Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to propose a lean budget Wednesday that averts tax hikes while closing a major deficit and positions Connecticut’s economy to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts say state finances, unless adjusted, will run about $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in the red, both in the fiscal year that begins July 1 as well as in 2022-23. Some key sources of state revenue are expected to remain sluggish well after that. And the University of Connecticut’s economic think-tank warned much of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus could linger well into the 2020s. Part of that balance, she said, involves tapping Connecticut’s record-setting $3 billion-plus budget reserve, commonly known as the rainy day fund. That may not be enough for the “Recovery Champions,” a coalition of 30 Democrats from the House and Senate majorities who want Lamont to pump billions of dollars into services and tax relief for Connecticut’s low- and middle-income households. This lack of coverage, progressives say, leaves thousands of Connecticut households just one serious health crisis away from economic catastrophe. “Once we get out to the next several years, nothing is [fully] funded,” Nate Brown, vice president of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council, told the CT Mirror last month. “It’s a construction industry issue statewide, and the men and women who rely on that as a living could have some really severe consequences going forward.”
Lawmakers expect lean budget from Lamont. But how lean will it be?