Kelly, Formica: Lamont celebrates government awash with cash meanwhile family budgets are broken

HARTFORD – Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) and Senate Republican Leader Pro Tempore Paul Formica (R-East Lyme) released the following statement in response to Governor Lamont’s press conference held today touting state finances:

“The Governor’s celebrations from under the Capitol dome are completely out of touch with reality for Connecticut’s working- and middle-class families. The governor is celebrating government being awash with cash meanwhile family budgets are broken. Not only are CT Democrats refusing to deliver relief now, they are actually asking people to pay more taxes to a government that is flush with cash. While people are losing their homes and struggling to afford basic needs like groceries and transportation to stay employed, CT Democrats are raising taxes. Republicans offered a better way to deliver $1.2 billion in tax relief, energy assistance to help people pay their heating bills, and even a plan to make health care more affordable. Our plan did not touch the state’s rainy day fund and still made historic contributions to pay down on pension debt – that’s how much surplus our state has. But our plan was rejected, and CT Democratic leaders instead are pocketing an $800 million surplus rather than help CT families who are suffering from a 40 year high in inflation.

“If CT Democrats are so proud of the financial protections Republicans demanded as part of the 2017 bipartisan budget then why did they vote against extending them this year? These fiscal controls ensure that our bond ratings stay high. The ‘bond lock’, the state’s pledge to abide by these fiscal controls, is the only way to ensure the state’s fiscal protections remain in place – the very protections that they celebrate now as the reason for our historic rainy-day fund and pension payments. So why did they vote against this? Connecticut had the opportunity to both preserve our financial protections and deliver significant tax relief. CT Democrats failed to deliver on both accounts. The middle class will continue to pay.”