Reps. Hwang and Rutigliano Express Disappointment in Process and Implications of Partisan State Budget
HARTFORD – State Reps. Tony Hwang (R-134) and Dave Rutigliano (R-123) voted against the nearly $44 Billion State Budget that passed the CT General Assembly House along party lines by a 95 to 48 vote. They cited the lack of responsibility and transparency displayed by Governor Dan Malloy in the legislative majority’s biennium state budget. The Democrat proposal lacked bipartisan input, raised taxes, borrowed for operating expenses, and increased government spending by nearly 10% over the next two years, all on the heel of an historical tax increase from the past biennium budget.
“Connecticut consistently ranks in the bottom in business friendliness, in places to retire, and pension indebtedness,” said Rep. Hwang. “We needed to make positive and bold decisions to change our current standing and this bigger government budget does nothing to correct that. The problem isn’t that we tax too little; it is that we spend too much. Our communities deserve a more transparent and representative government and in unilaterally passing a last minute budget in the middle of the night did not achieve that. It is an injustice to the constituents we represent.”
“Gov. Malloy promised to take us down a different path three years ago,” said Rep. Rutigliano. “He assured us that if we took the tough medicine, which included the largest tax increase in state history, our state would get back on the right track. That didn’t happen. And now the Democrats hand us a budget in the middle of the night – which borrows to pay operating expenses – and tell us it will get better. This is simply unacceptable and our hard working tax payers deserve better.”
The passed budget borrowed $750 million dollars to help pay for the day to day expenses of the state government, while increasing spending by nearly 10%. It closed the budget gap by moving an unprecedented $6 billion out from under the state spending cap, and extended the following taxes and credits: generation tax, caps on insurance premiums, a corporate surcharge, and the implementation of the “Amazon Tax.”
$100 million in transportation money was swept out of the Transportation Fund and put into the General Fund and the budget contains no structural cuts, only spending increases, which has created a deficit of more than $600 million the year after the next biennium. The budget also delays the payment of almost $400 million in debt, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary interest charges in the long run.
Republicans offered amendments that imposed a state employee hiring freeze and prevented sweeping monies set aside by electric rate payers for conservation programs. Recommendations were made to prevent the looming cuts to hospitals, and stopped the gas tax hike scheduled to take effect July 1.
“History tells us that government always finds a need for whatever money it gets,” said Hwang. “In these tough economic times we must make the tough decisions to reverse this irresponsible trend. We need to protect our most vulnerable and their safety net by shifting costly state services to our more effective community non-profits. Creating a more friendly business climate, and empowering our bioscience and manufacturing industries to create jobs. Working together in finding efficiencies to create a smarter government is a much better path than what passed before us today. I stand ready to work toward those goals in a bipartisan process that represents the best interest of all of our constituents.”
“As someone who employees people in this state, I can tell you first hand this is not the path to future prosperity,” said Rep. Rutigliano. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, and it shocks me to know Gov. Malloy hasn’t yet realized that more taxing, more spending, and more borrowing is not going to get our state’s economy back on track.”
Rep. Tony Hwang in his 3rd term in the Connecticut General Assembly House of Representatives and represents the 134th District, which encompasses portions of Fairfield and Trumbull. Rep. Hwang is the ranking leader in the Government Administration and Elections Committee and a member of Public Safety & Security Committee and the Insurance and Real Estate Committee during the 2013-14 legislative sessions. Rep. Hwang is a member of the CT Innovation Life Sciences Business/Government Group and co-chair of the bipartisan General Assembly Bioscience Caucus.
Rep. Dave Rutigliano was first elected to represent the 123rd district in November of 2012. Dave and his wife Michele live in Trumbull with their two boys who attend public schools.