After working out scheduling conflicts, state lawmakers have agreed to convene next week in a special session to take up a bonding package.
Speaker of the House James A. Amann, D-Milford, said Monday that the session originally planned for Monday is now set for Sept. 19. Amann said Democrats would try to push through a two-year, $3.1-billion bond package of capital projects for long-term state funding.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s office said her staff is still willing to meet with Democrats to possibly reach a compromise before the session.
Amann said that Democrats don’t want to threaten the Republican governor’s power to set the monthly agenda of the State Bond Commission. However, he says he’s tired of Rell blaming Democrats for the state’s indebtedness.
Chris Cooper, Rell’s Capitol spokesman, said short of a bipartisan compromise, the governor would have to see what the legislation looks like before deciding whether to sign it.
“It is the governor, not the legislature that sets the Bond Commission agenda,” Amann said. “No bonding occurs without the governor’s approval. It is Gov. Rell and her predecessor — John Rowland — that are responsible for current debt through their bonding allocations.”
Cooper said the state has the nation’s third-highest per-capita debt, with about 10 percent of the annual budget going to debt service.
Rell sets the monthly Bond Commission agenda based on what outside financial agencies recommend will retain the state’s bond rating, Cooper said, adding that a September meeting of the State Bond Commission will not be scheduled unless a bond package is voted and signed into law.
