A short history lesson is in order. Way back in April, when legislative flunkies of all flavors were trumpeting how much of a budget surplus they could all spend, the bonding package that was on the table totalled $3.4 billion. An example:

State Senator John A. Kissel (R-Enfield) was pleased that the State Senate approved a bonding package tonight that included $2.8 million for the town of Enfield. The language was included in section 14 of State Senate Bill 2001 and passed the Senate just after nine o’clock this evening. Senator Kissel had worked closely over the last several months with a variety of state officials to ensure that the funding was part of the bill. The funding will compensate the town for costs incurred upgrading its wastewater treatment plant to handle excessive sewage flow produced by the state’s Department of Corrections.

First we have Governor Rell saying this about the bonding package way back in April:

…a grossly overloaded collection of pork projects and power grabs that will saddle generations of Connecticut children with senseless debt and send the state’s credit rating into an uncontrolled tail spin. This bonding package exceeds my proposals by a staggering average of 30 percent in each of the next two fiscal years, Governor Rell said. The fact that we cannot exceed very specific limits on bonding without putting our credit rating at risk – to say nothing of the fact that we already spend 60 cents in interest on every dollar we borrow – seems to mean nothing to the Democrats.

Somehow the Governor overlooked this earmark of her own later In Spetemeber:

September 5, 2007 — Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that a $1 million allocation to help overhaul and improve Connecticut’s “Megan’s Law” on-line sex offender registry will be included in the next bond package.

Then we have Jim Amann focusing on just what is in the blonding package recently in The Connecticut Post:

“It is the governor, not the Legislature that sets the Bond Commission agenda,” Amann said. “No bonding occurs without the governor’s approval. It is Gov. Rell and her predecessor — John Rowland — that are responsible for current debt through their bonding allocations.” Amann said that the annual legislative bond package is merely a “menu” from which the governor can pick and choose. “

The fact is that the governor has Advertisement authorized less than $20 million of requested projects from House Democratic legislators over the last two years,” he said, adding that the current bond package includes $147 million in line items for Democratic projects.

The current total also includes $25 million for Bridgeport’s long-broken Congress Street Bridge. The bridge was the subject of $10 million in long-term bonding in the 2005 state budget. Rell, who controls the Bond Commission through the Office of Policy and Management, never put the project on one of the panel’s monthly agendas.

“Despite what you may hear out there on our current bonding package, there are no ball fields or gazebos or what the governor considers pork,” Amann said, adding that current Republican earmarks total $125 million. “Considering our majority, that’s not much of a difference,” Amann said.

Democrats control the House by 107-44 and the Senate 24-12. “Apparently this governor wants to go back to the secret pools of money that brought us projects such as the boondoggle known as the Juvenile Justice Center, which wasted $57 million of the taxpayers’ money.” Amann said, recalling that the project became part of the federal corruption probe that led to Rowland’s resignation and year-long prison sentence.

So who is right? We have to take a look at past history and how the process works. The state borrows money intended for long term spending that is capital intensive such as; building construction, building repair, land acquisition, or economic development. For 2006 Connecticut borrowed $1.5 billion in new funds. Currently, Connecticut owes about $12.7 billion — the highest per capita debt in the US at $3600 for each state resident. Interest on the debt runs about $1.7 billion. Those are pretty big numbers.

Every year the Bonding Subcommittee (part of the Finance Committee) recommends projects that are referred to as the “bonding package.” That doesn’t mean they are approved, first the Subcommittee holds public hearings then it gets voted on by the full what gets spent because the agenda is set by the Governor’s Office of Policy and Management, and if a project doesn’t get put on the agenda, it won’t get voted on. We can see all the agenda’s and the bonding budgets here: Connecticut’s Bond Allocation Database.

The sad truth is that since 1995, Republicans in Hartford have been spending money like drunken sailors. Are there no fiscal conservatives other than David Capiello in this party?

So Rell took a look at the $3.2 Billion bonding package and vetoed it. The thing is, its been an all Republican show running those Bonding agendas. Things like:

Adriaen’s Landing is a major public and private economic development effort located in downtown Hartford. The total cost is projected to be $771.1 million and includes the following: $355 million in state general obligation (GO) bonds and $99.55 million in state appropriations; $74.2 million in revenue bonds and loans through the Capital City Economic Development Authority; and $242.35 million in private investments. (Note, only the $355 million in state GO bonds will be allocated through the State Bond Commission).The total amount allocated to date is $539,600,000.00.

A little self finger pointing might be in order.