2019 Legislative Session Wrap-Up

June 19, 2019

My first legislative session ended last week. I am grateful and honored to have worked alongside my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on behalf of the people that sent me to Hartford.

Before I give you highlights on the budget and some of the bills we passed, I would like to invite you to an End of Session Town Hall that I will be holding tomorrow, on Wednesday the 19th, from 7pm-8pm at Norwalk Community College in the GenRe forum (East Campus) with Senator Bob Duff and Representative Chris Perone. I hope to see you there!

A Responsible State Budget: Approved by the House On Time

As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I was appointed to serve on the subcommittees of Conservation and Development, Transportation, and Legislative. I decided to attend not only my subcommittees, but also all of the other subcommittees, so that I could really understand the full budget and how it all fits together. I was able to review all expense items (and I did so line by line) that were proposed in the budget with many of these having public hearings throughout the last four months. It’s clear to me that four months is not nearly enough time to craft such a complex policy and my hope is that those of us that wish to see a more long term plan put in place for fiscal stability, meet throughout these next two years to prepare for the next budget cycle.

This budget was not perfect, in fact, far from it. But there were some great items in the budget that gave me the faith to support it.

The budget came in under the spending cap by $200,000 in year 1 and $5M in year 2, with additional spending cuts in the executive branch expenditures and with 1,000 current vacant positions to be left unfilled. Here is a summary of the employment numbers:

The Rainy Day Fund which is set up to be our recession reserve account, will have as much as $2.9B by the end of fiscal 2021. The Comptroller has recommended we have at least $2.8B in the account to make it through a recession.

Education
Over the next two years, Norwalk will receive an additional $1.5 million in state education funding. This is keeping in place the bipartisan ECS deal from 2017 that makes sure that towns like Norwalk and New Canaan get our fair share of state education funding.

This budget increases funding for higher education to help stabilize tuition and improve long-term stability of our college and university systems. It promotes “open source” online college textbooks to reduce costs. It also establishes debt-free community college to ensure that all students have access to college.

Below is a chart of the ECS and PILOT aide that Norwalk and New Canaan will receive over the next two years.

I heard from countless constituents who were against, school regionalization efforts and I am pleased to report that they are not moving forward.

Aging Adults
I heard from many aging residents in our towns that the rising cost of living was pushing them out of their homes and the community they love. I am pleased to say that we will increase the income thresholds which taxpayers may deduct Social Security income and phase out the pension and annuity tax. I fought hard against any Medicare Asset Test, as we want to encourage people to save for retirement and stay in Connecticut during their retirement years.

The Medicare Savings Program was on the brink of being unfunded. We heard from any people the community on the importance of this program so it was left whole in the budget.

Protecting our most vulnerable
This budget expands Husky A Medicaid coverage to 3,500 people who had lost their healthcare, creates a new LGBTQ+ health and human services network, and fully funds programs for the developmentally disabled.

Economic & Workforce Development
This Budget establishes a workforce development pipeline to better match curriculum with employer needs, including an advanced manufacturing focus to fill the thousands of skilled jobs that are currently open. It also recognizes the importance of developing small businesses, minority, and women-owned businesses with the expansion of the Angel Investor tax credit, a tax credit for those who invest at least $25,000 in an approved business.

Healthcare, Mental Health Parity and Hospitals
The House unanimously approved legislation that mandates insurance coverage for mental health and treatment of substance abuse. The legislation requires insurance companies to cover mental health and substance use disorder treatment at the same level as physical health. The bill also requires insurance companies to submit documentation each March to the Insurance Commissioner certifying whether they are complying with parity.

People with mental health and substance use disorders deserve the same access to care as those with cancer and heart disease. Proud to support legislation that ensures equal treatment and mental health parity for all in Connecticut!

I am also pleased to support that we put into laws, that insurance companies will cover pre-existing conditions. As we have seen the Affordable Care Act being chipped away, Connecticut heath insurance plans cannot deny coverage over preexisting conditions, which are under attack at the federal level.

