Statement from Chief Deputy Minority Leader John A. Kissel (R-Enfield) on Governor Malloy’s signing into law the largest tax hike in Connecticut’s history:

“This budget, with its largest tax increase in Connecticut history, may be Gov. Dannel Malloy’s ‘Hurricane Katrina.’

“We haven’t seen the repercussions from the state employee concession negotiations. We haven’t seen or felt the fallout from these tax hikes yet, but we most assuredly will. In the coming months, taxpayers will see the impact when more money is taken out of their paychecks. They will feel it when they buy clothes and shoes for their children. And they will be stunned at all the new taxes that will pop up, like weeds, everywhere.

“People in our middle class, struggling to make ends meet, will soon be paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars in additional taxes. The outcome could be devastating to this state and to our families, friends and future. This may not be the moment Governor Dannel Malloy believes it to be. This may be Governor Malloy’s Hurricane Katrina moment. Unfortunately, this is a hurricane our state could have avoided. ”