In a 32-minute speech that set the tone for the 12-week fiscal adjustment session, Lamont said the state could now reap the benefits of years of austerity.

The $24.2 billion plan would increase spending by 2.5% in the second year of the two-year budget passed last year which takes effect July 1. Lamont proposed doubling the number of families who can claim the current property tax credit; and the reduction of car taxes in more than 100 cities and towns.

The governor has also proposed eliminating income tax on pensions and 401K earnings for most households, a proposal that has been a Democratic campaign goal in recent years, which has continually been the victim of legislative fights. .

“For three years, we have held the line against large-scale tax increases,” Lamont said to a near-full historic chamber in the House. A dozen Republicans did not wear masks among the approximately 200 people present in the room. “This year, my budget cuts taxes for working and middle-class families. We’re also keeping health care, childcare, and tuition costs down, making Connecticut more affordable for everyone.

The speech kicked off one of the shortest legislative sessions, which ends at midnight on May 4.

“We’re better off getting our finances in order,” Lamont said. “We invest in our children and give them better opportunities early in life. We are investing in teachers, counselors and after-school programs to help our children get back to playing after a long COVID winter.

Lamont has also emphasized workforce development, while using federal pandemic support to increase transportation improvements.

“We’ve been making the biggest investments in our roads and bridges for generations, certainly since Ike – and I love Ike – allowing us to move faster, decongest our choke points, strengthen our bridges from Eisenhower era and give you another reason to call Connecticut home,” Lamont said, referring to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the World War II general, a Republican who became the nation’s 34th president. .

Another Republican name checked by Lamont was Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, an annual visitor to the governor’s budget speech, whom Lamont acknowledged while pointing out a proposal to give more tax breaks to state residents.

Democrats said the governor’s speech reflected Connecticut’s optimism as it emerges from a two-year pandemic.

“I heard optimism. I heard thinking about the future. I’ve heard him thinking about the future and I think that’s where we are as a state at this point in what has been a very long pandemic for the past two years,” said the House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford.

Republicans have decried Lamont’s proposed election-year tax cuts as a political gimmick, but House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said the government’s strong fiscal position State was the reason the governor could provide the relief.

“We can afford it because we’ve been disciplined in prepaying our long-term debt and increasing the rainy day fund,” Ritter said. “What was a gimmick was when we sent out $30 checks.”

“When you hand over money to taxpayers while your house is in order, that’s called good planning,” he added.

Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said many of the ideas put forward in the speech had “general support,” including addressing the mental health crisis exacerbated by COVID, the loss of learning from children being out of the classroom, juvenile crime, expanding property tax credits and reducing motor vehicle tax.

“He brought up many positive themes in terms of workforce development, job training, employment expansion, aggressive economic development, outreach to current employers to develop and potential future employers. here,” he added.

Looney said he plans to reinvigorate his efforts to raise taxes on the highest-income people in the state.

“We will definitely make that effort,” he said. “It will be put on the table.”

He also wants to increase funding for nonprofits, a proposal not addressed in Lamont’s speech, which have faced increased workloads due to the pandemic, especially since many of their clients are referred to them by state agencies.

“We put an increase in the budget last year, and we have to extend that this year because a lot of them are having trouble attracting and retaining staff,” Looney said. “While we have this window of opportunity, we should address things like this.”

Chris DiPentima, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said the choices will affect Connecticut’s long-term growth.

“Policymakers have a unique opportunity to get it right and must use the state’s current fiscal health to make targeted investments to address the labor shortage, grow the economy, and modernize government. of the state,” he said in a statement. “While the Governor’s budget proposals offer some relief to individual taxpayers, it is only part of the prescription for rebuilding the state’s economy.”

DiPentima said the state’s recovery hinges on small businesses, for which Lamont’s proposals don’t offer enough for owners who are facing labor shortages and inflation.

“We welcome the Governor’s proposals to make additional investments in workforce development programs and to modernize and streamline government services across the state,” DiPentima said. “However, we are concerned about his proposal to use one-time federal COVID-19 relief funds to increase the size and scope of government in other areas – this is unsustainable, especially given the current challenges. impending budget deficits after next year.”

Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, said the governor’s proposal does not address the chronic budget problems of its member agencies that have supported much of the community’s social service needs. the state.

“Connecticut’s community-based nonprofits, which provide a wide range of behavioral, developmental, community justice, and other human services to thousands of people across the state every day, are the backbone of the state safety net,” Casa said in a statement.

“While the governor’s budget proposal targets some new initiatives, it does not address the underfunding of the statewide network of community nonprofits struggling to keep operating,” said Casa.

While the public was banned from traveling higher than the first floor of the Capitol, Bob Stefanowski, the Madison Republican who lost the 2018 gubernatorial race to Lamont and intends to challenge the governor again in the fall, attended the speech and stood out outside the House chamber on the second floor during subsequent rotation sessions when House and Senate leaders met with reporters.

Stefanowski, who like other Republicans has made inner city youth crime and gun violence a campaign issue, said Lamont’s $72 million law enforcement initiative was insufficient. “We need to have more than 500 more police and a lot of platitudes,” Stefanowski said.

[email protected] Twitter: @KenDixonCT