**STATE BUDGET PASSES HOUSE** – My Comments Below

(HARTFORD) — On early Tuesday morning, while the rest of Connecticut was most likely sleeping, the House of Representatives was passing the Biennial State Budget Agreement which will go into effect during Fiscal Year 2024-2025. Classified as House Bill 6941, the 832-page budget document was delivered to my desk at 3:00AM the day before, giving us only a few hours to unpack all its details before casting our final vote.

The $51 billion budget, spent over the course of two years, adopted several aspects from our House Republican proposal and Contract with Connecticut, from last spring. Arguably the most important of these is tax relief, decreasing the income tax from 5% to 4.5% and 3% to 2%, respectively, freezing the diesel tax, and eliminating the “retirement benefits cliff” by phasing out the income tax exemption for pension and annuity income and individual retirement accounts.

I supported the state budget because it includes $150 million education statewide investment, a one-time bonus in funding to non-profits, and a Fallen Hero account that financially supports families of fallen law enforcement officers. More generally, the budget funds Family Resource Centers and school readiness programs, senior meal delivery services, supports resources for victims of domestic and violent crimes, all while abiding by the bipartisan fiscal guardrails that began in 2017.

Even though this is not a perfect document, we cannot miss the opportunity to roll back taxes and secure necessary financial relief for the middle class. Despite this major tax cut, this budget could have implemented more Republican-led proposals that would have confirmed almost double the tax relief, furthered education funding, and implemented a long-term commitment to supporting our non-profits.

As always, please never hesitate to reach out to me with your questions, ideas, and concerns at Joe.Zullo@housegop.ct.gov or at 860-240-8700.