State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) and fellow Senate Republican caucus members held a press conference today to discuss their proposal to immediately restore the state's property tax credit from $350 to $500 with $100 million of the projected budget surplus, and place the rest of the surplus into the state's rainy day fund. The legislature drained the rainy day fund and cut the property tax credit during the past two years as a means of mitigating the billion-dollar budget deficit. With economic forecasts projecting a surplus for the first time in years, the Senate Republicans stated their belief that Democrat proposals to open the budget and increase spending are fiscally irresponsible.

"It is our opinion, as a caucus, the most responsible course of action to take with the surplus is to give it back to the taxpayers in the form of restoring the property tax credit," said Senator DeLuca. "The Democrats have been running around all session talking about raising taxes on millionaires, dead millionaires, and those millionaires who actually only make $250,000. Now they see a surplus and want to rescind the tough decisions we made during the budget crisis so they can increase spending. That's fiscally irresponsible, and it jeopardizes our economic recovery. We have raised taxes by over a billion dollars over the past two years, the Senate Republicans believe it is time for us to give the taxpayers of Connecticut immediate relief."

According to figures from the Office of Fiscal Analysis, the cost of restoring the property tax credit from $350 to $500 is $105 million. The Senate Republicans pointed out that restoring the credit this year allows the state to keep the 2-year budget in place while re-investing millions of consumer dollars into state's economy. Investing the remainder of the surplus, believed to be around an additional $100 million, into the rainy day fund would help the state restore its bond rating.