Comptroller Sean Scanlon Projects $322.3 Million Surplus
Economic Update spotlights retail industry ahead of holiday shopping
(HARTFORD, CT) – Comptroller Sean Scanlon today, in his monthly financial and economic update, projected a Fiscal Year 2026 General Fund surplus of $322.3 million and a Special Transportation Fund surplus of $14 million, both in general agreement with the Office of Policy and Management’s (OPM) projections.
In a letter to Governor Ned Lamont, Comptroller Scanlon also noted the closeout of fiscal year 2025 yielded $1.9 billion available to be transferred from the Budget Reserve Fund (BRF), also known as the “Rainy Day Fund,” to reduce the State’s pension liabilities and potentially to address recent federal funding reductions.
“The federal government shutdown is increasingly creating challenges and uncertainties for Connecticut,” said Comptroller Scanlon. “It’s incredibly frustrating to watch Washington’s dysfunction and refusal to find compromise have real consequences for people and families in our state, and those consequences will only get worse the longer this continues. If the President or Congress won’t act, we can and should in Hartford to ensure our residents aren’t victims of D.C. political games.”
This month’s Economic Update spotlights Connecticut’s retail industry, from the thousands of businesses to the over one hundred thousand people employed. Also featured are new and emerging retail trends, including “Treatonomics” and the use of artificial intelligence in online shopping.
With the Federal government shutdown, many national economic reports have been paused or cancelled. In Connecticut, though, the latest labor market data continues to show low unemployment claims, while September survey data points to slower employment growth in the coming months. Later this month, OPM’s Consensus Revenue Forecast will be published, which will give an update on the revenues expected to be collected by state government this fiscal year.
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