May 13, 2002

The 2002 regular session of the General Assembly ended Wednesday night without adopting a revised state budget for FY '03 that would address the state's substantial projected budget deficit. The failure to approve a revised FY '03 budget was cited as the reason why the General Assembly also failed to take action on the 21st Century UConn proposal during the regular session.

Immediately upon the close of the regular session, the General Assembly called itself into special session.

Legislative leaders indicated that action on the $1.3 billion program to continue UConn's transformation and extend UConn 2000 would be held up until the governor and the legislature negotiated a solution to Connecticut's budget shortfall. The General Assembly decided to delay votes on all capital spending proposals until an agreement was reached about how to approach spending cuts and revenue enhancements for FY '03.

"There is broad bi-partisan support for 21st Century UConn," said Scott Brohinsky, director of communications. "We are continuing our efforts, with the help of the UConn Advocates, to secure passage of the proposal by the General Assembly during the special session."

The focus of the special session will be to resolve the state's outstanding spending and revenue issues, which will include appropriations for the University and the Health Center. The scope of the special session has been drafted to encompass action on the 21st Century UConn proposal.