Connecticut officials project the state will end its fiscal year in June this year with a $136.3 million budget surplus.
That’s about $28 million less than had been projected last month, said Comptroller Sean Scanlon.
He said that despite the reduction in the budget surplus, Connecticut still has a $4 billion rainy day fund.
“We now rank 14th in the United States, in terms of our rainy day fund size, which puts us in the top quadrant of states in terms of recession, which I think is great,” Scanlon said.
But he cautions Gov. Ned Lamont and state lawmakers to watch state spending on Medicaid and other federal programs that have had cuts by Congress.
“Many of these things are going to be driven by what happens in Washington. That's obviously out of our control. But what we can control is how we react to them. And I think that's a lot of what 2026 is going to be about,” he said.
Last November, lawmakers approved using $500 million from the state’s surplus for a contingency fund to backstop federal cuts to safety net programs.
Lamont is already spending about $168 million from the fund, and has the authority to spend more before lawmakers resume their regular legislative session in February.
