On Wednesday, February 5, Governor Ned Lamont put forth a $55.2 billion biennial (two-year) budget for Connecticut. State spending grows +3.8% to $27 billion in the first year and +4.6% to $28.2 billion in the second year. These increases are above and beyond the historical bipartisan fiscal guardrails.
State employees (our unionized bureaucracy) get another generous pay hike on top of the 33% annual increases they have seen since 2019. To quote the Red-Line here, "a state employee making $100,000 in 2019 will be making $145,000 in 2027. You might say that Lamont is locking up the state employee vote for the third term that he is rumored to want very badly."
A great part of the increase will go to funding a universal pre-school program for families who earn less than $100,000. A puny $50 will go toward property tax relief. Corporate taxes are set to rise by $348 million over the next two years. No wonder companies avoid coming to CT.
Public Benefit Charge on utility bills. Not one mention was made of the obscene public benefit charge in utility bills (about 25% of your electric bill) that should be covered by the state budget, not by electric ratepayers. Listen to this woman in CT who went viral breaking down her electric bill.
Pending federal funding cuts. Not one mention was made of any contingency when the spigot of federal funding to Connecticut shuts off. An astonishing 2,500 CT state employee positions are substantially federally funded.
Between the lines: CT government spends over $6,000 per person, twice the national average of $3,000.