See how the governor's budget proposal will effect you!

As Gov. Rowland-Rell and the Republicans continue to spin their ridiculous rhetoric regarding their unlabanced budgets that target the middle-class, today, the Senate Democrats launched a new interactive Google budget map, which highlights how the governor's proposed budget will impact every municipality in the state.

Since MOST people haven't taken the time to actually READ the governor's UNBALANCED proposal, maybe this map will serve as a wake-up call.

Senate President Don Williams had this to say about the new feature:

We need to make cuts, as Democrats already have, but we must also make investments in health care, education, public safety, transportation, and other critical needs for our families,” said Senator Williams. “We are committed to using a balanced approach to balance the budget and we will continue to work with legislative colleague and Gov. Rell to reach a budget agreement.”
Democrats in the legislature have proposed more than $2 billion of spending cuts. Governor Rell is also proposing significant cuts — but a large proportion of these will directly impact children, small businesses, education and public health.

For those who think the governor's plan is so "wonderful" for the city, go to the map, click on Danbury and see what Jodi has in plan for us.

Better yet, I'll just cut to the chase:

Governor Rell's budget cuts would:

• Reduce many state education grants by 10% from their current funding level


• Reduce special education service grants by 10% in all municipalities


• Eliminate state funding for internet access, and filtering of "adult" content in all public libraries and K-12 schools in Connecticut


• Eliminate or reduce by 40% the amount of state funding given to local health departments and health districts

These cuts would come on top of other cuts in municipal aid or flat-funding of programs that our cities and towns rely on. The Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) grant, which is the largest portion of state aid for local education in Connecticut, would be flat-funded for the two year budget. In addition, other programs such as the PILOT (Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes) Grant, which helps cities and towns make up for tax losses for tax exempt properties such as state property, hospitals and universities, have been reduced as well. These cuts, along with elimination of funding for our libraries, will put a strain on our municipalities.

When you hear the Republicans in the legislature (and the conservative talking-heads in the local media) LIE to your face about how GREAT their budget proposals are while chastizing Democrats, just keep this in the back of your mind.