Anne Hughes

We passed a balanced 2-year budget for Connecticut out of the House of Representatives last night. While it does not go far enough in embracing a more equitable, publicly-supported, fair-share budget that we advocated hard for, it is indeed a significant step closer to a fairer, stable and fiscally responsible budget than we have had in a generation. 

Here are some highlights:

• We have increased funding for education from the Governor’s budget and we have removed the teachers’ pension cost shift to towns, which would have resulted in increase in property taxes.
• Through an agreement, the budget funds local hospitals to expand access to healthcare and protect thousands of jobs.
• Expansions made to the Angel Investor tax credit and a repeal of the Business Entity tax to support small business.

With this budget, we have made significant investments in Connecticut’s working families by:

• Supporting the start-up funding for the Paid Family Medical Leave program.
• Funding the workforce development pipeline to better match our curriculum with employer needs.
• Increased funding for Higher Education to help stabilize tuition and improve long-term stability of our college and university system while establishing a plan for debt-free college

The budget also makes investment in Connecticut’s most vulnerable residents by expanding funding for essential programs like Husky A Medicaid and Meal on Wheels while rejecting the Governor’s asset test for the Medicare Savings Program. In an effort to support a healthier planet, we have found opportunities to reduce single-use waste by implementing a 10 cent tax on single-use plastic bags followed by a full ban in 2021 while helping to reduce polluting emissions through rebate incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles. We have done all this without a single income or sales tax rate increase. 

As your public servants, we have a critical responsibility to deliver a balanced budget on time to provide our towns, schools, and seniors some stability and predictability, while making good faith payments on the debts we owe.

We have only increased the courage for more bold, fairer and equitable approach to our budget and policy challenges going forward. We are proud of giving the collective political will a big boost to do the right thing for our state. This is progress.