HARTFORD — The retroactive tax hike adopted by the governor and majority party Democrats earlier this year is hitting families harder than ever this holiday season as employers feel the strain of having to collect that extra money for the state before the end of the calendar year, Rep. Rob Sampson said. “Over the last couple of weeks a lot of my constituents have opened up their paychecks to find they have a lot less money than they’re used to, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” said Sampson, who represents Southington and Wolcott. “And in extreme cases, low wage earners, people the governor pledged to protect, have found out that they owe more than they’re entire salary for the week.”
Democrats in late spring adopted a controversial budget from Gov. Dannel Malloy that was far afield from the “no tax increase” plan offered by Sampson and his Republican colleagues. Malloy’s plan spent more money than ever despite the state’s much-publicized $3.5 billion deficit. That budget also carried historic tax increases, including the retroactive income tax hike that’s hurting so many people right now.
Many small businesses, Sampson said, have struggled to implement the governor’s convoluted new income tax scale. With the end of the year right around the corner, employers are trying to make sense of it all as they break the bad news to their employees. In some cases, Connecticut workers find themselves using Christmas bonuses to cover rent and other household bills rather than gifts for family and friends.
“This could’ve been avoided had the governor and majority legislators chosen to right-size government, to create a budget plan that residents could actually afford,” Sampson said. “Instead, they opted for a ‘shared sacrifice,’ a lump of coal that has people ‘sharing’ a lot more than they ever expected.”
