Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont presented his next two-year budget plan to a joint session of the state General Assembly on Wednesday.
Lamont said the $50.5 billion proposal is focused on making Connecticut a more affordable place to live.
“This is a budget that is built to expand opportunity for all of our residents. It's anchored by a middle class tax cut keeping faith and expanding assistance for those most in need,” Lamont told lawmakers
The plan tries to do that by spending some of the state’s surplus on an income tax cut for working and middle-class families, for the first time in nearly 30 years. It also increases state funding for childcare, education, workforce development and transportation while keeping the budget balanced.
Lamont added that lawmakers critical of his plan should offer their own.
“For those of you who want a little more spending here. For those of you who want a bigger tax cut there. That’s fine. Tell me how you are going to pay for it. I can tell you for the next fiscal year our budget is pretty tight, there's no surplus built into it,” Lamont said.
Democratic leaders said they are encouraged by the proposal.
"We are encouraged by the values put forth by the governor in this budget and look forward to working with him over the coming months,” Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) said in a joint statement. “Connecticut's strong financial position means we can make critical long-term investments while also providing progressive tax cuts."
House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said the budget does not sufficiently address residents’ high electricity costs and workforce development in critical areas like public safety.
However, Candelora’s response wasn’t all negative.
“The governor's plan offers the much-needed recognition that federal COVID recovery money is ending, and his commitment to the type of structural tax relief promoted repeatedly by Republicans makes his proposal an appropriate launching pad for the General Assembly to craft a budget and policies that help achieve, rather than undermine, the governor’s central theme—to grow our state’s fragile economy,” said Candelora.
Budget negotiations between the Lamont administration and state lawmakers will now begin. An agreement must be reached before the legislative session ends in June.
