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	18,176,070,000
1993	17,340,270,000
1994	17,729,250,000
1995	18,930,520,000
1996	18,288,770,000
1997	19,349,790,000
1998	20,165,990,000
1999	20,027,390,000
2000	22,651,500,000
2001	23,272,400,000
2002	24,482,880,000
2003	23,437,020,000
2004	23,950,340,000
2005	25,969,580,000
2006	24,695,040,000
2007	26,692,500,000
2008	26,584,640,000
2009	21,100,100,000
2010	26,033,990,000
2011	26,994,530,000
2012	28,110,860,000
2013	27,943,000,000
2014	24,861,270,000
2015	26,482,310,000
2016	27,708,260,000
2017	27,688,820,000
2018	27,818,210,000
2019	28,242,270,000
2020	27,134,890,000

*All spending figures are in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars.