Senator Frantz Releases Statement on Governor’s Proposed Budget

HARTFORD, Conn. – Today, Senator L. Scott Frantz (R-Greenwich) released the following statement regarding Governor Malloy’s proposed 2018-2019 biennial state budget.

“Unfortunately, this budget has devastating potential for the 36th Senate district and Connecticut as a whole,” said Sen. Frantz. It includes over $200 million in annual tax increases on low and middle income families, over $400 million in new property tax burdens, potentially 4,200 state employee layoffs and as a result of the governor’s pension deal, he has proposed to push $570 million in expenses onto our children’s credit cards.”

“The budget also includes a proposal to allow municipalities to tax hospitals and hospital owned facilities. The question is how much more money is the state going to try to extricate from our hospitals? This is nothing but a shell game,” said Sen. Frantz. “In addition to this he has proposed $632 million in new tax increases – which includes at least a $408 million property tax increase as a result of shifting nearly one-third of the annual cost of municipal school teachers’ pensions onto our cities and towns.”

“Our state cannot move forward with a proposal like this. It is short-sighted and does not create a stable or predictable fiscal structure,” said Sen. Frantz. “The state cannot continue to attempt to balance the budget with tax increases and unrealistic assurances, and yet again the governor has attempted to use misleading methods to solve our budget crisis.”