Editorials Support Connecticut Audubon Society’s Stance on Community Investment Act

Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal to balance the state budget by removing all the funds from the Community Investment Act is not going over well with the editorial boards of newspapers in Connecticut.

They are starting to speak out forcefully in favor of the position taken by Connecticut Audubon Society and other groups concerned that the state continue to make progress on conservation, historic preservation, farmland protection and affordable housing issues, all of which are funded by the Community Investment Act.

The Governor wants to pay the state’s bills with $15 million that’s in the fund now and $45 million that is expected to be added over the next several years. Starting in mid-March, Alex Brash, president of Connecticut Audubon Society, published op-eds in newspapers around the state (see below), explaining why those funds are important and why the governor’s proposal would be devastating to conservation.

Now the Hartford Courant and Norwich Bulletin agree.

“Legislators must not let that happen,” the Courant wrote on its editorial page. “These dedicated funds were created with separate funding streams apart from the regular budget so that the money would be there in tough times. They are in effect trust funds for particular purposes that the legislature has deemed important.

“To raid them for other purposes is to violate the public trust, to make them no-trust funds. Either honor the dedicated funds or stop creating them.”

And from the Norwich Bulletin: “It is a disservice to taxpayers if dedicated funds are used for their intended purposes only when it’s convenient, and instead are treated as secret slush funds when needed to cover deficits created by poor fiscal decisions.

“Dedicated funds should be used for their intended purposes only. The governor and legislators need to rethink their approach. Actions speak louder than words.”

Please let your local state senator and representative know that you support full funding for the Community Investment Act. Find your legislator here.

For more information, you can find a version of Alex’s op-ed that appeared in your local paper in this list:

Hartford Courant
Connecticut Post
Waterbury Republican American
New London Day
Stamford Advocate
Norwich Bulletin
Danbury News Times
Greenwich Time