Majority Democrats Kill Proposal that Would Have Saved
Local Taxpayers Millions
A measure that would have postponed a state mandate
that requires suspended students to serve their
suspensions in school rather than out of school and saved
local taxpayers millions was killed Monday by majority
Democrats in the state House of Representatives, state Representatives Selim Noujaim
and Anthony J. D’Amelio said today.
The proposal, a House Republican amendment to a bill authorizing various relief
measures for municipalities, would have postponed the in-school suspension mandate
until July 1, 2012. The measure was offered during Monday’s Special Session of the
Connecticut General Assembly.
Under a recent state law (Public Act 07-66), most students who are suspended from
school must serve their suspensions in school rather than out of school. The mandate,
which takes effect July 1, 2009, is expected to cost municipalities an additional $80
million in 2008 and $100 million more in 2009.
“Waterbury school administrators, who strongly oppose this new state mandate, say it
will add significant costs to the city’s education budget – money that is simply not there,”
said Representative Noujaim, R-74th District. “The requirement forces Waterbury schools
to provide rooms where suspended students can serve their suspensions and teachers to
supervise them, which could add millions in unanticipated costs to Waterbury’s education
budget. At a time when Waterbury and other cities across the state desperately need
relief, it is beyond belief that the state legislature’s majority party could have rejected a
common sense proposal like this.”
“With our state’s economy already in a slump that is expected to get worse in the months
ahead, overburdened taxpayers in Waterbury and Middlebury cannot afford this
mandate,” said Representative D’Amelio, R-71st District. “We convened in special
session today to provide relief to municipalities and to eliminate the state’s projected
deficit of more than $300 million for the current fiscal year. Our proposal to postpone inschool
suspensions until 2012 was offered in a bi-partisan spirit to help our cities and
towns cope with sharply-rising costs and revenue losses. At a time when families across
the state are struggling to keep their homes warm, feed their families and pay their
mortgages, it’s unbelievable to me that the majority Democrats would have blocked a
proposal that would have helped our cities and towns get through a deepening recession
without raising property taxes.”
