Our Wall Street Journal Letter: There Should be No Tax Increases in CT

June 4, 2021

OPINION: Ned Lamont, Wise on Income Tax, Raises Other Taxes

Letter to the editor as it appeared in the Wall Street Journal

Your editorial “Ned Lamont Says No More Taxes” (May 24) provokes some observations as deep-blue Connecticut braces for job-killing Democratic-backed tax hikes under one-party rule. First, the real reason for the Constitution State’s overflowing rainy-day fund is a 2017 bipartisan budget deal which happened when the state Senate was tied with 18 Republicans and 18 Democrats. That deal included spending and volatility caps that are paying huge dividends today.

Second, Gov. Lamont, who wasn’t even in Hartford in 2017, is currently proposing $250 million in regressive tax hikes on gas, mileage, food and health insurance. The state has a surplus of nearly $500 million, over $7 billion in federal aid and over $3 billion in our rainy-day fund. Yet our governor wants people to pay more.

So, while minority Republicans support the governor in standing tall against the far-left Democrats’ progressive agenda, we believe there should be no tax increases in Connecticut.

Kevin Kelly

Stratford, Conn.

Paul Formica

East Lyme, Conn.