This State Budget is Dishonest and Reckless Sen. Welch: Government breaks faith with the people

Hartford, CT – State Senator Jason Welch (R-Bristol) released the following statement re: his No vote on the Emergency Certified House Bill 6704; An Act Concerning Expenditures and Revenue for the Biennium June 30, 2015 (the state budget).

“The state budget passed doesn’t fix the most fundamental problem we have; we spend too much. When you include the increases from Medicaid into the budget equation spending is increased by 8.8% over two years. We should be cutting spending not increasing it. Especially since the largest tax increase in state history did not fix our financial problems as promised by the Governor.

“Worse this $44 billion budget breaks faith with the people by exceeding our constitutional spending cap. In 1992, one year after the state income tax was first passed, the people voted to put a cap in place. It was their safety valve to make sure the lawmakers in Hartford don’t spend carelessly.

“No amount of semantics changes the fact that the way we have accounted for expenditures since enacting the cap has now been changed.

“I have offered solutions that would fix our long-term problems like shifting more social services to private non-profits such as Bristol Community Organization (BCO), as well as placing new state employees on 401k like plans. Unfortunately – these ideas have fallen on the deaf ears of the majority party.”

The vote in the senate was 19 in favor 17 against. The budget now goes to the Governor for his signature.