STUMP » Articles » Connecticut Continuing: Is There a Budget Yet? » 19 October 2017, 19:20

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Connecticut Continuing: Is There a Budget Yet?  

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19 October 2017, 19:20

Well, it seems there’s some kind of deal.

From the Wall Street Journal: Connecticut Lawmakers Reach Preliminary Budget Deal

State legislature expected to vote on preliminary budget deal next week

Connecticut’s monthslong budget impasse may be coming to an end.

Democratic and Republican leaders in the state legislature said Wednesday they reached a preliminary budget deal and intend to vote on it next week. The state hasn’t had a budget since the fiscal year ended in June as lawmakers failed to reach a solution to close the state’s two-year, $3.5 billion deficit.

Well, whatever.

Let me hit my fave local news source on CT stuff – the CT Mirror, and my own personal bug-a-boo Keith Phaneuf:

Bipartisan budget would tax teachers, working poor and smokers

Republican leaders have agreed to raise taxes as part of the bipartisan budget framework announced Wednesday, sources say, with several of the levies hitting what typically are seen as Democratic constituencies: public school teachers, the working poor and smokers.

Sources close to the state budget talks told CT Mirror that Republicans, who relented last month on their no-tax stance to vote for a budget that raised taxes on hospitals and hit the working poor by reducing the earned income tax credit, are being asked to also raise cigarette taxes and impose a special levy on teachers.

Both parties also have discussed raising income taxes on the middle class by reducing the property tax credit. And sources said the deal would restrict access to that $200 credit, making it available only to the elderly and to households with dependents.

Whose constituencies will pay more taxes or give up more services to help end Connecticut’s 16-week budget impasse is certain to be part of the closed-door discussions that will begin Thursday when House leaders present the details to the Democratic and Republican caucuses. The two Senate caucuses are to meet Monday, with the hope of voting a budget later in the week.

The tax on teachers is meant to offset the loss of revenue caused by rejection of a proposal by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to have cities and towns begin contributing to the underfunded pension system for public school teachers, a cost now borne by teachers and the state.

I was wondering what this “teacher tax” is supposedly, but it sounds like they’re just making teachers contribute to the pension.

Here’s the OOOOH TEACHERS HARDEST HIT part:

The bipartisan plan also would require teachers to contribute an additional 1 percent of their pay toward their pensions starting in 2018.

An additional 1 percentage point.

Here’s info on the CT teachers plan. Checking out the most recent actuarial valuation, I see the employee contribution rate is 6% currently. So they’d have to pay 7%.

The “required” state contribution was just over 30% of payroll.

Just so we can have a bit of perspective.

RUN UP TO THE COMPROMISE

I like to keep a record of the stories in the run-up to final decisions. Here are a few. They are all from September or October this year.

The budget is not yet passed, so perhaps we’ll have more drama. The details aren’t exactly clear to me yet.

SOME TWEETS ON CONNECTICUT FINANCE




Classy.


I think they’re asking the teachers to pay for their own pensions, which seems fair to me.



I have no idea about this car tax. This is one of the CT taxes I don’t pay, thank goodness.




So evidently, the car tax thing is hyuuuuuge, as one might say. I’ll have to ask my colleagues about it tomorrow.


Anyway, we’ll see if this will actually stick this time.

Compilation of Connecticut posts


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