On early Sunday morning, State Rep. Christopher Davis (R-Ellington) voted against a two-year budget proposed by the Governor and the majority party which is comprised of a new 16 percent tax increase on gasoline, hurtful cuts to Connecticut’s hospitals, and additional accounting gimmicks designed to circumvent the state’s constitutional spending cap.
The budget plan, which was passed along party lines just after 5 a.m., includes a shift over the next two years of $6 billion in Medicaid spending outside the constitutional cap. This shift also circumvented a constitutional law that demands a two-thirds majority vote in the House to exceed the state’s spending cap.
“We need to live within the limits of this spending cap, as approved by nearly 80 percent of voters at the polls back in 1991,” said Rep. Davis. “This budget renders the cap meaningless, and redefines the will of the people of over the last twenty years.”
The plan also cuts $500 million in funding for hospitals, which our healthcare industry has warned may lead to drastic cuts in services and employment. The budget includes nearly a 10 percent increase in overall spending, continues to borrow $750 million to pay for the state’s day-to-day operating expenses and cash flow issues, and pushes back nearly $400 million of debt payments which will increase interest payments in the state’s near future.
“We’re looking at a budget that has all the same damaging policy approaches of the past,” said Rep. Davis. “Once again, with our state currently facing a deficit in the billions of dollars, majority leadership has pushed for policies that lack sound financial direction by putting more and more on our credit card – all at the taxpayers’ expense. Unfortunately, we appear now to be heading in the exact opposite direction of fiscal sanity.”
The budget will continue to postpone the full implementation of GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), and would sweep tens of millions of dollars in the state’s transportation fund into the General Fund, which Rep. Davis says will further delay the construction and repair of Connecticut’s roads and bridges.
“One of the fundamental responsibilities of government lies with properly maintaining and fixing our transportation infrastructure,” said Davis. “We’ve witnessed numerous catastrophes from around the nation the past few years where people have lost their lives due to faulty roads and bridges not being properly preserved. Making sure our roads and bridges are in a safe condition should be a top priority for this legislature, and by sweeping money away from our transportation fund, the legislature is not doing its due diligence for our residents.”
The budget proposal also includes:
• The New Britain to Hartford Busway becoming a permanent fixture in the budget, subsidizing 75% of the operating cost at an estimated $7.5 million every year
• Extends a portion of the Electric Generators Tax that has led to higher electric generation costs in Connecticut
• A sales tax increase put in place two years ago will no longer go to municipalities as intended, but instead, will now be transferred into the General Fund
• The budget relies heavily on new revenue collected from the addition of more gambling in Connecticut, including from a new game called Keno. The budget also extends a 20% corporate surcharge tax that businesses were told would expire, a move, which Rep. Davis says, perpetuates our unstable business climate, prevents job creators from hiring, and discourages businesses from coming to Connecticut.
“As our state’s economy continues to struggle, the legislature should be concentrating on ways to help create jobs, not stifling job growth,” said Rep. Davis.
The budget bill passed on a party line vote of 95-48 at 5:15am.
The 2013 session adjourns June 5th at midnight. Rep. Davis represents the 57th district covering East Windsor & Ellington.
