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Governor Ned Lamont is a father, husband, and business owner who has dedicated himself to serving the public. For Ned, this isn’t about politics. This is about continuing the progress we have made and keeping our state moving forward.

Governor Lamont is fighting every day for Connecticut – growing jobs, cutting taxes, and investing in our schools and our communities – as he leads our state into the future.

For the first time in over 80 years, Connecticut has a Governor who began his career as a business owner and job creator. Governor Ned Lamont started a family and launched a successful business in our state because he believes in Connecticut: hard work, dedication, and neighbors looking out for one another.

Now, as Governor, he’s rolling out the welcome mat for more families and even more businesses to call Connecticut home — with lower taxes, more job opportunities, stronger schools, historic budget surpluses, and a pandemic recovery that is unmatched nationally.

For the first time in over 80 years, Connecticut has a Governor who began his career as a business owner and job creator. He took on the telecom giants because he saw a better way to deliver value to customers, eventually growing his business to serve more than 400 of the nation’s largest college campuses and over a million students. He brings his business experience to work every day as Governor, constantly finding more ways for the state to attract new innovative companies and spur more job creation.

Ever since he started his career, Governor Lamont has focused on giving back to those in need. He ran a local newspaper, served in local office, volunteered as a high school teacher in Bridgeport, stood up for his convictions as a U.S. Senate candidate against Joe Lieberman and the war in Iraq in 2006, and served on the boards of Mercy Corps and the Conservation Services Group. He’s fought for Connecticut values, and he’s delivered meaningful results.

Governor Lamont is a graduate of Harvard College and earned a Master of Business Administration from the Yale School of Management. He’s been married to his wife, Annie, for nearly 40 years, and they have three children: Emily, Lindsay, and Teddy.

WHAT NED’S DONE

For the past four years, Governor Lamont has been the strong leader Connecticut needs during challenging times.

He put partisanship aside and brought Republicans and Democrats together to get our state back on track. Governor Lamont’s leadership turned deficits into surplus, cut taxes, and provided record funding for our schools and our communities. And he led the state through the pandemic — keeping our schools and businesses open and our people safe.

Connecticut is going strong — and, with Governor Ned Lamont leading the way, we’ll keep getting stronger.

Cutting Taxes

Connecticut families needed relief, and Governor Lamont stepped up to the plate:

• Signed the largest tax relief package in state history — $660 million — while still ensuring a historic surplus
• Immediately put money back in people’s pockets with a gas tax holiday, a capped car tax, and an increased child tax rebate of up to $250 per child
• Delivering up to $750 for families with kids with the child tax rebate – supporting nearly 370,000 children
• Increased the property tax credit on state income tax to provide another $125 million in income tax cuts to the middle class
• Supported seniors and retirees by eliminating the tax on pensions and 401ks
• Provided an additional $42 million in total relief or roughly an extra $300 each to about 185,000 households through the Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Saving pension filers an extra $40 million per year by exempting all pension and annuity earnings from the income tax.

Balancing the Budget

When Governor Lamont took office, he faced a nearly $4 billion deficit, and the state hadn’t operated a surplus in decades. He instituted a “debt diet” and turned things around:

• Eliminated the budget deficit he inherited, without raising taxes
• Led the state to a record budget surplus of nearly $4 billion
• Secured the first bond rating upgrade in 20 years in 2021
• Honored our commitment to state employees by making full payment to the pension fund and paying down debt, so $400 million a year can instead go toward schools and tax cuts

Job Creation, Workforce Development and Infrastructure Investment

As a successful entrepreneur and job creator, Governor Lamont knows how to help businesses — especially small ones — create opportunities for Connecticut residents. Here’s how he’s delivered:

• 7 consecutive months of job growth in 2022 and record low unemployment
• Createda new state office focused on workforce development
• Established the Community Investment Fund – $875 million to foster economic development in historically underserved communities across the state
• Used $103 million in American Rescue Plan funds to rebuild Connecticut’s workforce impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
• Provided both entry-level and incumbent worker training to more than 2,000 residents with a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Directed nearly $10 million in COVID relief funding to support Connecticut’s dairy and agriculture industries
• Provided $9 million in CARES Act funding to help arts groups recover from the impact of COVID.
• Supported Connecticut restaurants, signing executive orders to expand outdoor dining and allow sales of to-go cocktails, saving “hundreds of restaurants”.
• Restored funding for the states ‘unemployment insurance trust fund’ removing a large burden for businesses. -Recruited new businesses to grow right here in Connecticut, including Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Frito-Lay, WellSpark Health, and many more
• Biggest investment in workforce training in the history of the state Ensured better-paying jobs by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour

GOVERNOR LAMONT HAS HELD THE LINE ON WASTEFUL SPENDING THAT MARKED PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS WHILE FUNDING VITAL PROJECTS IN EVERY CORNER OF THE STATE:

• Cutting travel times with rail upgrades
• Repairing local bridges
• Ensuring clean drinking water
• Upgrading transportation systems and supporting pedestrian and bicycle safety

Making Connecticut More Affordable

Governor Lamont has made Connecticut a better place to live and raise family by making the state more affordable for working and middle class families.

