Reps. Giegler, Smith, Carter and Harding, Republicans outline detailed spending plan

HARTFORD – State Representatives Jan Giegler (R-Danbury, New Fairfield & Ridgefield), Richard A. Smith (R-New Fairfield, Sherman, New Milford, Danbury), Dan Carter (R-Bethel, Danbury, Newtown & Redding) and Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield, Bethel & Danbury) today joined fellow House and Senate Republican Legislators and offered an honest plan for addressing Connecticut’s budget for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017.

The Republican Blueprint for Prosperity, which is balanced under the spending cap, restores vital social service programs for the neediest residents, reforms taxes, and institutes major government reforms to save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the coming years. It does not raise taxes and properly addresses and funds mental health services above and beyond what Gov. Malloy’s budget proposed.

“I support my colleagues in the budget proposed today and I look forward to working with my leadership in addressing some of my concerns regarding the vital resources in our district, such as reducing the tax on Danbury and New Milford Hospitals and funding our local schools,” said Rep. Harding.

“The plan presented today, while not perfect, is a good foundation for getting Connecticut back on sound financial ground,” said Rep. Giegler. “Restoring funds to mental health providers and services, Husky A, and programs for seniors and veterans is the right thing to do and I’m proud we were able to do that without raising taxes.  However, I am concerned with the potential affect to Danbury Hospital and remain committed to finding workable solutions that benefit everyone.”

“Obviously this blueprint proves that we can create a budget that doesn’t rely solely on creating new revenue,” said Rep. Carter. “With that said, there are still many hours of work yet to do to balance our priorities and produce a budget that works for the people of Connecticut.”

“Today the House and Senate Republicans unveiled a budget that immediately eliminates the business entity tax and the corporate surcharge tax in 2017, while restoring funding for our resident state trooper program and providing the safety net for our most vulnerable,” said Rep. Smith. “Equally important, the budget requires the Governor to adhere to the ‘shared sacrifice’ deal he structured with the public unions and impose reforms to implement savings in the amount of $251 million. This common sense restructuring of government spending is indeed our blueprint to prosperity for Connecticut. “

Highlights of the Blueprint that differ from the Governor’s budget proposal include:

  • Restoration of critical human services safety net funding for Connecticut’s most vulnerable citizens
  • $18.7 million restoration in mental health and substance abuse funding including Regional Action Councils
  • Funding restoration for libraries
  • Appropriation of an additional $15 million to help alleviate DDS waitlist for services for intellectually disabled
  • Restoration of funding for Veteran’s funeral honor guard
  • Eliminates Business Entity Tax making CT more business friendly
  • A phasing out of the Income Tax on Pension Income under $100,000 for joint filers to help retirees stay in CT
  • Elimination of the proposed income tax hike on single filers beginning in income year 2017
  • Restoration of 80% of Probate Court funding

Blueprint for Prosperity benefits multiple socioeconomic interests: taxpayers, consumers, the developmentally disabled, businesses, non-profits, and municipalities. In addition to restoring drastic budget cuts, Republican lawmakers call for restoring the exemption on clothing and shoes under $50 starting June 1, 2016 and restoring a full tax freedom week.

For more information, and to stay informed on the Republican proposal, please visit http://cthousegop.com/blueprint/.

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Submitted by Newtown, CT

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