Connecticut Comptroller Sean Scanlon (D) said the state’s fiscal health is the best in decades, but he warned lawmakers not to rock the boat in next year’s legislative session.
The state ended the 2023-24 fiscal year with over $400 million in surplus in the General Fund. The Special Transportation Fund, which focuses mainly on upgrades to the state’s transportation infrastructure, ended with a positive fund balance of $967,853,700. This is the sixth year Connecticut has had a budget surplus.
The state’s rainy day fund has more than $4 billion.
While discussing his office's FY24 year-end report, Scanlon credited the fiscal guardrails adopted in 2017. The guardrails force the state to spend less and save more.
Republicans and Gov. Ned Lamont favor keeping them, but some Democrats think the state should spend more on things like education and housing. Scanlon said there were ways to update them to accommodate a changing state, but warned against major changes that could disrupt what he has seen as a successful tactic.
“What we're doing is working, from a perspective of getting the state's fiscal house in order,” Scanlon said. “And if the state's fiscal house is not in order, we can't serve the people that all of us want to serve. And if we backslide away from that, those people will be the first to be negatively impacted by that.”
The state’s highest costs in FY24 included Medicaid and pensions.
After the year-end report was released, Republican lawmakers expressed concern about the next legislative session.
Sen. Eric Berthel (R-Bethel), ranking senator on the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Henri Martin (R-Bristol), ranking senator on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, and Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Bethlehem) released a joint statement.
“The comptroller is right to commend Connecticut for paying down on debt and building up emergency budget reserves,” the senators said. “What’s left unsaid is that the positive news will end next year. Those smart fiscal guardrails that Republicans fought to put in place in 2017? You can kiss those goodbye. Budget gimmicks will be back in style at the State Capitol.”
A request for comment from Democratic legislative leaders was not returned before this story was published.
