A few local lawmakers are weighing in on proposals they heard yesterday in Governor Malloy's budget address.

Wilton Senator Toni Boucher says Governor Malloy's budget fails to provide a vision for the type of come from behind strategy the state needs.  She did agree that all residents need the opportunity for success and that, so far, state government has failed to build a good educational or transportation system.  But Boucher says the governor's playbook doesn't lay out how to achieve those things.  When it comes to changes to the education cost sharing formula, Boucher noted that money alone does not equal educational opportunity.  She wants to find out why the money currently going to cities isn’t getting to children.

Danbury Senator Mike McLachlan says Malloy's proposed budget a shell game.  He added that it lays a trap for municipalities that will likely have to raise property taxes to deal with state cuts and new expenses.  McLachlan was critical of the governor's proposal to reduce the Earned Income Tax Credit received by low-income workers.  He says the main theme of this budget seems to be finding more ways to generate tax revenue, the opposite of what should be done.

Fairfield Senator Tony Hwang, whose district includes Newtown, says the governor's budget address was meant to give taxpayers, communities, and businesses more predictability, but his plan does not back that up.  Hwang says the budget is balanced on the backs of towns and every local property taxpayer in Connecticut.  But he notes that the budget address is just the first step in the process, and he is hopeful changes can be made.