The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that authorizes $360 million in new bonding and cancels approximately $900 million in general obligation bonds. The Senate passed the bill 34-2 last month.
The largest new bond projects include $181 million for improvements to the State Office Building across from the Bushnell in Hartford, $60 million for renovations to York Correctional institute in Niantic and $20 million in Department of Housing grants to nonprofit organizations that provide housing for those with intellectual disabilities.
The bill also authorizes $70 million in special transportation bonds, which come from a different fund. Most of the new authorizations will go to the Department of Public Transportation for bus and rail improvements.
The House rejected an amendment that would have given the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee authority to review funds allocated to companies under the First Five program—which gives money to companies willing to create more than 200 jobs in the state.
The canceled bond authorizations come from numerous departments across most state agencies. About 200 separate bonding projects were eliminated or reduced. The largest reduction was a $151 million cut in GAAP deficit funding bonds, which are used to cover the $1.2 billion dollar deficit that was incurred with the state began using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in 2010.
The majority of the other bonding projects affected were reduced by less than $10 million.
