Connecticut
CT officials focus on tax cuts as new election cycle starts
Republicans have staunchly defended unprecedented state efforts in recent years to shrink Connecticut’s massive legacy of pension debt, even though it’s leached billions from education, health care and other core programs in the process.
But the GOP has begun to modify that stance, willing to scale back that effort if — and only if — those dollars go back to middle-class households in the form of big tax cuts.
Citing high energy costs, inflation above federal targets and Congress cutting deeply into human services, Republicans say Connecticut families need more help badly now, but not through new state programs.
And with many Democrats already renewing their push for a new child-based income tax cut and the next state election less than 12 months away, the 2026 General Assembly session could be swamped with tax-cutting ideas.
GOP: CT households must benefit directly from big surpluses
“For my constituents, it’s about over-taxation,” House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said during a floor debate last month. “We are seeing billions and billions of dollars flow into our coffers.”
The GOP leader was referring to the aggressive series of state budget caps that have generated unprecedented surpluses averaging more than $1.8 billion, or 8% to 9% of the General Fund, every year since 2017. About $4 billion from those bounties has been used to bolster budget reserves, but the bulk, about $10 billion, has been dedicated to whittling down the massive pension debt Connecticut amassed over seven decades prior to 2011.
The primary beneficiaries of those payments, Candelora said, involve tens of thousands of state employees, municipal teachers and retirees from those two fields.
“But what about the other 3.4 million people, the people that are telling us we can’t afford to continue to pay property taxes in the state of Connecticut?” he added. “I think we need to start looking at the people that are slipping into poverty, slipping into need, because everything in the state of Connecticut has become unaffordable.”
In late October, House Republicans called for a $700 increase in the state income tax credit that covers a portion of households’ municipal property tax bills.
With the potential to restore $500 million annually, all to the middle class, it would rival the 2023 income tax cuts ordered by Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly for the most generous relief package in state history.
But it also would mean this fiscal year’s projected surplus — another big windfall projected at $2 billion — would be about 25% smaller. That means less to pay down pension debt, which still exceeds $33 billion, according to Lamont’s budget office, and isn’t projected to be eliminated until the mid-2040s.
But Candelora said Connecticut could afford a big tax cut and still make big annual inroads on its debt problem. The $10 billion in surplus funds its deposited into the pensions since 2020 were in addition to the more than $3 billion in required payments Connecticut makes annually through regular budgeting. Prior to 2020, Connecticut never had contributed surplus to its pensions.
And since Lamont and his fellow Democrats in the legislature already have diverted some funds away from surplus and into new spending, why couldn’t Republicans deflect some to cut taxes on households in need, the North Branford lawmaker added.
Lamont and Democrats dedicated $300 million from last fiscal year’s surplus to launch a new program to expand affordable child care. That initiative also has a claim on a portion of future surpluses.
And despite repeated warnings that Medicaid costs were exploding, Democrats underfunded the program by $284 million last fiscal year, effectively leaving the problem to be solved using surplus dollars.
“I think I’ve been dragged into this conversation unwillingly by the Democrats,” Candelora added.
House Republicans likely won’t be alone in supporting tax cuts.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, has “serious concerns” about redirecting any funds away from paying down a pension debt, but “if we’re going to do anything [else] with those funds … it needs to be returned to [households] in the form of tax relief.”
The GOP’s two gubernatorial contenders, former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart and state Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, both agreed Connecticut can help its middle class and save diligently to reduce debt.
Given the huge budget surpluses Connecticut has reported since 2017, “it’s hard to not ask the question: Are we being overtaxed?” Stewart said.
And while she praised the bipartisan legislative effort eight years ago that helped Connecticut save more, stop tax hikes, and begin reducing debt, the former mayor added it’s still too expensive for many to live here.
“I see that every day,” she added. “Often times, both parents are working and they’re just scrounging by.”
“At some point, middle-class taxpayers are the forgotten people of Connecticut,” Fazio said, adding relief would provide an economic assist as well. “All the evidence suggests that income tax cuts spur more economic growth than other forms of tax cuts.”
Democrats have their own tax-cutting ideas
Republicans also won’t be the only ones putting tax-cut proposals on the table.
