Genga Committed To Balancing Budget

January 6, 2016

By Representatives Henry Genga, Jason Rojas and Jeff Currey

Because state revenues have not been as strong as we anticipated last year when we approved the current 2016 state budget, we voted in December to cut spending by $350 million, or one-half of 1 percent of the $40 billion biennial state budget, thereby closing Connecticut’s budget deficit for the State Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2016.

The budget package we approved in the General Assembly, which was subsequently signed by the governor, restored many of the original cuts he had recommended while restoring Medicaid funding for hospitals and allowing for a more friendly business environment through adjusted taxes.

The new legislation:

  • Preserved our commitment to property tax reform in fiscal year 2017 by maintaining the car tax cap, PILOT and Municipal Revenue Sharing Account (MRSA) funding

  • Restored vital funding to critical services and programs, which enables Connecticut to continue to support its human service infrastructure identifying areas for saving and efficiencies.

  • Lowered targeted business taxes that were requested by a number of our major employers and the business community.

  • Restored over half of the cuts made to hospitals under the governor’s September rescission proposal.

  • Set the framework for closing institutional facilities to be followed by reintegration back into the community.

  • Established a system for monitoring overtime costs within state agencies, which will help the legislature in making budgetary decisions and save taxpayer money

In addressing the necessity to take action, we took responsible steps to keep Connecticut’s budget balanced and to begin the bigger conversation on how we may to address the structural budget challenges that face us in the coming years.

The cuts made to current services – combined with the $600 million in cuts to current services that we made last spring – total nearly $1 billion in reductions that we have made to existing state services over the past six months.

In addition, we are carefully controlling state spending while balancing the often conflicting demands of maintaining social services and municipal aid while also providing critical research and development and targeted state support to support small business development and growth

As we move forward into the New Year, we remain committed to the people and the businesses of Connecticut to control state spending while maintaining the exceptional quality of life and the enormous economic promise and opportunity that is our state of Connecticut.