Sen. Formica Applauds Bipartisan Passage of Bill to Eliminate “MBR” Penalty on Montville, Other Impacted Towns

Today State Senator Paul Formica (R-East Lyme) voted in support of a bipartisan bill regarding the State Department of Education’s minimum budget requirement (MBR). The bill eliminates penalties faced by six towns, including Montville, which lawmakers believe were unfairly imposed on towns as a result of Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s budget holdbacks. The bill passed with bipartisan support in both the State House of Representatives and Senate.

Earlier this year the State Department of Education informed multiple towns, including Montville, that they were in non-compliance with the MBR because they reduced their FY 2018 education appropriations to reflect Governor Malloy’s holdbacks in local education funding. However, lawmakers and municipalities agreed that municipalities should not be penalized for reducing budgets in light of the governor’s additional withholding of funding beyond what was identified in the state budget.

The bill approved today would eliminate the penalty faced by towns that had to reduce their education funding following Gov. Malloy’s budget holdbacks.  The bill also makes conforming changes to statutes so that the MBR moving forward is based only on ECS entitlements.

“I want to thank lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for working together to adopt this important measure in both chambers,” said Formica. “The legislature worked hard to adopt a bipartisan budget last year that minimized reductions in aid to our towns. Unfortunately, the administration cut further from our town budgets through gubernatorial holdbacks instead of following legislative recommendations to reduce costs in other areas. By working together today, lawmakers are able to stop towns from being penalized further because of these holdbacks. I’m very appreciative of the bipartisan effort to pass this important bill today.”

The bill now awaits the governor’s signature.