The state House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Tuesday to ensure the General Assembly has an equal voice with Gov. Ned Lamont in carving up more than $2.8 billion in new federal pandemic relief headed Connecticut’s way.
The measure, which the Senate is expected to approve next week, also directs the administration to give lawmakers a detailed accounting of how federal coronavirus aid has been allotted to date.
The bill, lawmakers asserted, is not a “power grab” or an effort to battle Lamont for control of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act funds authorized by Congress and President Joe Biden earlier this month.
Connecticut’s recovery will be planned, said Rep. Toni E. Walker, D-New Haven, longtime co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, “as a team, as a state. We do it along with the governor. We do it side-by-side, Democrats and Republicans.”
Paul Mounds Jr., Lamont’s chief of staff, said after Tuesday’s House session that “this legislation is consistent with Gov. Lamont’s approach since the beginning of the pandemic, which has been to work with the legislative branch throughout the pandemic emergency on critical decisions.”
Mounds added that the administration has followed a transparent process regarding the use of federal relief funds since the pandemic began. “All expenses relating to federal funding have been posted online and reported to the General Assembly and Office of the Comptroller,” he said.
But legislators from both parties have complained periodically that the administration hasn’t provided sufficient detail on how previous rounds of federal relief have been spent.
This measure directs the governor to provide a detailed accounting on...
from News https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/House-unanimously-adopts-bill-giving-lawmakers-a-16030911.php
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