ISPS Hosts Talk on Connecticut’s State Budget

This week the Scholars Strategy Network held their first inaugural 2019 meeting at the Institution for Social Policy Studies. In the wake of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont’s budget proposal on Febraury 20, the event sought to engage a public conversation about the state’s debt crisis and the difficult fiscal choices the state government has to make. The discussion was led by Keith Phaneuf , a journalist at CT Mirror, who gave a brief but concise overview of Connecticut’s long standing debt due to underfunded pensions. The discussants were State Senator Will Haskell (D-  26^th District); Jonathan Dach, Deputy Chief of Staff in the Governor’s Office; and State Representative Jillian Gilchrest (D- 18^th District).

The governor’s budget proposes highway tolls, sales tax expansion, including on services, and sin taxes on items such as sugary drinks.
A lively Q &A followed.