Suzio Amendment Would Cut State Funding For Planned Parenthood - Update

Update 3:44 a.m.

Governor Dannel Malloy's budget bill was adopted by the Connecticut Senate at around 3:12 a.m. Tuesday by a vote of 19-to-17. The bill is scheduled to move to the state's House of Representatives Tuesday at noon. 

The senate's session website indicates that Amendment LCO 5775 was not discussed on the floor Monday night or Tuesday morning. Two of Sen. Suzio's proposed amendments LCO 5826 and LCO 5780 were addressed and both were voted down on party lines, 22 - 14.

Original Story

As state senators debate Governor Dannel Malloy’s $40.1 billion budget through Monday night and into early Tuesday morning, they may spend some time discussing a controversial amendment posed by newly elected state Sen. Len Suzio (R-Meriden) that was the focus of a Democratic press conference Monday.

Amendment LCO 5775, which Suzio and state Sen. Michael McLachlen (R-Danbury) hope to propose during the senate budget proceedings, would cut $2 million from state funding for Planned Parenthood over the next two years.

“Planned Parenthood is one of the few organizations that was exempt from any funding cuts (in Malloy's budget),” Suzio said by phone late Monday night, during the senate’s session. The Meriden businessman, who won his seat in a special election this February, is well-known to have pro-life views, but did not explicitly mention abortion as a reason for his planned amendment Monday night. He said, "Why hasn’t Planned Parenthood been cut like any other health fund?"

The proposed $1 million per year cut would effectively eliminate all state funding for the organization.

Planned Parenthood has 18 health centers in Connecticut and provides services to nearly 65,000 people in the state. The national organization is known widely for providing abortions, but more than 90 percent of its services are routine gynecological exams, cancer screenings, immunizations, contraceptive services, and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

“The amendment is so ill-conceived that it should not be taken seriously,” said Democratic Majority Leader J. Brendan Sharkey at a press conference held by Democratic legislators Monday afternoon, according to a statement released by the House Democratic Caucus. “This is not the place or the time for Republicans to be interlacing their brand of extreme social policy and agenda into the very serious budget process that is facing the state.”

The Suzio-McLachlen amendment is one of more than 80 that Suzio and the 14-member Republican caucus intend to introduce this evening to the full senate. Suzio said he is most enthusiastic about a different amendment, LCO 5819, that he intends to propose that he said would sharply reduce the tax increases expected to hit Connecticut residents in the Malloy budget by instead restructuring the state’s debt.

"The Democrats have put us between two evils – raising taxes or throwing grandma out in the street. I have a third option, it can save Connecticut taxpayers a billion dollars a year,” Suzio said. “What (Democrats) should be denouncing is their tax increase – not their tempest in a teapot.”

Reached for comment Monday afternoon, Conn. House Speaker Christopher Donovan, a Democrat from Meriden, said Suzio's plan was not in the best interests of their shared hometown. There is a Planned Parenthood center in the city.

“Planned Parenthood provides services for women in so many ways – he’d be hurting our city by doing this,” Donovan said.

The house is expected to debate the budget on Tuesday, following state senate approval. Media outlets are reporting that with 22 members, the majority Democrats in the senate should have all the votes they need to pass the budget.

Other amendments Suzio hopes to have an opportunity to propose Monday night/Tuesday morning include Meriden-focused LCO 5780, which asks that state grants that provide per-student funding for Edison Magnet School in Meriden to the city's school district permanently stay at $3,833 per in-district student. The grants decreased in this year's budget from their 2010 funding level of $4,250, and Suzio said he'd like to ensure that they don't decrease any further.

Suzio is also slated to propose that the state and federal gas taxes be posted at the pump at Connecticut gas stations.

"So people can see what they're paying, rather than that being a hidden tax," Suzio, who campaigned on a vigorous anti-tax platform, said.