An Affordable Connecticut

Connecticut is one of the most expensive states to live in and has some of the most burdensome taxes in the nation. Residents deserve robust tax relief and sensible policies that would reduce the cost of living through structural relief rather than one-time gimmicks.

State Tax Relief

• Cut the income tax from 5% to 4% for families making less than $175,000 a year. (HB 5310)
• Index state income tax brackets to inflation so personal income doesn’t lose value due to inflation. This addresses the problem of someone being subject to a higher tax bracket due to inflation rather than an increase in income. (HB 5310)
• Repeal the highway use tax on trucks that will only drive up the costs of consumer goods and services. (HB 5290)
• Reduce the sales tax to adjust annually for increased revenues due to inflation and eliminate the 1% meals tax. (HB 5291)
• Allow long-term care insurance premiums to be deducted from the state income tax. (HB 5292)
• Reduce the annual business reporting fees paid by small businesses to the Secretary of State. (HB 5306)
• Restore the Pass-Through Entity Tax Credit multiplier to 93.01% after the 2019-2020 budget reduced it to 87.5%. The point of pass-through entities was to help taxpayers shift their state tax burden away from the individual tax filer to accommodate federal tax reforms that limited an individual’s state and local tax (SALT) deductions to $10,000. (HB 5293)
• Repeal taxes and fees which cost more to collect than the revenue they generate. (HB 5294)

Keeping the Lights On

• Place a moratorium on the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) procuring any new energy contracts until the legislature re-assesses the state’s long term energy goals considering high electric costs and reconfirms to the DEEP to move forward with such projects. (HB 5285)
• Separate the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) that oversees utility rates independent from the DEEP. (HB 5285)
• Remove from the electric delivery rate the system benefit charges and instead require the legislature to appropriate funding for programs since they are legislative policies and priorities. (HB 5285)
• Review the state’s role in expanding natural gas to prevent rolling blackouts. (HB 5285)
• Establish a taskforce to evaluate the provision of competition in the electric delivery and transmission sectors. (HB 5285)