We passed a law which will ensure that routine mammograms do not have copayments or any cost-sharing fees. We need to make sure that everyone has access to these early detection measures, which will save money in the long term by treating cancer earlier.

The budget addressed the very complex relationship between the hospital tax and federal reimbursements, and a lawsuit against the state with a potential $2 billion liability. I am pleased to say that we have reached an agreement with the hospitals that removes that potential liability, funds local hospitals, improves healthcare access, and protects thousands of jobs.

Environment
To create a healthier planet and care for the environment, which is such a vital part of our beautiful shoreline and farms this budget will reduce waste by implementing a 10-cent tax on single-use plastic bags followed by full ban in 2021. This measure both protects our natural environment and reduces recycling costs for our towns. The budget creates rebate incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles to help reduce polluting emissions. We have also passed many different pieces of legislation that move us towards a carbon neutral economy.

We have also passed bipartisan legislation to authorize 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030. This legislation positions the state to grow as a leader in green energy technology and ultimately help Connecticut achieve its renewable energy goals, while also growing Connecticut’s maritime industry.

Teachers’ Pensions
The Teachers’ Pension Program was amortized over a longer period of time yet the budget keeps up with current payments to the fund while not asking teachers to contribute more or break promises to our retired teachers who have made our school some of the top in the country.

Many of you voiced your opposition to the Governor’s proposal to shift some of the cost of teachers’ pensions onto our towns. I agree with you and this was one of the issues I drew the line on during negotiations on the budget. I made it clear to Democratic leadership that I would not support a budget that included that. With the support of other legislators, we prevailed.

Taxes
While the focus of those opposing this budget is on tax increases, there is no increase in the income tax rate, something that few thought possible when we started the session. This budget also reduces some taxes and rejects several of the Governor’s proposed ideas to broaden the sales tax. The tax cuts: Entertainment venue admissions taxes are cut in half from 10% to 5%. Craft beer breweries will enjoy a new tax credit to help grow this booming industry. The business entity tax is eliminated as of January 2020, helping small businesses and encouraging start-ups. The capital base tax on corporations will phase out by 2024. And, for those of you who enjoy the beautiful shoreline or lakes in our region, we also rejected the Governor’s proposed increase in the boat tax.

The negatives of the budget are tax increases on the following: Internet streaming services like videos and music, dry cleaning and interior design services, the sale of housing over $800,000, an additional housing tax of 1% over the incremental value on homes over $2.5M when the owner leaves the state, plastic and paper bags/alcohol/vaping all have additional taxes, and fees were increased from $35 to $100 on used car sales and from $20 to $100 on business registrations. The most controversial of the taxes was a new tax called the PET Tax which taxes pass through entities (LLCs/LLPs). PETs were able to offset the federal SALT deductions by 93% through a program put in place several years ago by the legislature. The rate has been reduced from 93% to 87.5%.

I pushed hard against tax increases. The first iteration of the budget had an expansion of sales taxes across the board including real estate, attorney, architect, engineering, and boating. There was a 2% capitol gains tax, which would have raised the rate from 6.99% to 8.99%. There was discussion on statewide property taxes and one of the big things that I did not like was a Medicare Asset Test that would unfairly burden seniors who have saved for retirement. I worked hard on pulling as many tax increases as possible from the budget. There’s always more work to do and I’m confident we can work in a bipartisan way to achieve long-term stability.

My Recess Bill Passed

The recess bill HB 7250, which I introduced this session, has passed the Senate and House. The bill allows schools to add in a 20 min of unstructured playtime for elementary students (K-5), beyond the requirement of just 20 minutes of physical activity. This bill also sets up a task force to study what a full statewide program would look like and to determine if more time should be devoted to unstructured play.

In Summary
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you and our district during this session. I look forward to next session and working with you to bring up new ideas and other items that we need to work on.

As I said before, no budget is perfect. We’ve worked hard to pass a budget that is a reflection of our values and aspirations for the future. With this budget, I believe we offer not only growth but security for the residents of Connecticut.

The budget passed in House and Senate and now moves, on to the Governor for signing.

If there are additional budget items you are interested in, please feel free to contact me.