Press Releases
01/15/2021
Governor Lamont and Secretary McCaw Statements on Today’s Consensus Revenue Report
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont and Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw released the following statements in response to the consensus revenue forecast issued today by the Office of Policy and Management and the Office of Fiscal Analysis:
Governor Lamont said, “Today’s consensus revenue forecast makes it abundantly clear the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting economic fallout are unlike previous contractions, and Connecticut’s response and efforts to handle this massive public health crisis have been exceptional. In this unique paradigm, portions of our state’s economy have continued to perform thanks to the resilience of our residents, robust federal support, and smart and strategic state investment. This forecast allows the state to continue essential services and support for our partners without forcing us to tap our historic savings in the current year.”
Secretary McCaw said, “The bold and swift actions taken have allowed financial markets to stabilize and grow, empowered our residents to find opportunity and start nearly 40,000 businesses in 2020 – one of the best years our state has experienced – and strengthened our revenue collections for capital gains and pass-through entities beyond our expectations at the outset of the pandemic in the spring. We have also seen stronger than anticipated performance in our withholding and sales tax, as some businesses have been able to stay open and keep their employees working, which has allowed for more consumer spending than we projected in April. By combining state and federal resources, we have been able to successfully maintain in-person public education, reopen substantial portions of the state economy, and help shoulder much of the costs associated with combatting this pandemic for our non-profits and municipalities. With that, we have experienced a resurgent real estate market with increased demand and prices for homes in Connecticut. But, let’s be clear, while the $743 million improvement from our December 21 estimate will erase our projected shortfall for the current fiscal year, and the more than $800 million dollar estimated increases in each year of the upcoming biennium will narrow the gap that we must close in the next budget, there are sizeable challenges ahead as the projected shortfalls for FY22 and FY23 remain well above $1 billion in each year that will still require difficult decisions.”
**Download: January 15, 2021 consensus revenue forecast
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