As the legislative session ends, Yankee Institute (YI) opposes the $55.8 billion biennial budget that busts one of the fiscal guardrails without containing a single dollar in spending cuts. YI likewise deplores the passage of a sweeping housing bill, H.B. 5002, which undermines Connecticut’s robust tradition of municipal governance and threatens local control of housing policy. The free-market public policy organization also supports Gov. Ned Lamont’s stated intention to veto unemployment benefits to striking workers, which would force taxpayers to subsidize work stoppages.
“It’s remarkable that in $55.8 billion dollars of spending, our politicians couldn’t find even a single dollar of waste to cut,” said Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau. “Our priority should be the well-being of our families and businesses who want to stay, grow, and thrive in Connecticut. Instead, we are busting one of the fiscal guardrails and raising taxes on our job creators. This only deepens our state’s affordability crisis.”
Busting the Volatility Cap Will Open Door to Breaking Other Guardrails
Yankee Institute strongly opposed the governor’s decision to declare a “fiscal emergency” in order to exceed the state spending cap for the first time in eighteen years. Additionally, it takes issue with weakening the volatility cap in the biennial budget.
Since 2017, the fiscal guardrails have reversed decades of pension underfunding, improving Connecticut’s creditworthiness and financial stability. The state has saved more than $170 million since putting the guardrails into place and can save $7 billion over the next 25 years if they are kept intact.
“Tampering with the guardrails means they’re not really guardrails — they’re really just guard-‘suggestions,’” Liebau said. “Every time they’re loosened, it becomes easier for politicians to weaken them again, and the special interests have already signaled they can’t wait for a repeat performance. Before we know it, we’ll be right back to the fiscal crisis of 2017.”
The State Can’t Afford — and Taxpayers Shouldn’t be Forced — to Pay Striking Workers
Yankee Institute supports Gov. Lamont’s intent to veto pay for striking workers because not only do unions have access to strike funds, but providing unemployment will only incentivize labor unrest, prolong strikes, spike companies’ unemployment insurance rates, and raise the price of everything from food to construction projects.
“The government has no business putting its thumb on the scale in a dispute between two private parties,” Liebau said. “Even less should it be forcing taxpayers to fund its interference in the dispute. We appreciate Gov. Lamont’s stated opposition to paying striking workers, and we ask him to remain steadfast and veto the legislation when the time comes.”
Gov. Lamont Must Veto the Housing Omnibus Bill
Yankee Institute calls on Gov. Lamont to veto H.B. 5002, a massive housing omnibus bill that will hand control of local zoning to state politicians in Hartford and strip our towns and cities of the ability to run in accordance with their residents’ wishes.
“This bill — which is a centrally-planned, top-down approach from Hartford — is an assault on the tradition of local control that sets Connecticut apart,” Liebau said. “Our 169 cities and towns are unique with different needs and different priorities. Their people — who know and love their towns — should be able to address housing measures and local zoning issues in the way that works best for them. That’s the whole point of local government. This bill is nothing but a power grab by unaccountable politicians at the Capitol.”
