A Connecticut economist said budget recommendations presented to Governor-elect Ned Lamont by outgoing governor Dannel Malloy are a good start but that Lamont needs to do more.
“I mean it’s crazy to be cutting your revenue base when you are facing billions of dollars in deficits such as in the current biennial budget that they have to adopt,” said Fred Carstensen, director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at UConn.
Connecticut faces a projected $1.7 billion deficit by 2020.
Carstensen said Connecticut should also increase its revenue base by doing some of the things neighboring states have done like legalizing and taxing the sale of marijuana.
“Other states like Rhode Island, like Massachusetts, like New York, have far more revenue from what are called non-tax sources. That’s things like tolls. That’s things like permitting sports betting and having a fee structure on top of that.”
Carstensen said Malloy’s recommended cutback to aid for senior healthcare, and shifting the cost of teacher pensions to local school districts are problematic.
Lamont will present his first budget to the state General Assembly in February.
