Rep. Veach Backs House Republican “Reality Check Budget” Proposal

HARTFORD – State Representative Donna Veach (R-Berlin) joined her House Republican colleagues in presenting their “Reality Check Budget” which honors the fiscal guardrails, protects Connecticut’s long-term fiscal health, and reduces the size and cost of government by $600 million.

This budget delivers relief to local property taxpayers by protecting state aid to municipalities—such as fully funding special education—which helps reduce what residents would otherwise owe in local taxes. It lowers electric bills by reforming the “public benefits” charge and a regulator-run program that forces customers to pay the utility bills of others. The plan also makes responsible financial choices, investing in essential government services while also removing healthcare for illegal immigrants, and somewhat duplicative governmental positions, such as deputy commissioners in state agencies.

“Government needs to take the same approach to budgeting that our residents do and finding ways to live within our means and the biennium budget we’ve proposed does just that,” Rep. Veach said. “It reduces statewide operating expenses by 5-percent, removes costly expenditures like illegal immigrant healthcare, iPads for prisoners, and redundancy in state government. We take steps to reduce electricity bills, fully-fund special education, increase funding for CT Foodshare and Medicaid rates, yet most importantly it does all of this within our fiscal guardrails and doesn’t rely on more tax increases to remain balanced.”

The $54.4 billion two-year proposal was fully vetted by the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA). Unlike the proposal adopted by Majority Party members of the Appropriations Committee, the House Republican budget is a true ways-and-means product in which spending aligns with revenue. The budget also remains $45.5 million under the spending cap in FY26, and $928.5 million under the spending cap in FY27. It spends $769.6 million less than the Governor Lamont’s budget proposal, and $1.285 billion less than the plan from legislative Democrats.

Among the provisions of the House Republicans’ Reality Check Budget:
• Reduces electric bills by beginning to remove the “public benefits” charge
• Eliminates the “Passport to Parks” fee on motor vehicle registration
• $137.5 million in Medicaid rate increases to support struggling healthcare providers
• Reduces health insurance bills by removing administrative costs passed on to customers.
• Supports contributions to pensions and debt to protect Connecticut’s fiscal future

The House Republican proposal, available at www.realitycheckct.com, allows residents to choose how they would use $320 million to provide tax relief.