CT Republicans propose huge tax cuts. Democrats call them 'pie-in-the-sky promises'
GOP lawmakers proposed $2 billion in tax cuts, but Democrats called the plan a "gimmick" to distract from rising prices under President Donald Trump.
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No state income tax? Connecticut Republicans want to make it reality for thousands of lower-income families, along with billions in other tax cuts.
But can the state afford it?
Democrats dismissed the GOP proposal as “pie-in-the-sky promises” to distract voters from rising prices under President Donald Trump.
STEEP TAX CUTS
Just two months from Election Day, GOP lawmakers are again pushing for steep tax cuts.
“Instead of worrying about ways that we can find more ways to spend, how about worrying about ways we can return money back to the taxpayer?” said Connecticut Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield).
Families making less than $20,000 would owe no income tax at all by eliminating the 2% tax bracket, while those making up to $200,000 would pay less. But many of those families already pay nothing due to an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit.
Republicans also want to scrap the prepared meals tax at grocery stores and a controversial Highway Use Fee for big-rig truckers that generates around $60 million a year for roads.
“When you have conversations with the businesses that actually have to pay it, it’s a nightmare,” said Connecticut House Republican leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). “It costs them a lot of time and energy just trying to calculate it.”
GOP lawmakers would also give drivers a one-year "gas tax holiday” – an idea they panned when Gov. Ned Lamont proposed it in March – and eliminate the Public Benefits charge on electric bills.
“PIE-IN THE-SKY PROMISES”
The proposed tax cuts come with a steep $2 billion price tag. GOP lawmakers suggested paying for it with the state budget surplus, which now pays down decades of pension debt.
“Why are the state surpluses overflowing? It's because we’re continue to be overtaxed,” said state Sen. Jeff Gordon (R-Woodstock).
Gov. Ned Lamont’s campaign accused the GOP of making “pie-in-the-sky promises.”
“While Ryan Fazio was busy taking credit for ideas he didn’t come up with, Gov. Lamont was busy actually working with Treasurer Russell to strengthen Connecticut’s pension funds,” said campaign spokesperson Lauren Gray. “Gov. Lamont has delivered eight balanced budgets in a row and put forward a bold agenda to lower costs for Connecticut by saving families money on health care, holding utilities accountable, making our state universities debt-free and implementing universal pre-K.”
In 2023, Lamont signed Connecticut’s first income tax cut in three decades. State lawmakers also cut sales taxes this year while boosting Lamont's free child care program.
“We did a budget this year that reduced sales taxes, that brought tax relief, that brought record amounts of money to education,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk).
But Democratic lawmakers have also passed tax hikes, like the Highway Use Fee, a 1% surcharge on restaurant tabs and a 0.5% payroll deduction to fund Paid Family and Medical Leave.
Other Democrats have proposed a capital gains tax on those making more than $1 million a year – an idea Lamont rejected.
“For years in this building, it’s always been about, ‘How can we afford this or how can we afford that?’” Harding said. “It’s about time we started asking, ‘Can we afford more taxes on the middle-class people of this state?’ And the answer, clearly, is no.”
TRUMP FACTOR
Democrats said prices are high because of Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran.
“If they really cared about high prices, they would march themselves down to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and go talk to the man who sits in the Oval Office about his illegal war that’s raising costs, highest gas prices in history,” Duff said. “I’ll believe anything they say when they produce an actual budget that’s balanced and not full of gimmicks.”
But GOP lawmakers said Connecticut has been unaffordable for decades.
“Regardless of what president has been in office over the last 20 years, Connecticut’s trajectory is going in the wrong direction,” Candelora said.
