CT spent $50 billion last year. Where did it all go?

The Connecticut state government has a number of wallets, some more loaded than others and some reserved for unique needs.

Its biggest wallet, the general fund, made up 43% of all state revenue in the 2024 fiscal year at $22 billion, and it’s the central focus in Hartford every year when lawmakers gather to decide what to spend it on, including staffing, marketing for tourism, law enforcement and other programs and services.

Another wallet, noted as special revenues by the state Comptroller, is for specific purposes and makes up a third of all state revenue. Some of the revenues deal with federal money for Medicaid, highway construction and ARPA dollars, while others come from tobacco and opioid settlement funds that have more narrow uses.

The other wallets, making up just over a fifth of the $51 billion in revenue, are used to pay off long-term debts, pensions, capital and transportation projects and other state costs. There are even funds that operate like private companies that offer a service for money that’s then used to keep funding that service, such as Bradley International Airport or John Dempsey Hospital.

With most wallets having specific uses, the general fund ends up being the most flexible and the meatiest of them all. About 49% of it comes from state income taxes, while taxes from sales, corporations, insurance companies and others push the contribution of taxes to 83%.

In other words, the state income taxes paid by people across the state are available to lawmakers and government officials to fund half of the programs and services the state offers each year.

Federal grants made up a tenth of the general fund while license and permit fees and other niche sources each made up less than 2% of the total.

All those taxes and fees were were then split up among departments for varying needs. About 14% of the general fund was spent on the state’s share of Medicaid contributions, just over a tenth went towards funding state employees, another tenth was in the forms of grants to public schools, and another tenth was used to pay down long-term debt. All non-agency expenses, including debt service, pension contributions, workers’ and unemployment compensation claims and others, made up a fourth of all general fund costs.

Of the money spent on staff, the largest share was by the Department of Corrections at 15%, followed by the Judicial Branch at 12% and the Department of Children and Families at roughly 10%. These three departments’ staffing expenses each made up at least 1% of the entire general fund, unlike other agencies.

Another source of revenue, borrowed money from the sale of government bonds, was used to fund capital projects, making up 4% of all state expenses at $1.9 billion. A quarter of the money went to school construction progress, while a tenth went to bus and rail facility and improvements. Another tenth went to transportation projects under the Let’s GO CT! RAMP-UP program.