By State Senator
Dan Debicella
Governor Jodi Rell has proposed a strong two-year state
budget designed to help Connecticut cope with the reality
of this difficult economy and a large state deficit.
Her $38.4 billion package calls for making tough choices
while maintaining our shared priorities.
Governor Rell’s budget has three key priorities,
each of which I share: no new taxes, maintaining education
funding, and reducing the size of government. Connecticut
is facing a projected deficit of $6-8 billion (20% of
the state budget), and Governor Rell has given us a
strong blueprint for eliminating it.
No New Taxes. First and foremost,
Governor Rell has taken a strong stand that Connecticut
residents are already overtaxed. Raising taxes in a
recession will only make life harder for struggling
middle class families. I hope all of us—Republicans
and Democrats—stand behind the Governor in her
commitment not to raise taxes.
Maintaining Education Funding.
In the last two years each of our towns received historic
10-20% percent increases in state education funding,
which both helped our students while keeping local property
taxes in check. Governor Rell has proposed maintaining
that education funding. If we cut local education funding,
state government would just be passing the problem onto
our towns—which would likely have to raise property
taxes to cover the shortfall. I am proud to have supported
these historic increases in education spending, and
am glad the Governor maintains them for the next two
years.
Governor Rell also proposes several ideas to help towns
lower property taxes. She has proposed delaying or eliminating
some unfunded state mandates, such as requiring schools
to have in-school suspensions. Governor Rell also wants
to offer financial incentives for municipalities to
regionalize services when it makes sense to do so.
Shrinking Government. Rather
than raising taxes or reducing education funding, Governor
Rell eliminates the deficit by reducing the size of
state government. There is no one “silver bullet”
in the budget, but rather dozens of smaller cuts designed
to clear the bloat of bureaucracy in state government.
Her budget eliminates 848 state employee positions
(out of approximately 50,000 employees) and eliminates
23 state agencies. She is also seeking $275 million
per year in state employee union concessions. The budget
requires higher Medicaid and ConnPACE co-pays and deductibles.
Governor Rell has cancelled $450 million in pork-barrel
bonding projects, and delayed the implementation of
dozens of programs. She consolidates two state hospitals
and two courthouses, and increases the costs of state
fees and licenses. Finally, Governor Rell utilizes the
state’s $1.4 billion Rainy Day Fund and $1.7 billion
in federal stimulus funding.
Governor Rell is asking Connecticut’s citizens
to make some hard but necessary sacrifices to get our
state through this difficult time—just like each
of our families are doing. However, if the economy continues
to get worse, we may need to reduce the budget even
more than she proposed. As Ranking Member of the Appropriations
Committee, I am looking for smart ways we can reinvent
government—in other words, provide the same services
for less money. For example, one idea I have proposed
is switching our delivery of social services from our
state workers to non-profit community providers. This
would save taxpayers almost $200-300 million per year,
while not impacting the level of service to the poor
and needy. Indeed, this is how the majority of states
deliver such services. While I fully support Governor
Rell’s budget, we may need to look at such innovative
ideas for further spending reductions to reduce the
size of government.
Finally, don’t believe people who tell you we
can just “tax the rich” to solve the deficit.
Some have suggested raising taxes on those making $200,000
or more will solve the deficit. While everyone agrees
the rich should pay their fair share, such a tax increase
would bring in a few hundred million dollars at most—a
small amount relative to a deficit is $6-8 billion.
Anyone who says “tax the rich” really means
“tax everyone”—though higher sales
taxes, expanding the corporate tax to small businesses,
and raising the income tax on the middle class.
I believe Governor Rell has the right priorities for
Connecticut: no new taxes, maintain education funding,
and shrink the size of state government. I will be supporting
her budget, and looking for ways to make additional
reductions in state spending if the deficit continues
to worsen.
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