Bethel state Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan has signed onto a letter to the Department of Revenue Services Commissioner calling for a review of the policy guidance release last week on the meals tax.  He says the unilateral decision by the agency to expand the sales tax to additional food items is not consistent with the intent of the budget. 

Allie-Brennan says the budget assumed the definition of meals as enforced at the time by DRS.  He says while the guidance is an attempt to resolve some of the inequities in the current definition of meals, complete understanding of the real-world impact is necessary. 

Meanwhile Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano says lawmakers who voted for the budget need to clean up their mess in a Special Session.  He says they created the confusion and the public uproar over a damaging policy.  If they now regret their actions, Fasano added that they need to admit their mistakes and fix the legislation. 

He notes that it is not unprecedented.  The legislature returned in a special session in 2018 to restore funds for the Medicare Savings Program.

Gov. Ned Lamont says Connecticut's tax department "too broadly interpreted" a planned tax on prepared foods and will revisit which items should be taxed.  The Democrat said Tuesday his budget office and legislative Democrats, who crafted the final budget deal, only planned an extra 1% tax on items already subjected to the 6.35% sales tax, such as sandwiches and pizza sold at restaurants and many grocery stores.

Lamont hopes the revenue department can clarify things before the tax takes effect October 1. Republicans say a special session is needed to change the law.