Many progressive and moderate Democrats in the General Assembly have been pushing for the past four years to create a permanent state income tax credit for low- and middle-income households with children.
The most popular plan, raised back in 2021 by then-Rep. Sean Scanlon, a Guilford Democrat who now serves as state comptroller, would provide $600 per child, up to $1,800 per household.
The United Way of Connecticut, another leader in the fight for a state child tax credit, vowed to continue the battle in September when it released its latest affordability analysis, showing a record-high 581,000 Connecticut households, about 40%, couldn’t afford a basic “survival” budget.
The United Way estimates it cost a family of four — two parents and two children — $116,000 to cover basic survival needs, including food, housing, utilities, child and health care and transportation in 2023.
Lamont’s budget spokesman, Chris Collibee, said the governor “will listen to any ideas that reduce taxes, increase taxpayers and make our state a more attractive place to live and work.”
Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury, co-chairwoman of the tax-writing Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, said this week she anticipates many state tax relief proposals aimed at the middle class in the next session, especially since the GOP-led Congress focused the bulk of federal tax cuts it ordered last July on the nation’s wealthiest households.
“That creates a structure where the very wealthy are receiving a tax benefit and the middle and less privileged classes are not,” she said.
Can CT afford to cut taxes and bolster human services?
But both Horn and House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, warn frequently that any tax cuts must be sustainable. In other words, don’t promise so much relief it must be scaled back one year later if the economy slips.
And state legislators are more worried about budget stability now than perhaps any other time since they installed new caps eight years ago. That’s because Congress ordered more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other human service programs to help finance federal tax relief.
Connecticut expects to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in annual federal assistance, although the bulk of those cutbacks likely won’t take effect until 2027 or 2028.
Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden, a progressive who is challenging Lamont for the 2026 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, said many lawmakers still want to put more dollars directly into working families’ hands.
But Elliott, a founder of the legislature’s Tax Equity Caucus, added tax relief is a good tool — but not the only one — to help families.
It does a family little good to save $700 on state income taxes if Connecticut cuts municipal aid so much that same household faces an $800 increase in town property taxes.
Similarly, it state budget policies drive up community college tuition, slash rental and winter energy assistance and ignore rising health insurance costs, then tax cuts help little or not at all.
“It’s not one or the other,” Elliott said. “It seems that there’s a hypocrisy on the part of the Republicans that they are only willing to affect [costs] with tax cuts.”
Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots: What to know in case you win
Here’s what to know in case you win the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
The Connecticut Lottery offers several draw games for those willing to make a bet to win big.
Those who want to play in Connecticut can enter the CT Lotto, Millionaire for Life and Cash 5 games as well as play the national Powerball and Mega Millions games. There are also two drawings a day for the Play 3 with Wild Ball and Play 4 with Wild Ball games.
Drawings are held at regular days and times, check the end of this story to see the schedule.
Here’s a look at Sunday, April 19, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Cash 5 numbers from April 19 drawing
03-10-12-16-22
Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play3 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 9-7-6, WB: 8
Night: 8-6-0, WB: 7
Check Play3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play4 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 6-4-6-7, WB: 4
Night: 8-6-9-1, WB: 1
Check Play4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 19 drawing
32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
Connecticut Lottery prizes up to $599 can be easily claimed at any authorized CT Lottery Retailer without additional forms or documentation or by mail. For prizes between $600 and $5,000, winners have the option to claim by mail or in person at any CT Lottery High-Tier Claim Center or CT Lottery Headquarters. For prizes between $5,001 and $49,999, winnings must be claimed in person at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters or by mail. All prizes over $50,000 must be claimed in person at CT Lottery Headquarters. Winners are required to bring a government-issued photo ID and their Social Security card.
CT Lottery Claims Dept.
15 Sterling Drive
Wallingford, CT 06492
For additional details, including locations of High-Tier Claim Centers, visit the Connecticut Lottery’s claim information page.
When are the Connecticut Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. daily.
- Lotto: 10:38 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Cash 5: 10:29 p.m. daily.
- Play3 Day: 1:57 p.m. daily.
- Play3 Night: 10:29 p.m. daily.
- Play4 Day: 1:57 p.m. daily.
- Play4 Night: 10:29 p.m. daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Connecticut editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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