Connecticut GOP Pitches Plan To Stop Tax Hikes

Connecticut’s residents might not be paying higher taxes over the next two years, if the Republicans in the statehouse get their way. Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, and House Minority Leader Larry Cafero, R-Norwalk, released their own proposal for the state’s spending over the next two years. The plan would cut an additional $1.5 billion in funding from the plan proposed by Gov. Dannel Malloy.

“Our proposal achieves its objective by refocusing government on its core functions, eliminating waste and redundancy, and beginning the process of restructuring state government for the long-term,” McKinney said in a statement. “The result is a no-tax increase budget and a solution to the economic challenges of our state that is both fiscally and socially responsible.”

The majority of the cuts McKinney and Cafero offered were in state employee salaries. Their budget plan would get rid of 27 of the state’s 81 agencies (three more than Malloy proposed) and laying off managers in the rest. As a result, more than 1,600 state employees would be let go, and hundreds of jobs left open by retiring employees would not be re-filled unless deemed “essential.”

The Republican plan would also hire 60 new state police officers to cut overtime expenses. They also proposed boosting the power of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit within the Division of Criminal Justice, which they say would save billions in unnecessary Medicaid costs.

Malloy’s plan called for increases to income taxes for those making more than $20,000, adding five more tax brackets to the current three. He also proposed increasing gas, alcohol and sales taxes, while eliminating exemptions for services such as haircuts and clothing. McKinney and Cafero’s plan would stop those hikes and restore the $500 property tax credit for homeowners.

“Anyone who has to get up and drive to work would pay more under the Democratic budget,’’ Cafero said. “The Democratic sales tax hike will be felt most by middle-income families and businesses who pay more than 50 percent of all sales taxes in Connecticut.’’

The final budget decision rests with the state’s General Assembly. The Democratic Party controls the Senate, 22-14, and the House, 99-52.

What do you think of the competing state budget plans? Share your opinions in the comments below.

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