New Canaan Democrats Stick New Canaan Residents with Hartford’s Bill
Hartford sold the 2026 budget adjustment as “affordability.” What they passed was an $814 million raid on the volatility cap — money that was supposed to pay down debt. Connecticut has the highest state debt per capita ($26,187) in the nation.
New Canaan taxpayers alone covered $42 million (or 5.2%) of that raid payout. The taxpayers of lower Fairfield County paid 55% or $448 million of the $814 million raided from the volatility cap. Maher, Dathan and Constantine, voted yes; Fazio and O’Dea voted no on SB1.
The same package put still more surplus outside the spending cap — childcare, extra school and municipal aid, Medicaid patches — and carved the Federal Cuts Response Fund out of the rainy-day reserve…
New Canaan taxpayers alone covered $42 million of that $814 million payout. Every Democrat voted yes; Fazio and O’Dea voted no.
It was the balanced 18-18 tie in the State Senate back in 2017 that originally passed the fiscal guardrails. It was also first time ever that the Republican (minority party) drafted budget proposal was adopted by the entire state legislature. Those guardrails were put in place to move the state towards stronger fiscal solvency and reduce the state debt. Since then, the Democratic supermajority has continued to find new ways to circumvent the fiscal guardrails and sweeping funds before they could be committed to paying down the state debt by creating new exclusions and even calling to dismantle the guardrails entirely. In 2026, SB1’s same package put still more surplus outside the spending cap — childcare, extra school and municipal aid, Medicaid patches—and carved the Federal Cuts Response Fund out of the rainy-day reserve.
The Senate vote was 30–6; the House 127–21. Every Democrat voted yes. Some Republicans joined them. Senator Ryan Fazio and Representative Tom O’Dea did not. Republicans spoke out in opposition to the adjustment, standing for fiscal moderation. Fazio offered a Republican alternative that would have kept the cap intact, (and rejected by the supermajority Democrats) and he and O’Dea voted no on the bill that blows through it.
Hartford Spends and New Canaan Pays
New Canaan does not live on state aid. Property taxes run this town’s budget and the burden increases with new unfunded mandates from the state legislature every year. Intergovernmental revenue is a sliver of the budget. When Hartford raids the volatility cap, the cost is passed to the same residents of towns in Lower Fairfield County (Greenwich – 24.02%, Darien – 8.2%, Westport – 6.22%, New Canaan – 5.2%, Stamford – 4.61%, Norwalk 3.42%, Wilton – 3.33%) who already send the largest income-tax dollars to the Capitol and get almost nothing back in ECS-style aid.
Representatives Savet Constantine and Lucy Dathan and Senator Ceci Maher voted with the Democratic majority. Their “seats at the table” provide no leverage — they only strengthen the Supermajority.
Fazio drew a line that was completely ignored by the Supermajority. Having Maher, Constantine and Dathan at the table produces none of the promised leverage for New Canaan. It produces a tax bill—and this one was $814 million, with $42 million of it from New Canaan alone.
New Canaan is worth fighting for. We balance our budgets, so should the state. Checks are needed on the Democratic Supermajority and their costly ideological agenda. VOTE ROW B – Support Republican candidates.
