Democratic lawmaker calls CT budget 'a knee on the neck of the Black community'

Lamont hits back, defends his spending plan as 'progressive'


The Hartford lawmaker who lost his battle for tax reform with Gov. Ned Lamont opened Wednesday’s final budget debate with an inflammatory critique that likened the impact of the resulting fiscal plan on the Black community to the police killing of George Floyd, the crime that set off a national debate over criminal and economic justice.

Sen. John Fonfara, who normally would be advocating the merits of the $46.4 billion biennial budget as co-chair of the tax-writing committee, instead questioned the state’s commitment to addressing longstanding racial inequities, a criticism that could be interpreted as directed to his Democratic colleagues as well as Lamont.

“The murder of George Floyd generated an unprecedented response from many across the state. It did so primarily because of our ability to see Derek Chauvin’s knee on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes,” Fonfara said.

Fonfara said the decision not to tap revenue recently amassed by Connecticut to reverse gaps in education, health care, housing and economic opportunity was a moral failure.

Read more: https://ctmirror.org/2021/06/09/democratic-lawmaker-calls-state-budget-a-knee-on-the-neck-of-the-black-community/