Sen. Somers Releases Statement Re: Governor’s Budget Proposal
February 6, 2018HARTFORD, Conn. –State Senator Heather (R-Groton) released the following statement regarding Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s budget proposal released on Monday, February 5.
“Yesterday the Governor legitimized the old saying – ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’,” said Sen. Somers. “Has he learned nothing from the fiscal crisis that he and his majority party created here in our state with two of the largest tax increases in Connecticut’s history? Leading with taxes is not leadership! These taxes are devastating to our economy, to our residents, and it is absolutely not the way to retain retirees or attract more people or businesses to come here.”
Sen. Somers released her statement in response to Governor Malloy’s budget proposal that 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
“The governor’s actions provides another opportunity for the General Assembly to collaborate and work together on a budget proposal that doesn’t lead with taxes,” said Sen. Somers. “The dialogue cannot be to take more from the hard-working families and employers across our state. We must take a different approach to government and deliver services in a more cost effective efficient manner while ensuring quality outcomes; I am certain this can be done. It is unacceptable to ask the Connecticut people once again to pay more to an ineffective government and to do more with less when the state can’t even manage its own checkbook.”
