governor’s borrowing practices are putting our state’s future in a precarious position that, I fear, we’ll feel the effects of long after he is out of office.”

Figures provided by OFA project the state’s bonded indebtedness will increase to close to $21 billion by the end of this fiscal year next June. In July Fitch Ratings, a major global rating agency, downgraded its outlook on Connecticut bonds from “stable” to “negative”, citing high debt, budget vulnerability, pension obligations and vulnerability to revenue changes. In addition to confirming the opinion held by many that the state’s borrowing is out of control, the change could have a far more damaging consequence; forcing higher interest rates Connecticut taxpayers pay on future debt.

The Governor, Candelora says, has doubled the amount of total bonding approved from $1.4 billion in 2011 to $2.8 billion today. The bonding that have been approved but not funded has also doubled during that time from $3.1 billion to $6.1 billion. Candelora said there is bonding necessary for capital improvements and to keep the state running; however, we should borrow only what we can afford to pay back.

“In this biennium, the Governor has replaced tax increases with borrowing to run government. We are maxing out all of our credit cards and getting little in return but higher debt payments. We need to put the brakes on our borrowing and get our fiscal house in order.”

Candelora said he will reintroduce legislation, defeated by the majority legislature this year, which will require a non-partisan analysis of bonded expenditures and the effect on employment to give us a clearer picture of whether or not these projects truly are creating long-term jobs.


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