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The Republicans are proposing an alternative budget, according to a press release, in response to Malloy’s "controversial proposal that includes election year tax gimmicks," which the legislature's Democrats recently passed through the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.
The Democrats’ budget plan included "several one-shot revenue grabs, including the raiding of $207 million in off-budget accounts to circumvent the Constitutional Spending Cap, the delaying of $346 million in scheduled debt payments and the doling out of $55 tax rebate checks to residents just in time for the November elections," Republicans said in the release.
“We’re staring down large-scale deficits next year, with no concern for developing a plan to address the enormous systemic shortfall,” said Scribner, a veteran member of the legislature’s tax-writing panel, in the release. “Connecticut residents are a lot smarter than to believe our state government is flush with cash and handing out ‘free money.’ Residents just saw their taxes skyrocket by $1.8 billion thanks to Governor Malloy’s last budget – sending back a few bucks as part of a thinly-veiled election year stunt doesn’t help put our fiscal house in order or help create jobs.”
The Republican alternative budget includes the following, according to the release:
- $26 million in increased municipal aid
- $55 million in spending reductions
- Elimination of $60 million in business surcharges
- Acceleration of the sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear costing less than $50
- Acceleration of the sales tax exemption on non-prescription drugs
- $3.1 million in increased funding for mental health services
“Our budget plan reduces spending, pads the Rainy Day Fund and does not create deficits.”
The Office of Fiscal Analysis "certified in writing that the Republican alternative budget is the only proposal that reduces the $1.1 billion deficit projected for the next budget cycle," according to the release.
“The Democrats’ budgets sweep specialized funding intended for critical services, including the clean energy investment fund, the tobacco and substance abuse prevention fund and the Special Transportation Fund," Scribner said in the release. "In our budget, we restore these funds, including the $18 million they raided from the gas tax revenue that is designed to finance desperately needed bridge and road repairs.”
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