Gov. Lamont has a taxing challenge on his mind
The legislature spends the first several weeks of the session that began Jan. 5 organizing itself — and this year adjusting to conducting its business virtually. Leaders begin unveiling their proposals, as do the thoughtful and the ambitious. During these early weeks, wish lists start to become bills for their colleagues and the public to consider.
It falls to Gov. Ned Lamont to remind legislators, mostly his fellow Democrats, that the price tags attached to proposals are not fantasies. When state Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, announced on Tuesday a four year plan to give tax credits to families, some of them affluent, it fell to Lamont to remind Scanlon that the governor is “the guy that’s got to pay for things,” according to the CTMirror.org. “I’m the guy that’s got to keep the budget in balance.”
A $450 million tax credit would take some budget juggling. Scanlon is the new co-chair of the legislature’s tax committee, so he will enjoy plenty of opportunities to make his pitch to Lamont when budget negotiations commence in the spring. Lamont should not underestimate Scanlon,
who won a big prize when shoreline Democrats gave him a cushy patronage job as executive director of Tweed-New Haven airport. That allows Scanlon plenty of time to sell his proposal and pursue his ambition to run for state comptroller in 2022.
Anyone with a tax cutting proposal should keep in mind that the money it takes from the state budget will have to be found from other taxes or spending cuts. More important than a balanced budget is Lamont’s own obligations. When polls began to tighten in the 2018 race for governor, Lamont unveiled a tax cut plan of his own. The Greenwich