Rep. Penny Bacchiochi: End of Session budget reflection

The most important job I have as a State Representative is to make sure the legislature crafts a solid budget that balances the ability of the taxpayers to pay, along with the needs of the people of the State of Connecticut. At the end of the legislative session, which ended on June 5, the taxpayers were left with a $44 billion budget that disregard’s the state’s constitutional spending cap. We approved that spending cap in 1991 to restrain spending following the creation of the income tax, but the governor and the Democrats in the legislature circumvented the cap by redefining an unprecedented $6.3 billion in Medicaid funding. With billions taken off the books, a majority of legislators agreed to spend your tax dollars by a 10 percent increase, including borrowing $750 million for day-to-day expenses. Their budget delays nearly $400 million in scheduled debt payments, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in avoidable interest. Even after busting through the spending cap and borrowing money for operating expenses, legislators still reverted to fiscal gimmicks to generate revenue — including the introduction of a new lottery game called keno, and the sweeping of $15.5 million from the Tobacco and Health Trust Funds into the General Fund. I think most would agree that using cigarettes and gambling to balance the books isn’t exactly responsible budgeting. A new $600 million deficit is projected for the first fiscal year following the biennium. Motorists will feel more pain at the pump starting in July as the budget increases the gross receipts gas tax by a whopping 16 percent. Additionally, the package extends a number of taxes scheduled to expire, including the electric generation tax which will be passed along to consumers, and the corporate surcharge tax which will prevent businesses from hiring – breaking promises we gave to them years prior. With such extensive spending, borrowing and gimmickry you would expect to see, at least, some tax relief or enhanced essential services, but this is not the case. Instead of addressing the structural shortfalls by making meaningful reductions to the size and scope of state government, this budget kicks the can down the road and sets us up for another budget crisis in two years. We need to get Connecticut back on sound fiscal ground. There will be much bigger issues down the road, and we aren’t prepared to handle them responsibly. We should have used the budget negotiations to make responsible cuts and reform spending to help the small businesses succeed; to help ailing taxpayers breathe a sigh of relief; and to help consumers enjoy more of their earnings.