Gov. Ned Lamont has revealed his plan on how he wants to spend the more than $2.5 billion given to Connecticut from the new American Rescue Plan.

Officials say half of it will plug the state budget, and some of it will go toward fighting the pandemic.

"We have a plan in place that's going to make sure this money makes a lasting difference for the people hardest hit by COVID," Lamont says.

"First of all, we will finish the job on COVID. We will continue our vaccine program and continue to provide testing in our hardest-hit communities," says Dr. Deidre Gifford, the acting public health commissioner.

Lamont wants to use more than $200 million to expand child care, including free summer learning programs. He also wants to offer free apprenticeship and job training programs at community colleges.

There's even more money for mental health.

"This governor has put forth a plan that allows for Connecticut's children to thrive. They are smart; they are beautiful. They are resilient, regardless of their ZIP code, regardless of their skin color," says Vanessa Dorantes, the children and families commissioner.

There's also $500,000,000 for small businesses and grants for cities.

That money will be divided up and go to:

The Lamont administration predicts it could keep or create 80,000 jobs.

"I want to make sure that at the end of Year Three, we're proud of the investments we made. We can point to a difference we made in people's lives. I don't want anyone saying, 'What happened to the money?'" says Lamont.

State lawmakers will decide how all this money gets spent. They'll get the governor's full plan on Monday and have a month to make any changes.