North Stonington — Residents came prepared Thursday night to discuss the state’s budget situation and its effect on their lives in a forum on the role of government hosted by state Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington.

Questions about spending more money to manage the opioid crisis, legalizing marijuana and concerns about a third casino all came up during the forum, which aimed to ask residents where they would like to see more or less government intervention in their lives.

Urban centered her discussion on her work bringing results-based accountability, which measures how well state programs are performing to be used as a basis for funding, to the Children’s Committee, which she chairs.

Residents sought clarification on the the Education Cost Share formula, the funding of which has been uncertain since a state Supreme Court justice ruled that Connecticut doesn’t fairly fund its schools. Selectman Nick Mullane asked Urban for an explanation of what the legislature is considering this year with regards to that issue.

“It is the biggest issue as far as I’m concerned,” Urban said, noting the Appropriations Committee last year decided some towns would see education aid reductions because of the state's poor budget outlook.

Some legislators were seeking a “reset” to remove some subsidies tacked on to the Education Cost Share formula. North Stonington receives about 140 percent of what it is due under the formula, she said.

In a departure from years past, there seems to be less opposition to the idea of electronic tolling on the state’s highways, Urban noted.

While resident Art Armstrong said that the "state is going to tax us and tax us,” he noted that the electronic tolling revenue would not add to the state’s workforce.

n.lynch@theday.com