Keith M. Phaneuf / CT Mirror

Having just wrapped its third-successive fiscal year on pace for a budget surplus that tops $1 billion, Connecticut can expect another three years above or near the $1 billion mark.

State's two year budget features middle class income tax cut and big new investments in local schools as it heads to Gov. Ned Lamont for his expected signature.

Two year state budget includes a big investment in local schools, more modest hikes for social services and higher education and tax cuts.

Officials say fiscal guardrails can’t respond to inflation and other challenges.

With final negotiations on the next state budget about to begin, Gov. Ned Lamont doubled down on his positions Wednesday, praising Connecticut’s fiscal guardrail policies and urging lawmakers to set spending priorities while delivering a broad-based income tax cut to the middle class.

Two-year budget also would boost local education and social services and would keep many state jobs vacant.

Connecticut’s regional university and college system could eliminate more than 3,500 full and part-time jobs — including 654 layoffs — while boosting student tuition and fees by as much as $1,000 by 2025, based on funding in the latest state budget proposal.

A labor arbitrator has ordered $45.4 million in bonuses for 36,000 essential state employees, about $1,200 per worker, to recognize the risks they faced staffing essential services, with no vaccine protection, during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Governor's biennial plan would preserve fiscal guardrails, bolster education aid to towns and curb medical debt.

The United Way of Connecticut, which projects the basic, “survival budget” here for a family of four exceeds $90,000 per year, also is watching closely for Lamont’s assessment of inequality.