Letter: State budget was business as usual

0
7

To the editor,

As per tradition, majority Democrats finally gave minority Republicans a copy of the 567-page biennial state budget just over 12 hours before debate officially began in the House. The budget passed in the House without a single Republican vote.

It’s not unusual for Republicans to receive copies of important documents, such as the budget, moments before a vote. Last-minute changes to legislation are common, hence the short notice, but this is not entirely by coincidence. The less time Republicans have to review the proposal, the less time we have to come up with questions to ask Democratic leadership on the floor. It’s a strategy to pass bills quickly and with minimal opposition. Nevertheless, House Republicans did their due diligence and during the course of the debate we introduced several amendments in an attempt to create a bipartisan bill. Unfortunately, the amendments failed along party-line votes. The final product was yet another continuation of business-as-usual for the State of Connecticut — more taxes.

The budget was merely the capstone of a session characterized by anti-business legislation and poor economic policies. Three weeks ago, the legislature told businesses they would have to pay entry-level employees $15 per hour. Democrats in the House and Senate passed a bill creating a 0.5% payroll tax for all Connecticut workers. The legislature passed another budget swarming with tax increases. Sadly, at this rate, a special session for highway tolls is surely on the horizon for the summer.

I find the minimum wage particularly interesting. The idea behind it was to increase the standard of living for all Connecticut workers and to get most individuals closer to a “living wage.” In Connecticut, with all the tax increases we’ve seen this year and in years prior, the “living wage” has become more and more out of reach for thousands. While the Democrats have made well-intended attempts to improve the quality of life for their constituents, their unbreakable tax-and-spend habits have made the cost of living in Connecticut far above the national average.

Currently, the minimum wage is $10.10 per hour. Even with a nearly $5-per-hour increase by 2023, the value of those dollars will continue to decline with the implementation of new taxes on every resident across the state. Where the majority giveth, they taketh away. Unfortunately, once the budget and these bills go into effect, many more will feel like they’re making minimum wage.

Here’s a brief glimpse of our state’s new two-year spending and revenue game plan — a new 1% meal tax on prepared food in grocery stores and restaurants; a new 1% tax on sodas, beverages, and alcohol dispensed at bars or fountains; new taxes on digital downloads, safety apparel, parking, plastic bags, interior design services, dry cleaning, and e-cigarette products at wholesale. People can also expect an increased tax on ride-sharing, vehicle trade-ins, alcoholic beverages, and increased filing fees on LLCs and LLPs. For those with small businesses, be prepared for a tax increase on pass-through entities. Oh, by the way, the lockbox people voted on last November — the one that was supposed to protect transportation revenue — will be raided once again as the majority has voted to divert money away from the Special Transportation Fund before it even gets there.

These will be used to pay the state’s exorbitant fixed costs, such as state employee pensions and other fringe benefits, the state simply cannot afford.

Speaking of pensions, the budget has another surprise. Our teacher pension obligations (bonds we took out against the teacher pension fund), were supposed to be paid off by 2032. The majority, in an attempt to cover-up the short-term fiscal shortfalls, have chosen to extend those repayments to 2046. To put that in numerical terms, we are looking at an additional $27 billion to be paid by future generations.

The take away for my fellow residents of the 70th District — majority Democrats voted to raise taxes, and I voted no.

Rosa C. Rebimbas

Naugatuck

The writer is the Republican state representative for the 70th House District.