No relief from car tax in new budget plan

The latest edition of the bipartisan agreement from early Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 includes >>> The latest edition of the bipartisan agreement from early Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 includes >>> Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photof Buy photo Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photof Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close No relief from car tax in new budget plan 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

HARTFORD — Forget about relief from car taxes — a late-breaking compromise on the state budget left it by the side of the road Tuesday.

But legislative leaders did agree on a final deal that could end the state’s record 116-day impasse.

As Republican and Democratic caucuses began to review what could be the final version of a budget that could be voted on in the Senate as early as Wednesday, leaders admitted the two-year, $41-billion budget did not yet exist in black and white on a page.

“I think that it is a two-story budget: one of numbers and one of policy,” said Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, during a mid-afternoon news conference. “It not only lays a foundation for future budget negotiations ... But also in this budget will be policies that will roll out in the future if we stick with them.”

Fasano believes that many of his 18-member caucus in the 36-member Senate would approve the spending plan.

“For the most part, they believe that we have the responsibility to the constituency and to the state as a whole,” he said. “And if if we can’t pass a budget, I doubt very highly that a budget will pass in the Senate without Republican votes.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said the goal in the final hours of the negotiations late Monday and early Tuesday was to balance the budget that would begin July 1, 2018.

“We began the day, we were approximately $23 million out of balance in the first year, and $77 million in the second year,” Looney said in the afternoon. “Now of course everything is being reduced to writing. We’re ready to move forward.”

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who vetoed a Republican budget plan that won a handful of Democratic votes last month, has complained he hasn’t seen an actual document to review.

More Information The final budget? $130 million in cuts to UConn over the two-year budget. An additional 45-cent per-pack on cigarettes. The diversion of more than $90 million in clean-energy funds paid by natural gas and electricity customers to the General Fund. No changes to state union benefits after current contracts end in 2027. A reduction in the Earned Income Tax Creditfor the working poor. Caps on annual spending increase and levels of yearly bonded debt for capital projects. A continuance of the $200 property tax credit on the income tax for the elderly and those with dependents. A cap on local car taxes at 39 million in the first year and 45 mills in the second year, pending possible changes during the 2018 General Assembly. An additional 1 percent contribution for public school teachers, invested in their pensions.

Democratic staff briefed Malloy’s staff Tuesday on the highlights.

Under the car-tax proposal, taxes on autos and trucks would be capped at 39 mills in the budget that began July 1, and would increase to 45 mills -- $45 on each $1,000 of value — in the second year.

A plan in the tentative framework initially agreed upon last week would have ended car taxes in the second year, creating a potential $800-million shortfall, with probable higher real estate taxes in towns and cities to make up the difference.

“That’s not expected to be a permanent solution,” Looney said of the current edition of the car-tax section. “I still support getting rid of the car tax and still view it as a nuisance tax,” Duff added.

After a marathon session of shuttle diplomacy in Capitol meeting rooms that started Monday afternoon, Connecticut’s record impasse finally ended at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Emerging from a House Democratic caucus meeting, the leaders capped their attempt to flesh out the budget framework that was agreed upon in principle last week.

“This really has been a historic moment in the state of Connecticut,” said Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin. “Something that people have told me for many years they wanted to see happen, that both parties come together, compromise for the good of the state.”

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said that lawmakers were competing against Malloy’s order, which would have sharply cut back spending and municipal aid.

“When you have a governor that is not being helpful and a governor that is not working with us, and a governor that is trying to scare everybody in this state, it is not about working with the bipartisan budget that passed, it was about working from the executive orders, and we had to make sure that those draconian cuts did not continue to go through and continue to hurt our cities and towns, our children, our elderly, et cetera.”

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT