Republican leaders on the General Assembly’s tax-writing panel pushed back Friday on Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal to provide a $200-per-person tax rebate, signaling the start of a debate expected to dominate the 12-week legislative session that opened Wednesday.

Lamont’s proposal would cost the state $500 million — a price tag government can afford, according to the administration, which projects Connecticut will close the fiscal year on June 30 with more than $1.9 billion unspent. This would help offset rising utility costs and inflation driven by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Democratic governor told lawmakers Wednesday when he unveiled his plan.

“I think I can say with certainty that we all agree that broad-based tax relief is needed,” Rep. Joe Polletta of Watertown, said ranking House Republican on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, after Lamont’s budget director, Joshua Wojcik, outlined the administration’s budget proposals Friday. But “I think that my side … may feel that there’s some structural changes that are needed to achieve that.”

In other words, giving taxpayers and other residents a one-time rebate of $200 would help. But many Republicans think Connecticut households need relief that will continue year after year.

House Republicans outlined a plan in October for an ongoing $500 million state income tax cut. GOP lawmakers specifically want to bolster an income tax credit that offsets up to $300 of middle-class households’ municipal property tax bills. The Republican plan would expand the credit to as much as $1,000 for some income-eligible filers.

The House Republican plan also is more targeted than Lamont’s.

The GOP would make its revised property tax credit available to single filers earning up to $130,000 per year and couples making up to $200,000.

But most households making less than $35,000 per year would not benefit at all, even if they have paid municipal property taxes, since most under that earnings threshold owe no income taxes. Most credits cannot be applied once income tax liability has been reduced to $0.

The governor’s proposal would provide a $200 rebate to individuals that earn $200,000 per year or less. Couples that earn $400,000 or less would receive $400.

Lamont, who delivered a major state income tax cut in 2023, is focused this year on taking further steps to make Connecticut more affordable, said Wojcik.

“This winter, being one of the coldest on record … that drives up some heating costs that folks may have otherwise anticipated,” he said, adding the proposed rebate is “a nice way to provide some relief.”

Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, ranking Senate Republican on the finance committee and a contender for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, questioned the proposal’s timing. Lamont, a Democrat seeking reelection this November to a third term, has overseen $1 billion-plus surpluses in six of his first seven years in office (even with the fiscal chaos caused by COVID’s arrival in 2020, Connecticut closed that fiscal year a very healthy $569 million in the black) and is on pace for yet another.

“We’ve had cold winters and hot summers over the last eight years,” Fazio said. “So, I’m wondering what became different in this year that makes this proposal appealing.”

The large surpluses have been driven by aggressive budget caps lawmakers enacted in 2017, with the savings used chiefly to bolster reserves and reduce pension debt.

Throughout his tenure, Lamont, a fiscal moderate, largely has urged his fellow Democrats to maintain fiscal discipline, and his budget office noted in November that Connecticut still carries more than $33 billion in unfunded pension obligations, making it one of the most indebted states, per capita, in the nation.

“I’m just trying to understand how to square those policies” with the rebate proposal, Fazio added.

But Wojcik noted Connecticut still is on pace to dedicate $1 billion in surplus this fiscal year to its pension funds. The state never had deposited any surplus into its pensions prior to 2020.

And another $200 million from projected surplus would be added to the state’s record-setting budget reserve, which already holds $4.3 billion.

“This is, you know, an appropriate and balanced approach,” Wojcik said.

Rep. Maria Horn, a Salisbury Democrat and House chairwoman of the finance committee, predicted after Friday’s meeting that finding dollars for taxpayer relief — temporary, ongoing or both — and debt reduction would be the balancing act that dominates the 2026 session.

Many Democrats in the legislature are backing a form of ongoing tax relief. One of the most popular proposals would create a $600-per-child income tax credit for poor and middle-class families. This would cost the state an estimated $300 million to $400 million per year.

Horn said that while proposals for ongoing tax cuts are popular, there also is merit to one-time relief. The legislature last year launched a $300 million endowment to expand affordable child care, a plan that needs portions of future budget surpluses also to be deposited into this endowment.

Legislators also have bolstered direct operating aid for K-12 school districts and special education grants. Maintaining these and other investments while cutting taxes and paying down debt would be a big challenge, she said, adding that should the global economy slump, Connecticut might be forced to renege on new commitments.

“I’m also concerned,” Horn added, “about not blowing a hole in the budget in the future.”