Connecticut Senate Democrats were expected to pass a balanced, $55.8 billion dollar budget Tuesday that has no new taxes, reduces costs, maintains fiscal responsibility, and makes transformative investments in child care and public education.
The Senate’s expected passage of the bill follows a Monday vote in the House of Represenatives and will send the budget to Gov. Ned Lamont for his signature.
The biennium plan falls under the spending cap in both years and maintains fiscal responsibility, resulting in a balanced budget, even as Congressional Republicans abandon budgetary discipline and endorse Donald Trump’s deficit-ballooning plan to cut taxes for the rich.
“While Republicans push a gimmick-laden budget that undercuts support for working families to fund windfalls for the ultra-wealthy, Connecticut Democrats have passed a responsible, balanced budget that does the opposite,” Senate President Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff. “We pay down debt instead of exploding it. We expand access to child care instead of slashing Head Start. We deliver record education aid to towns instead of dismantling the Department of Education. And we provide tax relief to lower-income working families — not billionaires. The contrast could not be more stark. Democrats are delivering for working people with smart, responsible investments. Republicans are on track to bankrupt the nation with heartless budget cuts to benefit those whose wealth is already unfathomable.”
Tax Relief for Struggling Families vs Handouts for the Rich
The Democratic budget creates a $250 tax refund for hundreds of thousands of lower-income workers with children through the Earned Income Tax Credit program. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans have pushed through a budget that raises costs for Americans who can least afford it.
State Surplus vs National Debt
Connecticut Democrats’ budget will result in state surpluses and a flush Rainy Day Fund as the Republicans advance an irresponsible budget that relies on a historic increase in the national debt, totalling $3.8 trillion in additional federal deficit by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Funding Schools vs Dismantling Education Department
The state budget includes $2.4 billion in Education Cost Sharing grants — historic funding levels of state education aid to towns that comes as Republicans try to claw back education grants and work to abolish the Department of Education. Connecticut Democrats also included an additional $40 million in each year of the budget to help towns cover the cost of special education services.
Expanding Child Care vs Closing Head Start
Connecticut’s budget will result in state surpluses, which will be used to support Senate Bill 1, a landmark expansion of child care, benefiting families across the state. Meanwhile, Republicans have shuttered Head Start offices around the nation and fired their staff.
Protecting Health Care vs Gutting Medicaid
The state budget fully funds Medicaid, including more than $400 million in increased funding to shore up the program on which 900,000 Connecticut residents rely, while Republicans attempt to cut hundreds of billions from the social safety net program, which supports Connecticut children, seniors, and persons with disabilities.
Funding Foodshare vs Cutting SNAP
Connecticut’s two-year budget plan invests $7 million in Foodshare, a nonprofit that helps to feed hungry families, while Republicans passed legislation cutting billions from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a food assistance program that more than 390,000 Connecticut families rely on.
Preserving Heating Assistance vs Eliminating LIHEAP
Republicans have proposed legislation to defund the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a longstanding federal initiative that helps about 100,000 Connecticut families heat their homes during the winter. Democrats included an additional $3 million in the state budget to help the families Republicans deliberately left out in the cold.
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