State approves hundreds of millions for local projects

Includes $5 million for dredging in New Haven harbor

Fresh from a recent bump in the state’s bond rating, Gov. Ned Lamont on Friday stepped away from his self-imposed “debt diet,” leading the State Bond Commission in approving $340 million in capital projects, including tens of millions of dollars in affordable housing projects and $55 million to advance the windenergy project based at the State Pier in New London.

With a lower interest rate of about 1.8 percent, the projects approved during a virtual hourlong meeting hosted by the governor in the State Capitol, included $5 million for harbor dredging and navigational improvements in New Haven, and $4 million to replace the crumbling roof and brick parapets of the historic 1888 criminal courthouse on Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport.

Lamont said previous years of fiscal prudence have allowed the state to loosen up.

“What it means is that we did a lot less over the last couple of years,” Lamont said during a news conference after the meeting. “It’s a pretty unique time.

It’s unique in terms of the extraordinary needs we have out there right now, and it’s unique in terms of the ability to borrow money at a real discount.”

Lamont stressed that he wants to see what kind of additional federal pandemic support comes from President Joe Biden’s proposed infrastructure bill, on top of $140 million in capital projects last year supported with federal cash. “That would probably influence what we do between now and the rest of the year,” Lamont said of the president’s $1.9-trillion proposal, which is stalled in Congress.

The state’s budget year starts on July 1 and Lamont said he anticipates at least one more meeting of the State Bond Commission, which he leads, before the end of June.

“Obviously, if we can borrow at lower costs, then it allows us to stretch our budgeted debtservice dollars further,” said Melissa McCaw, who as secretary of the Office of Policy and Management is the governor’s budget chief. “Basically it allows for more investment because of the lower cost of those bonds.”

State Treasure Shawn Wooden, a member of the bond panel, said at the end of the meeting that the upgrade from Moody’s Investor Services was the first of its kind for Connecticut in more than 20 years. “By contrast, as recently as 2017 we were being downgraded,” Wooden recalled. “This is great news for

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Harold Herring of Hamden fishes in New Haven Harbor from a pier off of South Water Street in New Haven on Oct. 6, 2020.

Jessica Hill / Associated Press Gov. Ned Lamont