• Implemented cap on the car tax, providing a total of about $100 million on relief spread across 75 towns.
• Signed into law landmark Paid Family and Medical Leave program.
• Created the Covered Connecticut program to provide no-cost care to nearly 40,000 adults.
• Held week-long sales tax holiday to help parents with back-to-school expenses
• Capped copays for insulin at $25 per month and for insulin-related supplies at $100 per month.
• Provided a ‘back to school’ benefits for 15,000 of Connecticut’s most needy families
• Created the CT Energy Assistance Program, which shaves hundreds of dollars off annual heating bills.
• Cut gasoline tax by 25 cents per gallon and is providing free bus service when people needed it most

Government Efficiency and Modernization

Governor Lamont has made state government more efficient – saving Connecticut families time and saving taxpayers money.

• Governor Lamont updated how the DMV works and cut wait times significantly by making it easier to handle license renewals, update registrations and other basic business online.
• Launched a new online state tax filing system which improved the customer’s experience and delivered additional, user-friendly features.
• Launched the portal business.ct.gov which allows entrepreneurs to easily find information required to start a business
  • 17,683 new business checklists have been created since Business.CT.gov went live.
  • 56% of all new business checklists on Business.CT.gov have been created by women or minority entrepreneurs
• Signed bill modernizing state government operations
  • Gives agencies more flexibility to use modern digital tools.
  • Gives small and minority owned businesses better access to work with state government.
• Allowed pet owners to renew their licenses online, eliminating time-consuming trips to town offices

Improving Education and Reopening Schools

Governor Lamont has supported educators and students; and led the effort to keep schools open while keeping students and teachers safe:

• Connecticut’s K-12 system ranked #3 in the nation by Education Week in 2020, and students led the country on AP exam performance in 2021
• Increased education cost-sharing grants to cities and towns by $116 million over two years
• Debt-free community college for full-time students
• Committed to ensuring that every child – regardless of their zip code – has the opportunity to succeed – and supported AG William Tong’s settlement of the Sheff v O’Neill case
• Invested $11 million in funding for summer programs

Strengthening Public Safety

Under Governor Lamont, Connecticut has been one of the safest states in the country, with the fourth-lowest violent crime rate. In addition to prioritizing public safety in our communities, Governor Lamont has:

• Connecticut trained more state & municipal police in 2021 than any year prior – including the most diverse class of state police in state history
• Supported Connecticut’s first responders by providing workers compensation benefits to those suffering from trauma and toxic substances
• Signed the policing reform legislation to improve policing across our state, making our communities stronger
• Provided millions in funding for public safety programs – including unexpected pandemic-related costs, forensic labs, and address auto theft
• Funded behavioral health and juvenile support programs to prevent crime, support our youth and provide them with future opportunities
• Has taken bold steps to tackle gun violence
  • Strengthened Connecticut’s Red Flag Laws, empowering law enforcement to keep guns away from people who pose an extreme risk to themselves or others.
  • Signed Ethan’s Law which requires gun owners to safely store firearms and ammunition in a manner that prevents minors from accessing them.
  • Worked with regional governors to establish cross-border anti-gun programs
  • Signed a law banning untraceable “ghost guns”

Supporting Families

Governor Lamont has made sure that Connecticut is a great place to start a family — which helps attract new businesses and a dynamic workforce — and is fighting for justice and equality.

• Passed a historic Paid Family Medical Leave program that took effect in December 2021, guaranteeing up to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for a newborn child, a sick family member, or oneself in the event of a health issue — supporting working people and businesses at the same time by improving retention and productivity
• Biggest investment in childcare and daycare in the history of the state, helping parents get back to work and children get a jumpstart on their education
• Enacted sweeping legislation aimed at improving children’s mental health
• Signed legislation strengthening Connecticut’s standards on childhood lead poisoning
• Signed one of the strongest measures in the country to protect and expand safe abortion care in Connecticut
• Expanded civil rights protections with the CROWN Act, which bans discrimination based on hairstyles commonly associated with people of color
• Strengthened equal protections for LGBTQ+ parents and tackled bigoted violence by banning “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses in criminal cases
• Made Connecticut the first state in the nation to require high schools to provide courses on Black and Latino studies
• Established a commission on racial equity in public health which declared racism a public health crisis.
• Signed a law making Juneteenth Day a state holiday in Connecticut
• Worked with the Attorney General to settle the Sheff v O’Neill case and to end 33 years of litigation and court oversight over how to redress racial, ethnic and economic segregation in the schools of Hartford and its suburbs.

Combating Climate Change and Promoting Energy Efficiency

Connecticut families shouldn’t have to worry that the air they breathe will make them sick, or that we won’t address climate change before it’s too late. With Governor Lamont’s leadership, our state is a national model for fighting back against climate change, ensuring clean air, and transitioning to a clean energy future:

• Codified a plan to move Connecticut to a carbon-free energy grid by 2040
• Signed the Clean Air Act into law, which will reduce pollution by electrifying state vehicles and public - school buses and synchronizing traffic signals so vehicles can run more efficiently
• Increased air quality monitoring across Connecticut
• Created a new Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council to address the disproportionate effects of climate change and pollution on lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color
• Promoted energy efficiency in public buildings and through cost-lowering standards for home appliances and building codes