Facing an unprecedented cash flow crisis, Rep. Vincent J. Candelora, of East Haven, North Branford and Wallingford, today railed against more borrowing by the state Bond Commission to pay for daily government operations, including state employee salaries and expenses, casting a spotlight on just how precarious state’s finances have become. See a video with Candelora’s remarks after the meeting. Candelora is the Ranking Member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, which makes him an automatic member of the Bond Commission.

Candelora said, “We cannot continue to borrow hundreds of million of dollars for operating expenses and claim that it will pay for large capital projects when the reality is that may not be the case.’’

Rep. Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk and the House Minority Leader added, “With the state’s deteriorating financial health, it should be clear that Connecticut is getting in even deeper over its head. We are borrowing on the backs of future taxpayers.’’

Candelora broke with protocol and voted against borrowing another $520 million that is technically earmarked to pay for capital projects, including high speed rail improvements. Based on documents released today, however, it is clear that the newly borrowed money will also have to pay ongoing state expenses or the state risks going broke.

According to State Treasurer Denise Nappier unless the Bond Commission authorization of $520 million goes through, Connecticut would have just one week of cash in hand to pay for all bills coming due. Connecticut uses a Common Cash pool to pay for all of its obligations, from day-to-day operating expenses to construction projects. As tax revenue has diminished in the last year from 75 percent of the overall pool to now 50 percent, Connecticut’s over reliance on borrowing just to pay the bills has become acute.

“I cannot support using the state Bond Commission as an ATM to fund every day government expenses. Dedicated bond funds should be used for bridges, highways, rails and schools, not to balance the state budget that is saddled with programs we cannot afford,’’ Candelora said. “You cannot tell taxpayers this huge sum of money will pay for rail improvements – or anything else – when you know that is obviously not the case.’’

Candelora voted against authorizing any new borrowing because he said it was clear to him that the use of the $700 million the state borrowed a year ago for “cash flow’’ issues was directed at individual short term projects instead.

Candelora said Connecticut will close its books this year with a cash account that is 60 percent less than last year. If revenues from all sources; from taxes, fees and federal resources; plummet the state could find itself without enough money to pay its bills.

“Ignoring the problem will not make it go away,’’ he said.

“Rell canceled Wednesday’s scheduled State Bond Commission meeting after leaders of the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee questioned why the $580 million in short-term borrowing – approved in April 2009 when the state was more than $1 billion in deficit – still hasn’t been repaid.

And Rep. Vincent J. Candelora of North Branford, ranking House Republican on the committee, said he was unaware the financing had been sought to keep the state’s checkbook in balance, and not to finance capital projects.”

“About 27 percent of the funds in the state’s cash pool at the end of January 2009 came from bonding, while that ratio had jumped to 52 percent one year later, said Candelora, who sponsored a measure enacted this year that requires the treasurer to issue monthly reports on the state’s cash balance starting in October.”

Excerpts taken from Keith Phaneuf’s Aug. 13 column in the CT Mirror.

Candelora reiterated concerns, which he has been voicing for months, about the state’s decision in 2009 to issue $580 million in Bond Anticipation Notes, or short terms bonds. The BANs were issued in 2009 with favorable interest rates of 0.47 percent and 1.15 percent, along with $1.135 billion in general obligation bonds, to address the states sharp drop in revenue.

The short term bonds were issued to enhance the states cash position, state Treasurer Denise Nappier said Tuesday.”

These are excerpts from a story originally covered by CT News Junkie.

State Representative Vincent J. Candelora, Ranking Member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee in the legislature, raised concerns to Governor Rell over the lack of information from the State Treasurer regarding Connecticut’s debt status. The concern comes just as the Governor called the state bond commission together to approve two major transportation projects. Candelora, joined by other lawmakers on the commission, asked the meeting to be postponed until members are provided accurate information on short term state bonds before deciding on more bond debt.

The Record-Journal and Hartford Courant carried the story.

State Rep. Vincent Candelora Achieves Perfect Voting Record

State Representative Vincent Candelora continues his exemplary record of public service by registering a perfect voting record in the Connecticut General Assembly.

Candelora, who represents North Branford, East Haven and Wallingford in the state House of Representatives, gave an up or down vote 100 percent of the time for the 274 votes of the 2010 legislative session. Only about 20 of the 151 legislators in the state House of Representatives accomplished such a voting record.

“To me, my service as an elected representative is both a serious responsibility and a distinct honor.  In these unprecedented economic times, it’s crucial to be in Hartford for every vote to express concerns about the rising wave of state taxes and fees, cutting back excessive borrowing, reigning in spending, opposing unfunded mandates, reducing energy costs, and creating an environment of prosperity for generations to come,” said Candelora.

Candelora is the Ranking Member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee for the legislature.

Rep. Vincent Candelora Encourages Residents to Sign Up for Emergency Notifications

Representative Vincent Candelora is encouraging residents to sign up for the CT Alert Emergency Notification System. CT Alert ENS allows state and local officials to help protect lives and property by providing critical information to residents during emergencies, including dangerous situations related to schools or an emergency weather alert like a tornado warning.

