Cheeseman, House Republicans Unveil 2024 Caucus Proposals Focused on Making CT More Affordable

HARTFORD—State Rep. Holly Cheeseman (R-37) along with her House Republican colleagues, in advance of the start of the 2024 legislative session, unveiled proposals Thursday they say will maintain the state’s fiscal stability while making Connecticut a more affordable place to live.

Among the proposals is a call to amend the State Constitution to protect the “fiscal guardrails” that have allowed the state to build a solid Rainy-Day Fund and begin to pay down long-term debt.

“We need to maintain the fiscal guardrails put into place during the 2017 Bipartisan Budget which helped us soften the blow of the pandemic and gave Connecticut historic levels of surplus enabling us to give taxpayers the first ever cut in the state income tax,” said Rep. Cheeseman, the (R-East Lyme), House Ranking Member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

“I think there’s a sense among our Democratic colleagues that, because we achieved some measures of tax relief last spring, we can rest on our laurels and retreat to focusing only on figuring out ways to spend more on government programing,” said Rep. Holly Cheeseman. “The reality is that we still reside in one of the most expensive states in the nation, and we can’t fix that unless we continue to make strides toward reducing the cost of living here. And we can’t have that conversation without proposals like these.”

This legislative session House Republicans will again push for the creation of a state child tax deduction of $2,000 per child, a proposal they first offered in their alternative budget proposal last spring that drove discussion about tax relief that was ultimately included in the two-year state budget last spring. Additionally, Republicans want to exempt children’s clothing under $100 from the state’s sales tax all year long.

Other proposals unveiled Thursday include:

• Reduce the sales tax to 6.35% from 7.35% on motor vehicles valued between $50K and $70k, helping residents adjust to skyrocketing prices
• Reduce the mandatory paid family leave payroll tax to .4 percent from .5 percent
• Help small business workers by authorizing establishment of association health care plans

The affordability-focused proposals are part of House Republicans’ “Security and Service” agenda for the 2024 legislative session, which covers a variety of subjects—from community crime to election integrity.

View the caucus agenda at www.securityandservicect.com.

The 2024 legislative session begins Feb. 7.

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