State Senator Eileen M. Daily
September 1, 2009
Daily, Harp Win Final Approval from Senate for Comprehensive Biennial Budget
Lawmakers also help retire debt from fiscal year 2009
State Senators Eileen M. Daily (D-Westbrook) and Toni N. Harp (D-New Haven), the Senate Chairs of the legislature’s Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee and Appropriations Committee, respectively, early this morning won Senate approval for a two-year revenue and spending package valued at approximately $36 billion. Yesterday evening, the budget committee chairs won a majority Senate vote for a bond authorization to cover the June 30 year-end deficit of some $950 million.
The lawmakers said the legislature’s budget represents a $3.2 billion reduction from current state spending in an effort to address a projected $8.5 billion deficit for the next two years.
“Beginning last winter we knew the solution to our state’s budget difficulties, brought about by the current global economic meltdown, would rely upon a combination of budget cuts, revenue adjustments, and borrowing,” Senator Daily said. “The package approved tonight includes full measures of each — enough to give each of us pause — and yet it blends the best of many flawed options to help us overcome this extremely challenging time.”
Senator Daily said one creative feature of the budget is a sales tax reduction effective January 1, designed to stimulate the state’s business climate, with an option to reconsider the rollback if state revenues fail to keep up with projections.
“The drastic cuts we made throughout this budget will be difficult for many to absorb but in most instances we preserved the state’s safety net for the most vulnerable, and we maintain essential programs that all state residents rely upon,” Senator Harp said. “I for one simply cannot envision our state without dental care for the poor who qualify, eyeglasses for the elderly who need them, and the Lifestar helicopter with its life-saving capabilities.”
Another feature on the revenue side of the budget plan approved tonight is an income tax increase for single filers who earn more than $500,000 per year and couples filing jointly earning more than $1 million per year. Painful budget cuts include more than $36 million from the three tiers of higher education and $20 million from a fund to help Medicare recipients pay for their prescribed medications.
The legislation approved tonight meets a September 1 deadline the state Comptroller faces to close the books for the 2009 Fiscal Year; it now advances to the governor’s desk for her consideration. There has been no official word from the governor’s office about whether or not she will sign the bill into law.
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Senator Daily’s |
Listing of Senator Daily’s recent press releases and a Press Kit with official head shots and bio. |
Press Aide Laurence Grotheer |
