Tuition Rates To Increase + Top Official To Depart: CT News
Good Friday morning Connecticut,
Ice is the word of the day. The sleet, snow and rain should taper off early this afternoon. Unfortunately, we're looking at a very cold weekend, and we really don't experience a major warm up next week either. High temperatures will only be in the low to mid 30s next week, except for Wednesday, when we may exceed 40 degrees.
Top official departing Lamont administration
Written by Patch editor Rich Kirby
Gov. Ned Lamont has announced the resignation of his budget chief and secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, Melissa McCaw.
The update came during a Friday afternoon news conference in Hartford. McCaw will take a job with the town of East Hartford as finance director, after immediately taking a few weeks' leave of absence from her OPM job. Jeff Beckham, deputy secretary at OPM has been named McCaw's temporary replacement.
The change in gigs comes as McCaw's office has been at the center of controversy — and a federal grand jury investigation — over no-bid school construction contracts. Her former deputy, Konstantinos Diamantis, left his job managing school construction grants for the state in 2021.
McCaw has not been named in the scandal, first reported by Hearst Connecticut.
Lamont praised McCaw on her last day of work for the state, saying: "I've got confidence in her as secretary of OPM. I think she did a very good job."
In a statement issued Friday, McCaw said she was grateful for the governor's faith in her, and the opportunity he provided.
"We have weathered the pandemic, expanded services, maintained a budget surplus and paid down our pension liabilities by nearly $2 Billion over our annual payments without raising a penny in taxes. Now, we are in a very strong fiscal position and poised to offer tax relief to Connecticut residents and especially seniors," McCaw said.
“I am thrilled to bring a public finance rock star like Melissa McCaw to join our team as finance director for our town,” East Hartford Mayor Walsh said in a news release. “Melissa brings unmatched expertise in managing budgets and reducing debt with a crystal-clear commitment to public policies that invest in infrastructure, improve our public schools, and build the kind of economic climate that helps our entrepreneurs start and grow businesses, and create the jobs of today and tomorrow. I cannot think of a better professional more well suited than Secretary McCaw to help guide our town’s budgets into the future as we position ourselves to help sustain the Hartford region as an economic powerhouse.”
Community college tuition rates to increase
The Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) voted to set tuition and fees for the state’s 12 community colleges for the 2022-23 academic year. Under the approved structure, tuition and mandatory fees will increase by $224 per year, or $112 per semester, for full-time students who pay out of pocket.
“None of us ever want to raise tuition,” Connecticut State Colleges and Universities President CSCU President Terrence Cheng said. “However, I want to note that this does not mean that everyone’s bill will increase. For many, there will be no increase at all. Students who are eligible for the PACT program, for instance, will continue to go to school tuition and fee-free. The same goes for students who receive full Pell funding. All in all, approximately 70 percent of community college students attend without paying a cent of out-of-pocket costs. That will continue.”
“The BOR has not increased community college tuition in three years. We recognize that every dollar means something to our students,” he added. “We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that the system’s financial challenges do not fall onto the backs of our students. Indeed, even with these adjustments and with potential similar tuition changes at the state universities, we still project a more than $250 million budget shortfall between FY22 and FY23. In order for our institutions to continue their work as the highest quality, most affordable and accessible higher education options in Connecticut, we will need a significant state investment.”
The tuition changes also make more than $2 million of additional institutional aid available for students. As CSCU presented to the Connecticut General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee this week, the shortfall is largely driven by expected changes to SEBAC payroll and fringe benefit agreements, the state’s decennial 27th payroll, and COVID-19’s negative impact on enrollment.
You can view the list of community colleges here.
CT GOP calls for investigation
House and Senate Republicans called on Democrats to invoke the legislature's broad investigatory power to launch a formal inquiry into the "burgeoning school construction bidding scandal involving members of Gov. Lamont's administration."
"Daily headlines emerging from the capitol are alarming, and there's little doubt that residents' trust in state government is being tested as the news media digs deeper into layers of no-bid contracts, the school construction bidding process, alleged nepotism, and even one former legislator's alleged misuse of federal pandemic funds," House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora and Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly said in a statement released to the news media.
"The ball is in the court of Democrats who control this building. They must decide if what the media is uncovering—particularly about school construction—is troubling enough to start asking the governor's administration questions in a formal setting," the GOP lawmakers said in a statement.
Republicans urged the House Speaker and Senate President to put up for vote a resolution creating an official investigatory panel to examine the state’s school construction funding program.
"We know from many media reports that the FBI has turned an eye toward some of the actions tied to this governor's administration, and while those federal investigators determine whether criminal activity has transpired, it's incumbent upon our body—the legislature—to figure out whether bond money and other taxpayer dollars have been handled properly in the school construction process," Candelora and Kelly said.
The GOP lawmakers said more than $1 billion in bonding has been approved by the General Assembly since 2018. The FBI is investigating some projects funded by state dollars, NBC CT reported.
The Lamont administration said it would "welcome public hearings into the school construction program..." The statement from the Lamont administration, obtained by NBC CT, states that Lamont acted swiftly when issues were brought to his attention. >>>Read More at NBC CT.
This article originally appeared on the Milford Patch
