Posted on February 1, 2024
HARTFORD—House Republicans, in advance of the start of the 2024 legislative session, unveiled proposals Thursday that 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.
“The relative fiscal stability Connecticut enjoys today is attributable to the strict fiscal controls that were approved and later renewed on a bipartisan basis, and to retreat from them now, as some of our Democratic colleagues would have us do, would indicate a willingness to return to the haphazard budgeting that characterized state government not all that long ago,” said House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford). “Amending our State’s Constitution to protect our revenue and volatility caps would cement our commitment to a fiscally conservative approach that demands each of us who serve in state government make informed, and sometimes difficult, choices about our budgetary priorities.”
Candelora and Republicans discussed their caucus proposals during a news conference at the Legislative Office Building, where they explained that most conversation ahead of the three-month “short session” has focused on eroding the guardrails to increase spending. Efforts to deliver tax relief, they said, can’t be ignored.
“I think there’s a sense among our Democratic colleagues that, because we achieved some measure 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 (R-East Lyme), House Ranking Member. “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. Additionally, Republicans want to exempt children’s clothing under $100 from the state’s sales tax all year long.
Other proposals unveiled Thursday include:
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.
