Connecticut Democrats rushed Monday to reinforce a narrative that the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that President Donald Trump signed on Friday represents a titanic shift in caring for the poor from Washington to the states, albeit one that may not be readily apparent until after the elections of 2026.
“There is going to be a race out there for the truth in terms of what happened last week,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. “There are going to be forces and money and groups that are going to be trying to confuse and mislead people about what actually this bill is all about.”
At a press conference at the Charter Oak Health Center, a federally funded provider of primary care for the poor and uninsured just four blocks from the state Capitol in Hartford, a lineup of speakers led by Gov. Ned Lamont acknowledged that a precise analysis of the law’s granular impact is a work in progress.
Officials have no complete assessment of the new law on Connecticut’s finances or safety net, but Lamont said he saw no immediate need for new state revenue given the delayed impact of key provisions, most notably changes in how people qualify for Medicaid and the nutrition assistance program, SNAP.
“Let us take a look at what this bill does,” Lamont said. “It’s incredibly cynical, because all the tax cut goodies happen immediately, just exploding the deficit, and most of the spending cuts happen after the midterms and even beyond that. So I don’t think there’s any need for revenue now, but we’ll see what happens over the next few years.”
The broad strokes are evident: A permanent continuation of temporary tax cuts Trump pushed in 2017 will increase the national debt by trillions and, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, raise after-tax incomes for the richest 10% of Americans and lower them for the poorest 10%.
The same congressional office estimated that about 138,000 people in Connecticut could lose Medicaid coverage, primarily due to compliance with new work requirements that Andrea Barton Reeves, the state commissioner of social services, said could prove daunting.
Nearly three quarters of Medicaid recipients in Connecticut already hold jobs.
While the law makes no direct cuts on Medicare, Courtney noted that its impact on the deficit will trigger a provision of the so-called “PAYGO” law, short for pay as you go. It requires spending increases or tax cuts to be offset by across-the-board cuts of 4% on certain entitlements, most notably Medicare.
“Last January, after the inauguration, President Trump said that he would love and cherish Medicare and Medicaid. In the history of broken promises, I think this one sort of surpassed, ‘Read my lips, no new taxes,’” Courtney said.
U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, said the impact on Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP not only will be obscured by the passage of time but actually will be blunted by the actions of the Connecticut General Assembly and other state legislatures to maintain social safety nets.
As a result, Larson said, the Democrats’ warnings may strike some as overly alarmist: “‘What are the Democrats talking about here? I’m still getting my Social Security check. I’m still being taken care of.’”
Indeed, Comptroller Sean Scanlon said, “Our message to the people of Connecticut is, ‘We got your back. We’re not going to let you fall through the cracks under this governor and this legislature.’ We’re going to step up to make sure that the people of Connecticut impacted by this bill are going to be protected, and we should be damn proud of that.”
How that would occur and at what cost were questions for another day.
“I think our core precept, mine certainly, is we’re going to do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable. That’s one of the reasons we have a rainy day fund,” Lamont said.
The governor has been opposed to any increases in the state income tax, and he showed no sign Monday of wavering on that position.
Lamont, a two-term governor who has hinted at seeking a third term in 2026, said Trump’s bill and the Republicans who voted for it were doing so by racking up huge debt.
“No Republican in Washington [who] voted for this bill can ever use the words ‘fiscal conservative’ with a straight face,” Lamont said. “And I want to hear where Republicans in this state stand on this bill.”
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, and Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said the Democrats are accentuating the negative and ignoring the positive aspects, such as the greater deductibility of state and local taxes, or SALT.
“I continue to be disappointed by the governor and Democrats’ reaction,” Candelora said. “They continue to publicize and only point to things that could be harmful.”
Greater accountability for Medicaid and SNAP recipients are not necessarily harmful and could force the state to do a better job in assessing eligibility, Candelora said.
“I think in terms of the SALT deduction, it’s undisputed, it’s going to give significant tax relief to our constituents,” Harding said.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal predicted Republicans will avoid constituents as the law is further analyzed.
“Don’t expect them to be having a lot of town halls in the future as the impact of this bill becomes clearer,” he said.
