The head of a state-funded watchdog agency is wondering what proposed budget cuts could mean for the future of environmental oversight in Connecticut. In question is the future of the Council on Environmental Quality, which for more than 40 years, has monitored everything from air to wildlife conditions in the state.
It's a relatively small line item in the budget: about $180,000. That money funds two full-time paid positions at the CEQ. There's also a nine-member board that collects no salary.
In his budget proposal, Governor Dannel Malloy wants to eliminate that funding and transfer theCEQout of the executive branch and into legislative.
"There's a list of questions about how or if this could really work," said Susan Merrow, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
Number one on the list of questions is whether the CEQ could even survive the transition.
The proposal is to have the Office of Legislative Management absorb the CEQ, but there's no money allocated to cover its roughly $180,000 cost.
"This came as a surprise to us," Merrow said. "Over the last few years, there have been several budgets which have zero-budgeted the CEQ, and the CEQ has come back to life, but this time it's slightly different -- it's moving it to a different part of government, and we really aren't sure whether the Office of Legislative Management is prepared to do that -- to staff it, to take over overseeing all of that work."
Prior budgets had proposed incorporating the CEQ into both the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Office of Governmental Accountability, which currently oversees several departments, including the state's Freedom of Information Commission and the Office of the Child Advocate.
Merrow said those changes never stuck. "The environmental community really spoke up and said, it's really important to us," Merrow said. "For 180,000 bucks a year, this little agency does a lot, and represents the people's interest."
The budget process is a long one, and Merrow said nothing's finalized yet. To that end, she said the CEQ will meet this week to discuss its strategy going forward.