Cicarella: Budget ‘not perfect,’ but a good start

Press Release

Deputy Republican Senate Leader Paul Cicarella (RNorth Haven) supported the $51.1 billion biennial state budget that provides historic tax relief, protects services for vulnerable residents and invests in schools and healthcare while abiding by the state’s bipartisan fiscal guardrails.

The state budget provides $630 million in tax relief to the working- and middleclass people of Connecticut. In May, the 12-member Republican senate caucus offered a budget proposal that would deliver $1.5 billion in tax relief.

“This budget is not perfect. I certainly would have preferred more tax relief and less spending, as offered in our Senate Republican budget plan,” Cicarella stated.

“However, it still provides the first state income tax cut in decades and funds schools and local nonprofits. It also invests in workforce develop- ment programs, which I’ve been advocating since elected to the legislature.”

The state budget appropriates $25.1 billion in fiscal year 2024 and $26 billion in fiscal year 2025. This reflects a spending increase of $919 million in fiscal year 2024 (a 3.8% increase) and $885 million (a 3.5% increase) in 2025.

What does this mean in income tax cuts for the people of Connecticut? A family of four making $125,000 gets $600 back; A single mom with two kids making $80,000 gets $300 back; A single person earning $40,000 gets $250 back; A single parent

Tag sale

with one kid making $30,000 gets $220 back.

“I am hopeful that this budget brings relief to the many taxpayers still struggling from soaring inflation,” said Cicarella. “I’ll continue to advocate for further discipline when it comes to government spending, so that more meaningful tax relief is possible.”

The biennial state budget includes funding for education and nonprofits. It appropriates $150 million in additional education funding in FY 2025 and moves the full funding by FY 2026. Nonprofits receive an additional $103 million each year.

Durham Animal Response Team D.A.R.T. is sponsoring a Town-Wide Tag Sale to be held throughout Durham on July 22.

For a donation of $20, your personal tag sale will appear on the Town-Wide Tag Sale map.

Registration forms are available at Brenda’s Main Street Feed, 58 Main St. Or, call 860-349-0410. Registration ends July 1.

Volunteer

The Middlefield Volunteer Fire Company seeks volunteers age 18-plus. No experience is required; the department provides the necessary training.

To learn more, visit middlefieldfirect.org, email info@middlefieldfirect.org or stop by the firehouse Mondays before 7 p.m.

The department also has an Explorer program for youth ages 14 to 18.

Gift of sight

The Durham Lions Club’s recently-refurbished drop box is ready for your eyeglass donations at the Durham Pharmacy.

Lions have recognized the urgent need for corrective lenses and collect usable glasses in their communities to support the Lions Recycle For Sight Program.

I just had the thrill of a lifetime. Or at least the thrill of the recent past. I did FaceTime with my Swedish grandson, who will be 13 in August, and he spoke to me in English, for the first time. Music of the spheres, it was. Yay, at last we could understand each other.

We always needed his father, my son Ryan, for an interpreter. Oh, I tried. I really did. I have been taking online Swedish lessons for some time now, thinking I