House Republican Press Release

April 18, 2005

Press Office: 860-240-8700

DelGobbo Pushes To Save Constitutional Spending Cap

Naugatuck Legislator Warns Legislature Heading Over a Financial Cliff

NAUGATUCK—State Representative Kevin M. DelGobbo (R-70^th, Naugatuck) said the legislature is ignoring the will of the people who overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional spending cap.

Rep. DelGobbo today urged the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee to follow the requirements of the constitutional spending cap, but his amendment was defeated along party lines.

Rep. DelGobbo warned that a proposed bill to impose a nursing home tax and in turn increase state aid to nursing homes also contains a provision that disregards the spending cap and betrays the voters who adopted the spending cap in November 1992 as an amendment to the state constitution.

Rep. DelGobbo said, “The legislature is sending the state over a fiscal cliff. The Finance Committee adopted a bill that ignores the vote of the people. It changed the rules on the spending cap in contravention of the will of the voters. In every way imaginable, this is an absolute repudiation of the constitutional principles of the state.”

He added, “We often have arguments about policy, but this issue cuts to the very nature of our democracy, heeding the will of the people. This really is about preserving the constitutional integrity of this state. We made a promise to the people of this state. We put the issue of a spending cap to the voters of Connecticut, and they overwhelmingly approved it by a 4-1 vote. With this bill, the legislature is proposing to ignore those requirements. This action undermines the integrity of the constitution.”

Rep. DelGobbo added, “This is a recipe for disaster for Connecticut. In the face of a $1.2 billion deficit, the legislature is moving to increase spending by 13 percent over two years, to impose $1.1 billion in new taxes and exceed the spending cap by $434 million in the first year alone.”

He said, “The concept of the spending cap was to intended to provide a speed bump to control these excessive spending habits of the legislature. The legislature is now ignoring the spending cap and reverting to its out-of-control spending ways.”