‘Promises kept.’ Gov. Lamont touts tax relief as campaign season starts
As he gears up for a reelection campaign, Lamont said Democrats delivered on his pledge of affordability. But Republicans claimed the governor has "broken those promises."
More Stories
Connecticut is expensive, but Gov. Ned Lamont says it just got a little more affordable.
As he heads into his campaign for a third term, Lamont on Thursday touted hundreds of millions of dollars in tax relief that state lawmakers passed this year.
“PROMISES DELIVERED”
Lamont promised to tackle the rising cost of living during his State of the State address in February.
“We’re trying to make life a little less expensive for working families and the middle class,” the governor told lawmakers.
Lamont told reporters that the mission was accomplished during a post-session news conference on Thursday.
“Promises kept and promises delivered,” Lamont said. “Look where you were seven years ago. Look where we are today.”
The new state budget aims to lower property taxes by sending cities and towns nearly $300 million, including money earmarked to avoid school cuts.
Another $300 million is going toward Lamont’s Universal Preschool endowment. In the coming years, childcare for 3- and 4-year-olds will be free for families earning less than $100,000 a year. Parents making below $150,000 won’t pay more than $20 a day.
SHOPPING SAVINGS
Parents will see even more savings when they go shopping.
School supplies like backpacks, lunchboxes, notebooks, pens, pencils, crayons, rulers and paper are now tax-free. Plus, the annual “sales tax holiday” in August will now cover up to $300 of clothes and shoes. Previously, it was capped at $100. Lawmakers also added backpacks to the list of tax-exempt items.
“So you don’t have to go to New York or Massachusetts to spend that money,” said state Rep. Corey Paris (D-Stamford). “You’re spending it right here in Connecticut.”
Both measures will cost the state $1.2 million in tax revenue.
Once kids get to school, they will also get free breakfast under the new state budget. The price tag is $12 million for the next year.
IS IT ENOUGH?
But many lawmakers – and even Lamont – wanted to further. The governor originally proposed sending taxpayers $200 rebate checks this fall.
“You may say, ‘Well hey, what happened to the rebates? I thought you liked the idea of rebates,” Lamont said on Thursday. “I did because I thought it was a way we could get money to help out people right now, not having to wait for a tax credit that you get next year.”
But legislative and municipal leaders convinced Lamont to redirect the money to local cities and towns.
“The rebate was not as warmly received because the amount of money that might be going back to people [was not as high] as I had hoped," said Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford).
PERMANENT TAX CUTS?
Many Democrats once again pushed for a child tax credit, while Republicans pushed for bigger property tax relief. Both parties wanted to lower sales taxes.
None of those ideas made it into the final budget.
“They loved campaigning all session long about bringing tax relief to the residents, and lo and behold, we pass a budget that has no such tax relief,” said Connecticut House GOP Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). “Democrats are doing everything in their power to try to make things more affordable, but they fail to recognize the easiest way to do that is to increase the property tax credit.”
Republicans argued for deeper, permanent tax relief.
“The governor says he’s ‘kept his promises’, but he has broken those promises just like he has broken the fiscal guardrails,” said state Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield), the state Senate's top Republican. “Ask yourself: Is Connecticut more affordable than it was four years ago or two years ago? Are my property taxes and electricity bills and health insurance costs lower? The answer is no.”
But Lamont said there’s no point in handing out tax cuts now, only to take them away later.
“In an election year, sometimes there’s a lot of, ‘Let’s promise it now and we’ll figure out how to pay for it tomorrow,” he said. “We were able to back people up when it comes to health care. We were able to get additional funding for schools.”
In 2023, Lamont approved Connecticut’s first income tax cut in nearly 30 years.
