Bolinsky Calls on State to Change Budget Course

NEWTOWN- State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) was disappointed with the newly released consensus revenue estimates for the state announced by the Governor and legislative leaders, showing that Connecticut is not learning important lessons from its past budget mistakes.

“This week, the General Assembly and Connecticut taxpayers received confirmation of recent forecasts showing that our state continues to kick its budget can down the road. By continuing to plug budget holes with one-time revenue gimmickry and borrowing, all we do is push off the responsibility of solving our alarming problems to future generations”, said Rep. Bolinsky, a member of the Appropriations committee, which is tasked with writing the budget for the state of Connecticut.

The legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget agency issued a joint report that lowered expected revenues for the 2015-16 fiscal-year by $163 million. OFA had estimated in June that the state faced a $712 million shortfall in its general fund — a gap equal to about 4 percent of annual operating expenses — in the first budget that will follow the 2014 election.

Bolinsky added, “After three years of raising taxes on everything under the sun and borrowing just to pay the light bill, Connecticut looks to be in a similar position once again. Back then, when other states were making tough decisions about reigning-in spending, our Governor placed us on a course to raise revenues, increasing our sales tax from 6% to 6.35%, imposing a new .25% conveyance tax on selling a house, raising the income tax on those earning $50,000 or more by 10% and dinged us all with another hidden tax on gasoline. And let us not forget that, even with the last, record tax increases, our state still needed around $2 billion in borrowing over the last three years. Have we not learned anything?”

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo stated that “besides slow growth in employment and personal income in Connecticut, trends in consumer credit and household spending also don’t point to an economic boom anytime soon.” He continued by suggesting our state’s “focus should be on fast-growing “cost-drivers” in the budget, including Medicaid-funded health care, debt service, which is 11% of our state budget and state employee retirement benefits.”

Connecticut’s underfunded pension, retiree health care and bonded debt liabilities total $46.5 billion; nearly $18,000 for every person in the state.

“Buying a failed New Haven Tennis Tournament and pushing through KENO in the dead of a June night will not solve the latest forecasted revenue shortfall in an atmosphere of continued state spending escalation. What kind of message do we send to our children by having high-stakes video gambling in 2,000 bars and restaurants, many of which families go to dine out?” asked Rep. Bolinsky, who continued: “And what kind of message do we send to taxpayers by establishing Earned Income Tax Credits for those who don’t pay state income taxes? Is this a fair solution for working families?”

Bolinsky concluded, “You know, the philosophy of spending money we don’t have and then taxing and borrowing to plug the holes is not working. Taxpayers I speak with are tired of the continuing upward spiral of tax increases. It’s time we begin to live within our means and prioritize, just like every family in Newtown must do at their kitchen tables every night.”