The Connecticut General Assembly gave final approval Tuesday to a $55.8 billion biennial state budget that avoids new taxes on residents, stays under the spending cap, and makes targeted investments in critical public services like education and child care.
The Senate passed the plan on a 25-11 vote late Tuesday, following House approval the day before. The budget now heads to Gov. Ned Lamont for his signature.
Democrats, who hold majorities in both chambers, described the budget as fiscally responsible and contrasted it with deficit-inducing budget legislation from Congressional Republicans, which they said prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of working families.
“While Republicans push a gimmick-laden budget that undercuts support for working families to fund windfalls for the ultra-wealthy, Connecticut Democrats have passed a responsible, balanced budget that does the opposite,” Senate President Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff said in a joint statement.
The state budget includes $2.4 billion in Education Cost Sharing grants for Connecticut towns and cities, a $186 million increase over current funding levels. It also contains an additional $80 million to help municipalities offset the rising cost of special education services.
The budget is expected to result in state surpluses, which will be used to support Senate Bill 1, legislation passed last week, which included a landmark expansion of early childhood education, creating affordable new child care slots that will be free to some families, depending on their income.
Democratic leaders contrasted these investments with the deep cuts to public services sought by Republicans.
“We pay down debt instead of exploding it. We expand access to child care instead of slashing Head Start,” Looney and Duff said. “We deliver record education aid to towns instead of dismantling the Department of Education.”
Senate Democrats also compared their proposal’s tax priorities to those of Congressional Republicans, who are seeking to pass a budget that includes a host of tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
The two-year state budget avoids increases in income, sales, or gas taxes, and provides financial tax breaks for lower-income households. It boosts the state Earned Income Tax Credit by $250 per family, impacting tens of thousands of residents.
As Republicans pursue deep cuts to social programs like Medicaid, the state budget shores up the program with more than $400 million in order to maintain coverage for 900,000 residents. Lawmakers also added $7 million for Foodshare and $3 million for heating assistance to help families left out of federal programs, including the Low Income Heating Assistance Program, which Republicans have moved to defund.
The governor, a Democrat, is expected to sign the budget. According to CTNewsJunkie, Lamont’s office released a statement following the bill’s passage. It praised the plan’s investments in education, early childhood care, and Connecticut’s social safety net.
“Importantly, it includes significant investments in our education system, beginning with historic levels of support for early childhood education, up through our K-12 public schools and our higher education institutions,” Lamont said. “It also protects our social services safety net, prioritizing our health and human services providers and increasing support for our most vulnerable residents, including seniors and those who have disabilities, who receive Medicaid.”
