A story about House Majority Leader Denise Merrill’s, D-Mansfield efforts to alter the formula that divvies up casino grant payments among cities and towns is gaining traction.
The Advocate ran a story today, and I’ve read reports or blog posts from The Day, CT News Junkie and The Hartford Courant as well.
Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the legislature’s Republican Minority are complaining because Merrill’s proposal – tucked away in some pending budget legislation – would benefit Mansfield but decrease grant payments to everyone else.
Merrill argues she is correcting a flaw in the formula that penalizes Mansfield for housing the University of Connecticut, which in turn puts a lot of financial pressure on the small town.
Here’s the update. According to Derek Slap, spokesman for the Senate Democrats, there was a discussion yesterday between House and Senate leaders to push through Merrill’s change during tomorrow’s special session BUT promise no municipality would experience a loss of grant cash.
And where exactly will Democrats find that extra money to keep cities and towns whole when they’re already struggling to close the two-year state deficit? Slap could not say.
