Rep. Zawistowski Votes to Adopt 2024-25 Connecticut State Budget with Historic Income Tax Cut

HARTFORD – On Tuesday, State Rep. Tami Zawistowski (R-61) voted to adopt the FY 2024-2025 Connecticut state budget, headlined by a historic cut to the state income tax for middle- and low-income earners and families.

The fully balanced bipartisan budget also features more than $150 million for local education, establishes a phase-out of pension and annuity taxes, provides funding to reduce and eventually eliminate wait lists for autism waivers and supports other important programs for those with autism or intellectual/developmental disabilities, and provides investments in public safety – all within strict adherence to fiscal guardrails established in the 2017 budget agreement. Each of these key initiatives were proposed and supported by House Republicans dating back to 2022, when they proposed the income tax cut included in the final compromise.

“Through true bipartisan effort, Connecticut was able to lower the income tax for middle- and low-income earners while not sacrificing necessary investments in education and public safety. Our senior community will also benefit from the easing taxes on retirement income and I am proud that this agreement supports them,” Rep. Zawistowski said. “This is not a perfect budget – none are – but it is a meaningful step towards fiscal stability in Connecticut and financial relief for taxpayers.”

The new state budget will bolster Education Cost Sharing (ECS) funding which directly infuses our local schools with additional tools to strengthen our children’s education. In receiving these ECS funds, municipalities can better allocate the monies saved by the funding injection without raising costs for taxpayers. The budget also fully funds the Excess Cost grants for special education reimbursements to towns.

Additionally, the budget will shrink the size of state government by requiring state agencies to follow real-world hiring principles. In doing so, taxpayers will save $200 million.

Connecticut seniors are supported in the budget agreement, which eliminates the benefits cliff on their pension and annuity income. The plan phases out the income tax exemption on those earnings post-retirement gradually.

Omitted from the final compromise document were other strong Republican initiatives like a repeal of the Highway Use Tax (HUT) and a first-ever child tax deduction of $2,000 per child. Though, improvements were made to a now-optional pass-through entity tax credit for small businesses.

Funding to improve safety and training for local firefighters were included, assisting in promotion from Firefighter I to Firefighter II, an additional $5 million in firefighter cancer relief funding, and helping to remove PFAS, which contains dangerous carcinogens, from standard use in fire service operations.

The bipartisan state budget was enabled by honoring the spending, volatility, and bonding caps enacted by Republicans in the 2017 budget agreement that were re-certified early in the 2023 legislative session.

The budget passed the House after midnight Tuesday on a 139-12 vote and in the Senate Tuesday afternoon. It waits to be signed by Governor Lamont.

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