Wikipedia Commons
A spending cap from 1991 is effectively squeezing the budgets for education, transportation, and other services in Connecticut.
Some spending priorities are exempt from the cap, including aid to poor communities, are exempt. However, important areas such as education are not. Debt payments on state bonding is also exempt, and critics say it's being abused by state government.
From the story: "When the cap was first created, nearly 40 percent of the budget’s general fund was spent on children, Gibson said, adding this includes elementary, secondary and higher education; school readiness programs; and health care...Now that ratio is about 30 percent as funding to cover the state’s legal obligations consistently eats up most of the allowed budget growth under the cap system."
Read the full investigation at the CT Mirror.