Gov. Ned Lamont applauded the vote but hit back at Fonfara, defending the large amounts of federal pandemic aid that will flow into cities when the two-year $ 46.4 billion budget goes into effect on July 1 .

“Someone who has been in this building for 30 years is talking to someone who has been in this building for 30 months to try to make a difference for this state, I take exception to these comments,” Lamont told reporters at outside the Capitol.

The tense exchange evoked the interwoven bickering that defined this legislative session, between moderate Democrats and liberals over taxes, health reform, environmental issues, marijuana legalization and criminal justice. But that was the exception on Wednesday, the last day of the 2021 session, as the massive tax and spending plan, often a bloody battleground, passed with relative ease.

While the budget does not include the sweeping reforms Liberal Democrats wanted, it does include provisions to help the middle class and the working poor.

Fonfara’s bitterness was directed at last week’s removal of a proposed income tax hike for the state’s wealthiest, as well as a surtax on state income tax. investment, which Lamont insisted on came from a budget. The two taxes are said to have raised $ 700 million per year from people earning more than $ 500,000 per year as individuals or $ 1 million as joint filers.

Fonfara and other Democrats wanted to funnel this money into a separate fund to be spent on struggling cities.

The plan fell through when Lamont rejected it, saying there was no need to raise taxes due to the $ 2.8 billion federal pandemic stimulus package and rainy day fund state, overflowing with taxes on stock market earnings.

“The governor is a Democrat and I think it’s time to back that designation, that nickname if you will, with substance,” Fonfara said at an April 23 press conference with Recovery for All CT.

Lamont said federal funding for the American Rescue Act will be combined with state funding for a variety of city-related programs, as well as summer and early learning programs.

The state’s earned income tax credit for the working poor will drop from 23% of federal income tax to its highest rate of 30.5%, resulting in additional income of $ 40 million dollars for nearly 195,000 Connecticut households.

More than $ 525 million in additional funding will go to towns and cities in Connecticut over the next two years. New Haven, for example, will receive about $ 50 million more in state funding than the previous fiscal year, in addition to about $ 115 million in federal aid.

An additional $ 29 million will be spent over the next two years to fully implement a debt-free community. The budget also includes funding to support wage increases for long-term care workers, who have threatened large-scale strikes if they don’t receive better wages and benefits.

During the Senate debate, Democrats and Republicans stressed that the budget reflects the state’s values ​​going forward.

For Republicans, that meant not raising taxes, including personal income, digital taxes, and commercial property.

“Connecticut families didn’t need more of the financial burden, what they needed was a financial break,” said Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, who voted in favor of the budget .

Before the vote, Kelly encouraged her members to consider whether the budget “works for the people of their district” and to “vote on it”.

While the budget itself does not raise taxes, Democrats this week passed a highway use tax on heavy trucks, proposed by Lamont. This tax is estimated at $ 90 million per year for transportation improvements, although the trucking industry has said it will fail because out-of-state shippers will not pay.

Despite some concerns about the budget – Republicans proposed an amendment to embezzle $ 415 million instead of $ 155 million in the failed state unemployment trust fund – Kelly said he ” would not like to see the perfect become the enemy of the good ”.

Pro Tempore Senate Speaker Martin Looney D-New Haven had pushed for higher taxes on the rich. But he said the budget was a reason to celebrate and reflected “the fact that Connecticut has an obligation to help those in need, who are in difficulty.”

“This budget deserves bipartisan support because it meets the needs of the times,” Looney said.

Lamont, calling the budget “transformative,” said it “is making a big difference in the lives of people, especially in the lives of those who have been hit hardest by the pandemic, especially in the lives of people. Blacks and browns, which was not the case. done in 30 years.

In a statement after the vote in the early evening, Lamont praised lawmakers.

“We have agreed among the parties that now is the time to ensure access to affordable child care for thousands of families, expanding access to free and affordable health care will ensure the household security and investing in our future through workforce development will strengthen our state. “The governor said.” Equity investments will uplift our state for generations to come. “