HARTFORD, Conn — State Republican lawmakers are proposing a plan they say will reduce the state's sales tax in order to help residents cope with higher costs.
Senate Republicans are proposing to reduce the sales tax from 6.35% to 5.99% and eliminate the additional 1% meals tax from February 15 through the end of the 2022 calendar year. Leaders said the proposal will result in a temporary tax reduction totaling $315.1 million - $132.3 million in the fiscal year 2022 ending the last day of June, and $182.8 million in the fiscal year 2023, which starts at the beginning of July 2022.
Republicans say the state can afford to make the reduction since it has maintained a surplus throughout the pandemic.
According to the GOP, the state has been using the additional revenue to pay down the pension debt, a plan which had been approved in the 2017 budget.
“Any proposed tax cut has to be looked at in the context of the entire biennial state budget as well as its sustainability over the ensuing months and years. Democrats will be unveiling our own revenue proposals in the coming session, including a look at ways to reduce Connecticut's onerous local property tax burden," Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) said in a statement. "Therefore, there will be a time for a comprehensive discussion of various revenue proposals and to closely examine questions such as who will benefit most and what Connecticut can afford in both the short-term and the long-term. I look forward to having that discussion with my Republican colleagues."
"Senate Republicans want to direct the influx in tax revenue back to residents and provide immediate relief from the crushing impact of inflation," said Senate Republican Leader Pro Tempore Paul Formica (R-East Lyme).
The legislative session starts on February 9.
Doug Stewart is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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