May 9, 2011
STATE BUDGET IS BALANCED, RESPONSIBLE AND AVOIDS GIMMICKS
By State Representative Henry Genga
When the General Assembly convened in January we faced an unprecedented challenge – a $3.5 billion budget deficit and an economy still trying to recover from the nation’s worst recession since the Great Depression.
To put our state back on solid financial ground, Governor Dannel P. Malloy proposed a budget that called for all residents of Connecticut to share in the sacrifice.
While the governor’s plan was carefully constructed, it still needed a lot of work because of the harsh impact it would have on East Hartford and its residents.
As an example, Governor Malloy suggested ending the state’s funding reimbursement program to towns for tax credits given to manufacturers such as Pratt & Whitney. Elimination of the Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) program, however, would have cost East Hartford more than $3.5 million.
The governor also wanted to eliminate the $500 property tax credit for homeowners, raise the tax on gasoline and add new taxes on coupons, hair cuts, car washes and other items we take for granted.
Thankfully, after many hours of negotiations, my colleagues and I in the legislature were able to reach a budget compromise with the governor. The end result is that we were able to save the PILOT program funding, retain a $300 property tax credit for residents and eliminate the 3-cent gas tax increase and some of the other proposed sales taxes.
On top of that, East Hartford will receive an increase of $653,258 in municipal aid for fiscal year 2012 and increase of $750,551 for 2013 when compared to the $48,405,637 the town was appropriated in 2011.
In addition, for the first time ever, we will have a new Earned Income Tax Credit program to provide financial relief to as many as 190,000 low-income workers in the state.
In order to achieve a balanced budget fair to all we had to make significant spending reductions. To accomplish that we consolidated 30 percent of our state agencies while maintaining important investments that will help grow businesses and protect families.
After 3 years of economic hardship, our state’s finances are stabilized and Connecticut is moving forward on the road to economic recovery. And as we begin to implement the spending plan, the Malloy administration will continue its negotiations with state employee unions to come up with the labor concession package that is the final piece of this budget.
Although the governor’s budget still includes higher taxes – a sacrifice that we all will have to share – we now have a budget that is truly balanced. A budget that does not include borrowing for paying our current expenses. A budget that does not include accounting gimmicks. A budget that does not further defer our pension obligations.
But unlike budgets that were recently passed in New York and New Jersey, our state budget protects our cities and towns and does not pass the burden on to local property taxpayers. As we all know, the property tax is the most regressive of all taxes.
There is no question that we had to make tough and unpopular decisions, but in the end our state budget is honest and balanced. Working with Governor Malloy we created a budget that will move Connecticut forward, a budget that is responsible and a budget that puts us on the road to recovery.
Voting for the budget may not have been easy politically, but it was the right thing to do for our residents and town.
Rep. Genga, a Democrat, represents the 10th Assembly District in East Hartford. He is the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the Education and Energy and Technology committees.