The system allows authorized users, such as state and local emergency personnel, to quickly send out an emergency alert to residents in any affected geographic area within the state. Depending on the emergency, the alert may be sent to an entire town, part of a town, a group of towns, or a large area of the state.

“In emergency situations, reaction time is precious. The more reaction time the better their chances residents have of escaping harm,” said Candelora. “Most people don’t always have on a TV or radio during the day but they do usually find themselves near an office phone, home phone, or cell phone. This system would provide those residents with the earliest alert of a potential life-threatening situation,” he continued.

To sign-up for alerts or to learn more about the program you can visit www.ctalert.gov. In addition to a “land-line,” residents can also add mobile phones, e-mail, text messaging and other instant messaging as a means of receiving alerts.

“In light of the recent southern Connecticut severe weather and tornado warnings, I wanted to encourage everyone to take advantage of this service that our state provides free of charge,” said Candelora. “The CT Alert ENS a great tool. It’s an easy way to add a level of protection and peace of mind,” he said.

CT Alert ENS is managed by the State Departments of Public Safety and Emergency Management and Homeland Security and is available for use by state and local 911 Emergency Communications Centers, and some state agencies.

Rep. Candelora Celebrates Bipartisan Jobs Bill Signing

Rep. Candelora attended the bill signing of a bipartisan “Jobs Bill” passed in the legislature that offers incentives for employers to hire, provides credit to small businesses, supports emerging industries and helps manufacturers find efficiencies. Ideas from Democratic legislative leadership were combined with aspects of the House Republican’s “Jobs Bill” proposal to create a plan alongside the Governor’s office for job growth.

“…General Fund revenues, excluding federal aid, are less than $320 million ahead of last fiscal year’s pace, despite just over $950 million in tax and fee hikes.

Rep. Vincent J. Candelora of North Branford, the ranking Republican representative on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding committee, said the new budget – which Republicans unanimously opposed in both chambers – was built on contradictory assumptions. And Williams and Rell, he added, are conveniently forgetting the $100 million hole that the new $104 million in surplus growth effectively creates.

‘This is about perception and deception,’ Candelora said, accusing Williams of election-year posturing. ‘It’s about intentionally trying to deceive the public so they perceive we are balancing the budget and doing our job. Come January 2011, everybody is going to be faced with a cold dose of reality.’”

To read the entire article, follow this link to the CT Mirror’s website.

As the smoke clears from the latest legislative session, we are all discovering what bills passed the state House of Representatives and the Senate.  On the last day of session, hundreds of votes were taken in the chambers, sometimes at a frantic pace.  Inevitably in all of the rush, an important bill will die for failing to pass through one of the chambers, either the Senate or House.  I was pleased to see House Bill 5455, An Act Concerning The Master Transportation Plan passed both chambers and is waiting the Governor’s signature.

A recent study from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign examined the safety of pedestrian walkways in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  They ranked New Haven and New London counties as dangerous places for pedestrians.  Friends and family members of Jeffrey Peter Spencer II did not need to see the report to know there is a problem with pedestrian safety.  Last summer, after using a push to walk pedestrian traffic signal, Jeffrey Spencer was killed by a motor vehicle while crossing Route 80 in East Haven.  The crosswalk signaled for him to cross, but what he and others did not know, was the signal failed to provide sufficient time for anyone to cross the street.  It also was not coordinated with traffic lights to remain red, stopping traffic, while people crossed safely.  The Spencer family, State Senator Fasano (R-34) and I successfully advocated to have the Department of Transportation fix the crosswalk, yet clearly more needed to be done with state-wide transportation policy to ensure safety standards. When crosswalks are installed a traffic authority, which can be the Police Commission for town roads, should ensure proper crosswalk markings, test signals to provide sufficient crossing time, and ensure traffic light coordination for pedestrians to safely cross a street.  That’s exactly what House Bill 5455 bill does and why I proposed it this legislative session.

The bill also gives flexibility to the traffic authority to determine if a “push to walk” pedestrian traffic signal is necessary for smaller roadways with a sufficient line of sight, slow vehicle traffic, or no vehicle congestion.  The bill specifically requires traffic authorities to consider pedestrian safety when designating crosswalks rather than only prioritizing traffic flow.  I found it astounding that on one hand, the state reconstructed Route 80 in East Haven and installed sidewalks for pedestrians’ safety; yet on the other hand, when the state created a crosswalk on the Route 80 four lane busy intersection with turning lanes, that pedestrian safety was overlooked and there was no way to safely cross.  In other words, pedestrian safety was provided for in all areas of the Route 80 reconstruction, except for where pedestrian safety is most dangerous: crossing multi-lane busy roads. Common sense should have dictated this conclusion.

House Bill 5455 will go a long way in to ensure traffic authorities provide safe crosswalks in Connecticut.  It is a common sense proposal that never should have needed legislation.  Jeffrey’s parents and grandmother demonstrated great strength through this process, and I thank them for bringing the issue to the state. We hope to avoid these types of tragedies in the future and make our roads safer for residents.

Vincent J. Candelora