For those of you who may have missed it, Governor Lamont delivered his recommendations on February 10th for the biennial state budget for 2022-2023. I’ve included the full video below of the Governor’s remarks for you to watch:

While this is just the first step in the making of the state’s budget, it allows the Governor to lay out his priorities for spending and collecting revenue.

Here are a few of the most important items the Governor mentioned in this address:

• The deficit: The state is currently projecting an estimated $4 billion deficit for the 2022-2023, according to the Governor’s office. The Governor is recommending that the state close that deficit with a combination of expected federal money from the Biden administration or the state’s $3 billion Rainy Day Fund, which was created in part thanks to efforts by the Republican Caucus during the 2017 budget negotiations. Tapping the Rainy Day Fund requires a three-fifths vote of the General Assembly and could end up depleting the fund completely, depending on how much federal money the state receives.
• New revenues: Governor Lamont expects to create additional revenue through the potential legalization of recreational marijuana, sports betting, and online gambling. The revenues that the the Governor expects to be created by legalized gaming and marijuana are just that, “expected”. They are dependent on the demand for both, how quickly the state is able to put in place regulations for licensing and quality standards, and how high the taxes on these new practices end up being.
• Transportation funding: Likely the most controversial proposal in the announcement was the governor’s recommendation of a new highway mileage-based use fee for tractor trailer trucks that use the state’s roads. Gov. Lamont estimates that this would create an additional $90 million in revenue, which in turn helps the state qualify for additional federal funding for transportation infrastructure projects. It has been my position that the state first needs to look seriously at protecting the money already in the Special Transportation Fund, which has been diverted to too many unrelated projects in the recent past. That’s why I introduced a bill to amend the state constitution to prevent transportation funding from going to non-transportation spending items. You can read more about my proposal in this article.

I’ve included the Governor’s budget proposal documents below, as well as the statements issued in response to the budget by both Democratic and Republican leadership:

Statement from House Democrats

Statement from Senate Democrats

Statement from House and Senate Republicans

CONNECTICUT FY 2022 – FY 2023 BIENNIUM GOVERNOR’S BUDGET

Where Do We Go From Here?

The Governor’s budget proposal is just the first step in the biennial budget process. Not all budgets are passed the same way, but the following is a general outline of the process:

Step 1: The governor made his budget proposals via recorded video on February 10th.

Step 2: The House and Senate joint Appropriations and Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committees hold public hearings to discuss the budget priorities with the state department and agency heads, and with the public. The House Republicans have created an updated webpage with all the information you need to follow these hearings and provide your testimony in the process.

cthousegop.com/appschedule

Step 3: The Appropriations Committee develops the state’s spending plan for the next two years (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2023), and the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee develops the state’s REVENUE PLAN to cover the spending via a combination of bonding, taxes, and federal assistance.

Step 4: House and Senate leaders work with the governor’s office to develop the final budget bills.

Step 5: The budget bills are presented to both chambers (separately), and each chamber must pass the same bills.

Step 6: The approved budget is sent to the governor for his signature. Once signed, it becomes law.

The whole process can get quite complicated, and I will make sure to provide you frequent updates on my Facebook page and to subscribers of my email newsletter (see below).