Sen. Hwang in “Staunch Opposition” to Shortsighted Education Cuts

April 15, 2016

Sen. Tony Hwang today issued the following statement regarding Governor Malloy’s proposed massive cuts to town education aid:
“Education is important for every child in every town. Education is a necessary governmental service that is essential to our sustainability as a thriving state.

“To simply zero out education funding for certain towns is unacceptable and a total disregard to due process for that community’s varied contributions for all students in that town. The proposal is devastating and only serves to distract us from what should be a serious and thoughtful discussion about the structural changes that must be made to our state budget.

“Here’s what else this poorly thought out and disparate proposal shows us. It shows us that a long-term, comprehensive plan of action must be set in motion now if we are to dig ourselves out of this fiscal crisis. That plan should not be built upon the targeted backs of our children and local property taxpayers in select communities. That plan should, however, be based upon injecting predictability, sustainability and transparency into all of Connecticut’s public policies. Shared sacrifice and equal treatment of all.

“I am committed to offering real structural solutions such as reforming our state overtime system. That is a start that can save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year immediately. Capping state borrowing will serve to lower our debt burdens. We need more legislative accountability when it comes to the approval of state labor contracts. Pension reform will also put Connecticut on the right path. These common sense answers are long overdue.

“I want the people of Easton, Fairfield, Newtown, Weston and Westport along many other communities unfairly impacted to know that I am joining with Democrats and Republicans at the State Capitol to stand in staunch opposition to these shortsighted education cuts. Hurting students and forcing property tax hikes is not the answer to our systemic problems. Creating new crises is not the way to lift our state up and out of our financial woes.

“There are three weeks left in the legislative session. Let’s get serious. Let’s get to work. Let’s do the jobs that we were elected to do.”

– State Senator Tony Hwang