The Connecticut Republican Party has released a set of platforms called “The Contract With Connecticut“. This plan has the following five sections.

An Affordable Connecticut Act

  • Cut the income tax from 5% to 4% for families making less than $175,000 a year and index state income tax brackets so that taxes paid on earnings do not outpace inflation.
  • Repeal the highway use tax on trucks that starts in January 2023. This new tax passed by the Democrats in 2021 will drive up the costs of food, consumer products and services.
  • Increase the property tax credit that can be claimed for real estate and motor vehicles from $300 to $500 to all families filing state income taxes.
  • Reduce the sales tax and eliminate the 1% meals tax.
  • Repeal taxes and fees which cost more to collect than the revenue they generate.

The Protecting our Communities Act

  • Provide law enforcement the tools needed to keep us safe.
  • Enhance penalties for crimes committed using a stolen vehicle or stolen firearms.
  • Remove certain violent crimes from being eligible for clean slate criminal record erasure.
  • Expand the circumstances under which juveniles charged with certain violent crimes are automatically transferred to the regular criminal docket.
  • Provide adequate funding and resources for the Office of Victim Advocate.

The Families First Act

  • Require impact statements and reporting on policies affecting children in public schools and childcare settings any time a health emergency or alert is declared.
  • Assist all Boards of Education to include all curriculum materials on their websites and to allow for public comment on all agendas.
  • Add two legislative appointments to the State Board of Education, which shall be two parents–one from a district with a student population of under 1,000 students K-12 and one from a district with student population of over 3,000 students K-12.
  • Ensure mobile crisis services include 24 hour 7 days a week.
  • Protect senior citizens from fraud and abuse

The Honesty in Government Act

  • Create a bipartisan Ways and Means Subcommittee from existing committee resources to review and make recommendations on state agency program costs vs. results.
  • Allow the State Treasurer to direct excess state revenue to pay down bonded indebtedness in addition to pension debt obligations.
  • Update our civil preparedness and public health emergency statutes and executive order emergency powers to reflect modern realities.
  • Protect taxpayer resources and audit COVID funding.
  • Require Voter ID for voting purposes, and require Registrars of Voters to report any incidents of voter fraud to the Secretary of the State

The Local Control Act

  • Remove existing state-imposed barriers to voluntary regional shared services.
  • Provide a centralized website for municipalities to access helpful information on state mandates including deadlines and any other pertinent information that could be useful for cities and towns to achieve compliance.
  • Take a more honest approach to affordable housing by including existing properties that meet income-based affordability standards, and eliminate the requirement for deed restrictions for owner occupied affordable housing which restricts the ability to create home equity.
  • Require a two thirds vote of the legislature to pass any new conveyance taxes