Connecticut is now one of only two states without a budget. Even California has passed one! Fortunately, our state does not shut down or issue IOUs when we do not have a budget. Instead, Governor Jodi Rell has been issuing month-by-month executive orders to keep essential government services operating. However, our legislature has failed in our most basic duty. We need to pass a budget—and one that does not raise taxes—as soon as possible.
Republicans and Democrats already agree on how to close $6.7 billion out of the $8.5 billion deficit. We have agreed on using federal stimulus funds, our Rainy Day fund, savings from an early retirement program, and securitization to close the majority of the deficit. The remaining question is what do we do with the last $1.8 billion—raise taxes or cut spending. I firmly believe that raising taxes is the wrong thing to do to middle class families right now. Instead, we must reduce spending.
Just like your family does, state government needs to live within its means. We need to make moderate spending reduction for some programs, and reinvent how others work to make them more efficient.
However, the largest barrier to passing a budget is the insistence on the part of some Democratic legislators that we raise taxes. The Democratic leadership’s latest proposal is a $1.8 billion tax increase, which would equate to about $500 for the average middle class family. Whether through raising income taxes, expanding the sales tax, increasing corporate taxes (which will be passed on to consumers), or spiking the cigarette tax, the middle class will get squeezed hard under this massive tax increase.
Fortunately, Republicans and moderate Democrats know the reality—that we do not need to raise taxes to eliminate our deficit. I have co-authored a budget that eliminates the deficit through moderate reductions spending and reinventing government to be more efficient.
So how can eliminate the achieve the $1.8 billion of spending reductions to close the deficit without raising taxes? First, we propose resetting all state program spending back to 2007 levels. We roll back the clock on recent increases in spending, which tend to be about 5-10% for most programs in the last three years. Second, we shift a significant amount of our social services from state agencies to non-for-profit community providers, who can provide the same quality of service for 40-50% less (because they are not unionized). Third, we combine twenty-three state agencies into six, eliminating duplicated back-office services. We do the same with our various community colleges and state colleges—centralizing functions like purchasing, admissions, and human resources. Through these reasonable, measured reductions and restructuring of state government, we are able to save $1.8 billion over the two years covered by the budget.
What we do not cut is education or Medicare spending. We maintain the historic 10-20% increase all of our towns received in the past two years in education funding, and maintain Medicare benefits for our elderly.
My hope is that moderates from both parties can come together to pass a budget that works for the families of the state of Connecticut, and not raise the already high tax burden on our families. Until then, we can feel confident that Governor Rell is keeping the government open and operating while the legislature lives up to our responsibility to pass a budget.
Dan Debicella is the State Senator representing Stratford, Shelton, Monroe, and Seymour. If you have feedback for him or want to talk about the issues, he can be reached toll-free at (800) 842-1421 or by e-mail at dan.debicella@cga.ct.gov
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