Gov. Ned Lamont calls the recently-signed federal budget bill “reckless and mean-spirited” and said national lawmakers were engaging in fiscal hypocrisy during a news conference at the Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNewsJunkie
US Sen. Richard Blumenthal discusses the federal budget cuts during a news conference at the Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNewsJunkie
US Rep. John Larson says Americans are being lied to by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans regarding the federal budget bill during a news conference at the Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNewsJunkie
US Rep. Joe Courtney discusses the federal budget bill during a news conference at the Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNEwsJunkie
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz discusses the impact of the federal budget on Connecticut during a news conference at the Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNewsJunkie
Social Services Commissioner Andrew Barton-Reeves discusses the impact of the federal budget on Connecticut during a news conference at the Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut officials are warning of widespread harm to health care access, state finances, and working families under the newly signed federal budget law.
During a news conference at the federally qualified Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford, they said will slash $13 billion from the state’s Medicaid program over 10 years, shift SNAP administration costs to the state, and trigger automatic Medicare cuts — all while delivering tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and adding $5 trillion in new federal debt.
Gov. Ned Lamont called the federal budget bill “reckless and mean-spirited,” and accused national lawmakers of fiscal hypocrisy.
“No Republican who voted for this bill can ever use the words ‘fiscal conservative’ with a straight face,” Lamont said. “We’ve been paying down pension debt. We have an honestly balanced budget. They’re not doing that in Washington.”
Lamont warned the law would raise costs across the board and destabilize the very programs families rely on — including home health care, Medicaid, FEMA, and early education.
“This is a nightmare having come to pass,” he said. “It’s our seniors, our kids, and working families who will pay the price.”
Lamont also called for Connecticut Republicans to clarify where they stood on the federal budget.
In a statement, House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora disagreed with Democrats’ assessment of the bill and called it a step toward a smaller, more affordable government, saying it “delivers real relief to working families.”
No Republican who voted for this bill can ever use the words ‘fiscal conservative’ with a straight face. We’ve been paying down pension debt. We have an honestly balanced budget. They’re not doing that in Washington.
gov. ned lamont
Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves stated that Connecticut currently covers more than 1 million residents through Medicaid, including 300,000 children. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 73% of Medicaid recipients in the state are working, and more than 60% of those receiving SNAP already have jobs.
“This is not about laziness or sloth,” she said.“These are people who have families and work two and three jobs.”
To help blunt the impact, Barton Reeves said the state has already committed $80 million to its network of federally qualified health centers and is preparing to implement the new six-month Medicaid work-reporting requirement — a policy she acknowledged will be disruptive even to those fully in compliance.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz called the requirement “punishment by paperwork,” saying it was designed to trip people up in red tape and remove them from coverage. She also condemned the bill’s $350 billion increase in immigration enforcement funding.
“More than many countries spend on their military,” she said. “We are in a state where ICE is already visiting communities. Now we’re throwing hundreds of billions into enforcement while pulling food and health care away from working families.”
SNAP, which serves roughly 355,000 households in Connecticut, will now become a state-administered program — a significant administrative and fiscal shift.
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, emphasized that the financial and political design of the bill is intentional.
“Because of the $5 trillion this adds to the federal deficit, it triggers automatic cuts under the federal PAYGO law,” he said.
PAYGO, or “pay-as-you-go,” requires spending offsets for new legislation. When no offsets are provided, automatic cuts are triggered in existing programs. In this case, that includes a projected 4% cut to all Medicare providers, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office — a move that will impact hospitals, nursing homes, and community health centers statewide.
“In total, the law slices $535 billion out of Medicare,” Courtney said. “On top of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts nationally. This bill takes the country backward.”
Courtney also cited estimates from George Washington University that the bill could result in the loss of 1.4 million jobs nationally, particularly in the healthcare and service sectors. As federal borrowing increases, he warned, the pressure will ripple across the economy.
But the true scope, he said, is being actively obscured.
“There’s going to be a race for the truth — and forces trying to confuse and mislead people about what actually happened with this bill,” Courtney said.
US Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, pointed to misleading claims already circulating via email and social media.
“People see an email from Social Security saying, ‘You don’t have to pay taxes anymore,’ and think they’ve been protected. There is nothing in the bill about Social Security,” Larson said. “They’ve been lied to. And eventually, they’re going to realize what’s going on — and they’re going to be mad as hell.”
US Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the delayed implementation of many provisions — set to take effect after the 2026 midterm elections — is no coincidence.
“Some of the worst provisions don’t go into effect until after the 2026 midterm election,” he said. “But that means we have time. The fiscal year 2026 appropriations process gives us a chance to stop some of this madness before it becomes law.”
Blumenthal described the budget as a “Pyrrhic victory” for Republicans, and warned of broader consequences:
“This is the biggest transfer of wealth from poor to rich in the history of America,” he said, repeating the statement for emphasis. “And make no mistake — the cost of everything will rise. Food, housing, borrowing. The middle class is being disassembled before our eyes.”
He added that as debt piles up, rising interest rates will further slow economic growth.
“When it gets harder for businesses to borrow, expand, and manufacture, job growth goes down with it,” Blumenthal said.
State Comptroller Sean Scanlon said the economic impact may not be fully understood yet, but the underlying ideology is familiar.
“What we do know is that history has always shown this trickle-down economics just doesn’t work,” he said, “But we got your back. We’re not going to let the people of Connecticut fall through the cracks.”
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