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State Bond Commission meets, Governor defends projects

The State Bond Commission has met to authorize millions of dollars for a number of projects, including the inital money for Newtown to be used to design a new Sandy Hook Elementary School. 

 

Commission members also took up the release of 10 million dollars in bonded grants to eligible institutions that are conducting embryonic or human adult stem cell research, and 10 million for local school security upgrades, such as reimbursement for entry door buzzer systems.  The later project was unanimously approved.

 

Governor Dannel Malloy is defending the amount of borrowing his administration has made, saying Connecticut's overall indebtedness is slightly less than when he took office in 2011.

The Democrat responded to concerns raised Friday by two Republican members of the State Bond Commission, which Malloy chairs.

North Branford Rep. Vincent Candelora said that despite efforts to pay off projects more rapidly, he's worried about the state's capacity to borrow and how that affects cash flow. He said the amount of projects waiting for funding has roughly doubled since fiscal year 2011, from $3.1 billion in allocations to $6.1 billion today.

Malloy said he's made sure to direct state bonding to projects that create jobs. He also said the state's total indebtedness was $19.97 billion in December 2010, compared to $19.76 billion today.

 

The Commission has also unanimously approved a financing package for a planned Bass Pro Shops store that would anchor Bridgeport's long-awaited Steel Point waterfront development project.  $22 million in state bonds are supposed to be paid back over 20 years from the sales tax revenues generated by the store, which sells fishing, boating, hunting and camping equipment.

Bass Pro Shops has estimated it will attract 3 million annual visitors.

 

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who has formed an exploratory committee for a 2014 gubernatorial run said in an emailed statement that the project is an outrageous use of taxpayer dollars.  He compared it to Danbury, saying the City has grown Danbury's economy by holding the line on taxes and working to improve the business climate.by recruiting blue chip retail operations like Microsoft, Whole Foods, and LL Bean.  He says all that was done without the use of taxpayer giveaways.  Boughton said Malloy is whitewashing his leadership failures on the economy with taxpayer's money.

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