House Republican Press Release

February 7, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

Rep. DelGobbo: State Budget Must Address Fundamental Problems; Be Sustainable, Affordable to Citizens

As Republican Leader on Appropriations, Will Work to Head Off Excessive Spending, Tax Hikes

Governor M. Jodi Rell’s budget is poised to address several pressing state problems – including education, health care and energy conservation – but will need to be refined to ensure it is sustainable and affordable to the people of Connecticut, state Representative Kevin M. DelGobbo R-Naugatuck, the House Ranking Member (Republican Leader) on the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee, said today.

The governor unveiled her proposed two-year budget in an address to the Connecticut General Assembly today.  The budget calls for an expenditure of $17.5 billion for the 2008 fiscal year, for an increase of 6.7 percent. For the 2009 fiscal year, the budget proposes expenditures totaling $18.5 billion, for a 4.7% increase.

“Governor Rell has to take a practical approach to her budget and policy initiatives because of the need to deal with Democrat supermajorities in the state House and Senate whose inclination will be to spend more than she has proposed and increase taxes beyond what the governor believes are necessary to sustain her budget,” Representative DelGobbo said.

“As the Republican Leader on the Appropriations Committee, I will be sitting at the table as we refine the governor’s budget. I will carefully scrutinize all proposed expenditures for the next two years to ensure they respond effectively to the state’s fundamental problems, are sustainable and affordable to the people of Connecticut, encourage economic growth and create jobs,” Representative DelGobbo said.

“We have a unique responsibility as members of the committee that puts the finishing touches on the state budget. We must balance the need to address the most pressing problems facing our state with the duty to spend taxpayer dollars responsibly, bearing in mind that Connecticut’s taxpayers shoulder one of the heaviest tax burdens in the country,” Representative DelGobbo said.

“The voters of the State of Connecticut voted overwhelmingly in 1992 to approve the constitutional cap on state spending,” Representative DelGobbo said. “We owe it to the people who elected us to keep spending at responsible levels to avoid tax increases that will make it harder for our state’s working families to make ends meet.”

“The spending cap was put in place to prevent excessive growth in state government. Breaking the spending cap would mean that we are spending beyond our means. We cannot solve all of Connecticut’s fundamental problems overnight and this budget should not attempt to do so. Instead, we should be striving to do what is best for the people of our state while remaining true to the letter and spirit of the state spending cap. That will be my goal as we begin work on the budget that will guide our state for the next two years.”