Published May 15. 2021 12:01AM | Updated May 15. 2021 10:29PM By
In a meeting with editors and publishers from newspapers across the state Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont sent the clear message that he does not consider an increase in broad-based taxes to be justified or a good idea. If the legislature sends him a budget built on such tax increases, he won’t sign it.
By broad-based, Lamont said he means the primary revenue sources for state government the income tax and sales tax.
He left himself some wiggle room. Lamont has, after all, signed off on the idea of legalizing cannabis for recreational use and allowing sports betting and casino gaming, in person and digitally. These would be taxed and generate substantial revenue. And Lamont’s two-year budget proposal includes a highway usage fee on large trucks that is based on the vehicle’s size and miles traveled. In other words, a tax. It would bring in $90 million annually, the administration estimates.
House Republicans Question CT Equitable Investment Fund - Across Connecticut, CT - Republican officials asked the state's attorney general to weigh in on whether the matter is constitutional.
By Keith M. Phaneuf, CT Mirror
The legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee approved state income tax cuts Thursday for the poor and middle class and a one-time bailout for restaurants, largely funding them with two tax surcharges on the wealthy and a new levy on digital media ads.
The Democrat-controlled panel also endorsed a revenue package that includes a new highway use tax on large, commercial trucks and new state and municipal sales taxes on recreational marijuana.
But the package, which represents an overall state tax increase of approximately $600 million per year, also would shift more than $1 billion in revenues outside of the spending cap and tap more than $2 billion from one-time sources moves Republicans said lack fiscal transparency and responsibility.
CTMirror.org
The legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee approved state income tax cuts Thursday for the poor and middle class and a one-time bailout for restaurants, largely funding them with two tax surcharges on the wealthy and a new levy on digital media ads.
The Democrat-controlled panel also endorsed a revenue package that includes a new highway use tax on large, commercial trucks and new state and municipal sales taxes on recreational marijuana.
But the package, which represents an overall state tax increase of approximately $600 million per year, also would shift more than $1 billion in revenues outside of the spending cap and tap more than $2 billion from one-time sources moves Republicans said lack fiscal transparency and responsibility.