Connecticut

Connecticut has a statutory TEL with numerous exemptions and a constitutional TEL passed by legislative referendum in 1992. The statutory TEL limits the growth of spending to the greater of inflation and personal income growth but excludes, debt payments, grants to distressed municipalities, federal mandates and court orders, and budget reserves.

The constitutional TEL is covered in Article 3 Section 18 of the Connecticut State Constitution. It limits spending to the greater of inflation and personal income growth and can be overridden by a declaration of emergency with a supermajority legislative vote. It also requires the Connecticut legislature to define what types of spending are subject to the spending cap by 3/5 supermajority legislative vote. The Connecticut legislature never successfully defined what types of spending are subject to the cap. This means the exemptions for the statutory TEL are still in place.

The base year represents the year the hypothetical Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) would have been enacted. Selecting a base year changes how the state’s TABOR is calculated because the annual growth rates of inflation and population change depending on when TABOR is enacted.

Year	Inflation-adjusted Actual Spending
1992	18,074,662,300
1993	17,294,395,520
1994	17,716,825,630
1995	19,072,096,180
1996	18,586,418,690
1997	19,808,541,880
1998	20,738,745,480
1999	20,824,318,010
2000	23,737,556,100
2001	24,563,962,690
2002	25,860,879,660
2003	24,762,685,960
2004	25,413,038,190
2005	27,589,422,590
2006	26,513,621,610
2007	28,611,785,740
2008	28,830,351,550
2009	22,756,837,060
2010	28,047,658,700
2011	29,351,516,970
2012	30,536,862,130
2013	30,499,278,950
2014	27,252,095,960
2015	28,975,954,050
2016	30,291,330,820
2017	30,312,024,240
2018	30,712,043,410
2019	31,600,545,110
2020	30,443,865,280
2021	29,795,787,910
2022	30,971,545,660

*All spending figures are in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars.