State Representative DebraLee Hovey voted Tuesday in favor of a bipartisan measure which closes the current $350 million deficit for the fiscal year ending this June 30. The measure closes the current deficit without raising taxes and is a step forward in the budget process. However, Hovey noted that the legislature still needed to address a $700 million deficit starting July 1 and it must be fixed before the Democratic-controlled legislature adjourns in May.
“Up untill now all we have seen out of the majority are enormous tax increases,” said Rep. Hovey. “Merely nineteen days ago they put forward a $500 million tax increase on everything from income and electric bills to hotel rooms and estates. Without the efforts of House Republicans to close this deficit without a tax increase Connecticut residents would certainly be looking at a bigger bill for government today. While we finally have a measure in place that will close the deficit for the current year without a tax increases, the real work closing the next year’s deficit begins now.”
The deficit mitigation plan put forth this week does not tackle the looming deficit that kicks in within the next 10 weeks but Republicans pledged to address that within the coming days.
Hovey noted that she has opposed any version of proposed tax hikes on sick people who become hospitalized, insisting that could not be part of any deficit mitigation plan.
“The legislature needs to close the $700 million deficit for FY ’11 by the end of this session,” said Rep. Hovey. “Leaving this work to the next legislature and the next governor is unacceptable. I am ready to work on accomplishing that without tax increases through targeted spending reductions and achieving greater efficiency in government services.”
Hovey pointed out that tax increases were clearly not an answer to the problem. “We’ve seen what happens when the legislature tries to take the easy way out by raising taxes,” she said. “They voted to raise taxes last September by $1.2 billion and we are still facing a $700 million deficit. The burden of fixing this problem isn’t on state residents. They do their share. The burden is on the legislature.”
This session of the Connecticut General Assembly concludes at midnight on Wednesday, May 5.
For more details visit www.rephovey.com.
