About the the budget plan I supported:

Here are some of the key provisions of the budget plan I supported during this year's budget debate:

Funding for things that matter:

Education: The budget I supported this year would have increased State funding for our local schools by $100 million - $70 million more than originally proposed by Gov. Rell. State education funding is important to preserving the quality of our schools while keeping property taxes down. I am happy to report that the compromise budget the legislature negotiated with the governor increases education funding by over $80 million, $48 million more than the governor's budget proposal.

City & Town Aid - property tax relief: The budget I supported had a $165 million increase in municipal aid - $160 million more than Gov. Rell's budget proposal. This aid directly helps cities and towns to keep property taxes down, so I considered it a priority to fight for an increase in this important funding. The compromise budget that we won increased city and town aid by $142 million - $137 million more than the governor's budget proposal.

Only 1.7% more: Even with these increases in property tax relief and education funding, the budget I supported would have been only 1.7% more than the governor's proposal.

Taxes: unfair vs. fair:

Rell's Tax hikes
on the middle class & poor:

In her budget proposal, Gov. Rell proposed raising taxes on the middle class and poor, while sparing the wealthiest people in the state from paying their fair share.

Taxing the middle class: Gov. Rell proposed lowering the property tax credit people can take on their income taxes by $150.  The budget I supported would have kept the existing law that was to increase the property tax credit back up to $500.  Unfortunately, Gov. Rell got what she wanted, and she will increase taxes on the middle class.

Taxing the poor: Gov. Rell also proposed raising taxes that disproportionate hit the poor.  She wanted to raise the cigarette tax again, impose a new tax on other tobacco products and increase the alcoholic beverages tax.  But, the cigarette tax has been increased several times in the past few years, so I did not think it was a good idea to increase these taxes.  Fortunately, we were able to keep this tax increases out of the budget.

A fairer way:

"Millionaire" tax: This proposal would have asked people whose incomes are over $500,000 (for married couples) – people who are among wealthiest 1% in our state – to pay just 1% more, and millionaires with incomes over $2 million to pay 1.75% more.  Even after this increase, the wealthiest 1% would still pay a lower overall tax rate than middle class and poor families, when property taxes and sales and excise taxes are considered.  I think this would have been a fairer solution to the state's budget deficit than Gov. Rell's plan to raise taxes on the middle class by cutting the property tax credit.  Even though the "millionaire tax" did not pass this year, I will continue to push for including it as part of property tax reform – asking millionaires to pay a little more so that most people can get a much-needed cut in property taxes.

Questions and Answers about the budget debate.

1. What were the real differences between the budget I supported and the Governor’s proposal?

   • The Governor’s budget proposed requiring the middle class and the poor to pay more:

     • A lower property tax credit.

     • In alcohol and cigarette taxes

   • Meanwhile, the Governor’s budget would have resulted in:

     • 10,000 people without health care

     • Higher property taxes

     • Nursing homes strikes

   • The Democrats' budget called for the wealthy in our state to pay their fair share while making sure that:

     • An additional 20,000 HUSKY A recipients have health care for a total of 30,000

     • Property tax relief provided through additional state aid and increasing the property tax credit to $500

     • Additional funds provided to help nursing home workers, without having to have a strike

2. Who would be affected by the "millionaire tax"?

   • The proposed upper-income tax increase would have begun at incomes of over $500,000 for joint filers.  This would mean that upper income taxpayers would only pay more on income over a million dollars.

   • These upper-income people, the richest 1% in Connecticut, have enjoyed the benefits of George Bush’s massive tax cuts - far in excess of what we are asking them to contribute to our state now.

   • A family of four with a household income of $1 million saw their federal income tax reduced by about $32,000. The Legislature’s plan called for an increase of about $4,400 for this family.

   • With a net windfall of over $27,000, it is doubtful that there would be an exodus of millionaires from our state.

Click here to see a summary of the changes other legislators and I proposed in order to make the budget fairer than the governor's proposal.