The following is a press release sent by the office of State Rep. Gail Lavielle following the passage of the budget implementer bill during Monday’s special legislative session in Hartford.
State Representative Gail Lavielle (R-143) said that despite scathing criticism by businesses, residents, and healthcare providers, majority lawmakers made no significant changes during yesterday’s special legislative session to the budget they had passed on June 3. Rep. Lavielle said that the budget, which ushers in the second largest tax increase in Connecticut’s history, strikes a direct blow at the middle class and the working poor, and will make Connecticut even less competitive as a place to do business.
The June 29 special session was required because the legislature’s majority leadership left unfinished business on the table when it adjourned the regular session on June 3. Among the bills raised during the special session was an “implementer” bill that included the policy provisions necessary to implement the state budget, as well as a number of changes billed as responses to serious concerns voiced by businesses including GE, Aetna, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Stanley Black and Decker.
“It’s inconceivable that despite the massive public outcry, majority lawmakers still produced a budget that raises taxes and chases businesses out of the state. Connecticut was already teetering on a fiscal cliff, but this biennial budget, which is already set to create a $1.6 billion deficit in the subsequent biennium, will make the situation even worse. I voted against both the budget and the implementer bill, because neither made any of the structural changes necessary to set our state on a sustainable fiscal path. The budget directly hits the middle class, it will cause irreparable damage to our employers and our economy, and it will accelerate the continuing exodus of jobs and people from our state,” Lavielle said.
Adjustments made to the budget yesterday roll back only 10 percent, at most, of the original $1.8 billion in tax hikes that alarmed state businesses and families of all income levels, particularly middle class taxpayers. Majority lawmakers covered most of the tax rollbacks by diverting more than $100 million in additional revenue from sales tax increases that were intended to go to towns and cities. Lavielle pointed out that the budget’s new unitary tax, which would require businesses to pay taxes on companies that they run out of state, was merely postponed by the implementer bill until this coming January, granting businesses only a six month reprieve.
In addition, Connecticut’s homeowners will still see their property tax break reduced, costing them roughly $100 million.
The budget implementer passed in the House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 78-65, with no Republicans voting in favor.
State Rep. Gail Lavielle represents Wilton, Norwalk, and Westport. She is Ranking Member of the General Assembly’s Education Committee and of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation. She is also a member of the Appropriations and Transportation Committees.