Media Roundup: Fazio Tax Plan Not Based in Reality

• CT Mirror: Ryan’s assumptions “no longer reflect Connecticut’s fiscal reality”

• Dan Haar: Plan “isn’t viable as written”

Less than 24 hours after Ryan Fazio unveiled his $2.5 billion so-called “tax proposal,” Connecticut media coverage has been clear: his numbers on taxes don’t add up – and come at the cost of deep cuts to health and childcare programs.

• CT Mirror says Fazio’s numbers are outdated.
  Budget reporter Keith Phaneuf explained Fazio’s plan relies on “outdated spending and revenue trends” and said its assumptions “no longer reflect Connecticut’s fiscal reality.” Fazio’s plan assumes hundreds of millions of dollars in future surpluses even as the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis currently projects deficits, and it does not identify whether or how Connecticut would maintain hundreds of millions of dollars in newer commitments for childcare, municipal aid and social services.
  
  

• Dan Haar says Fazio’s plan “isn’t viable as written.”
  Hearst columnist Dan Haar examined Fazio’s promise to deliver the cuts within four years and concluded: “Not likely.” Haar cited the state’s built-in costs and existing needs before delivering an even clearer assessment: “Fazio’s plan isn’t viable as written”, calling the proposal “exaggerated.”
  
  

• CT Insider asks “Would it work?”
  Paul Hughes explained Fazio’s plan to halt contributions to Connecticut’s Early Childhood Endowment, raid the existing fund for $616 million, and count on hundreds of millions of dollars from a hypothetical legal victory in a challenge to New York’s remote-work tax policy.
  

Even as written, Fazio’s plan relies on slashing $336 million from Medicaid while generating substantial future operating surpluses. Fazio already fought to double down on Donald Trump’s cuts to healthcare – calling for an end to CT’s Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Connecticut Democratic Party spokesperson Ian Clarke:

“We’ve consistently seen Ryan push out these laundry list plans with a nice round-number attached. He starts with the bumper sticker figure he wants to promise, then uses napkin math and Hollywood accounting to get there. 

His revenue projections are from the wrong year, he’s banking on a completely hypothetical legal victory, and he’s planning on gutting our childcare endowment and healthcare funding to top it off. Voters will see through Ryan’s plan to destabilize Connecticut’s finances and drastically increase costs for working families.”