Sen. Fasano Statement on Gov. Malloy Budget Proposal

HARTFORD – Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano (R-North Haven) released the following statement regarding Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s budget proposal released today.

“In his last term, Gov. Malloy is doing everything he can to make sure his failed policies outlive his time in office. After seven years of disappointment, the governor still hasn’t learned from his mistakes. His brand of irresponsible tax policies, what he calls a progressive agenda, has created the crisis Connecticut now faces. What the governor released today is nothing more than a continuation of his legacy of tax increases, economic decline and penalties on the most vulnerable.

“Gov. Malloy has been in complete control of our state for years, and we’ve all seen the disaster that has resulted from his governance. However, last year lawmakers worked together to change that narrative. We passed a historic bipartisan budget that took many important first steps to control spending and borrowing and send a message that Connecticut is ready to shed the label of most taxed state in the nation. Today, we saw Gov. Malloy’s response to that effort on full display. He is rejecting our progress. He is rejecting a new direction. He is living up to the labels that have ruined Connecticut’s image across the country. He is going back to what he has always said: ‘Let’s tax more!’ His proposal would move Connecticut backwards.

“Last year the legislature, in a bipartisan effort, did something historic, positive and full of hope. As we continue to work on our budget proposals, we intend to stay on that path. I think everyone in Connecticut knows by now that following Gov. Malloy’s leadership only brings fiscal disaster.”

Gov. Malloy’s budget proposal includes the following changes of concern to Connecticut residents:

• New tax on nonprescription drugs
• New tax on low income working families and elderly individuals by eliminating the $200 property tax credit
• Higher taxes on retirees by eliminating newly passed tax breaks on social security and pension income
• Hurts the housing market by increasing real estate conveyance tax
• Eliminates STEM tax credit
• New tax on tires, gas tax increase and proposed implementation of tolls with no understanding of the cost to Connecticut residents
• Increase to hotel tax
• Penalizes job creators with tax increases, at the same time the national effort is focused on reducing burdens on job creators in other parts of the country
• Does not restore funding for the Medicare Savings Program
• Cuts to municipal aid
• Rejects the new Education Cost Sharing formula that fairly distributed funding for the first time in decades to schools based on need, population, poverty and other factors.