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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Clean-Energy Advocates Praise Malloy Budget Revision

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Friday, April 15, 2016   

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Gov. Dannel Malloy wants to restore money for renewable-energy programs in the state budget.

In its efforts to close the budget gap, the General Assembly's Finance Committee proposed taking $22 million from Connecticut's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and putting it in the general fund. Shannon Laun, energy and environment attorney with the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, said raiding the RGGI funds would be a big mistake.

"They've not only helped make Connecticut a real leader in climate and clean energy," she said, "but they also have reduced energy costs for a wide range of residents and businesses across the state."

The Finance Committee's proposal to divert the RGGI funds still is on the table and will be part of ongoing budget negotiations.

According to Laun, those funds not only help homeowners and businesses cut their energy costs but also provide 15 percent of the operating budget for the Connecticut Green Bank.

"They've been tremendously successful at making solar power more widespread throughout the state," she said. "They also have a really successful program, which enables business to make their operations more energy efficient."

Laun said every dollar of public money that goes to the Green Bank brings $10 of private investment. She said she knows that lawmakers face many tough choices as they work to close the $220 million budget gap.

"But diverting these funds would really be a bad move," she said, "and would set a really bad precedent that could jeopardize our clean-energy and efficiency programs into the future."

More information on RGGI Funds is online at ct.gov.


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