The Connecticut Social Equity Council is learning the hard way to “use it or lose it” after discovering that the money allocated to fund equity programs that was not utilized will return to the general fund. According to reporting from GrownIn, the council was provided with almost four million dollars in funding for fiscal year 2022 to conduct technical assistance, workforce development, and an accelerator program. The 2022 fiscal year ended on June 30th and by that time the council had only used $239,000. The council was only recently made aware that unused funds would be surrendered to the general fund. The amount of money that will need to be returned in the end is not yet known. Avery Gaddis, a member of the Social Equity Council, said during the meeting that he tried to warn the council about the amendment that was filed in the FY 2023 budget that now requires the council to return money that was not used in the 2022 Fiscal Year.
Find the full story from GrownIn here: https://grownin.com/2022/09/09/connecticut-sec-fumbles-away-funds-for-diversity-programs/
