Republicans in Connecticut said the state needs to put away its credit card and curb its debt habit.
The bond commission Tuesday approved almost $188 million in new bonding for a wide variety of projects across the state, taking total borrowing this year to over $2 billion.
Republican Senator and Bond Commission member Scott Frantz said he can’t support continuing to expand borrowing.
"We have already long ago reached record debt levels, and I think it would be prudent to stop bonding for a while and really take an assessment of where we are as a state," he told the commission. "Can we carry the kind of debt that we have?"
But Governor Dannel Malloy, who chairs the bonding commission, told a press conference Republicans are being hypocritical.
"It’s wonderful to have your cake and eat it too, I suppose," he said. "I put out press releases supporting projects in my town, but I’m against other projects in other people’s towns. I think what people have forgotten is bonding is investment, and investment is bonding in the state of Connecticut."
Annual state borrowing has nearly doubled since 2012.
