Nearly a decade after Connecticut was infamously described as being in a ‘permanent state of fiscal crisis,’ struggling year after year to balance deficit-ridden budgets, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday proposed the state’s first income tax reduction in nearly 30 years and its largest ever.

Lamont said the state’s fiscal health is now the strongest it’s been in decades, enabling officials to finally focus on addressing Connecticut’s nagging reputation of being a high-cost state.

‘For the first time in over a generation, Connecticut has enjoyed strong economic and population growth,’ he told a joint session of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. ‘And more taxpayers, a growing economy, coupled with our shared fiscal discipline, has resulted in four consecutive balanced budgets, soon to be five.’

Lamont’s two-year, $50.5 billion budget plan, which still needs legislative approval and faces some pushback from liberals in his party who support raising taxes on the wealthy, would reduce personal income tax rates.

Families, for example, would see their tax rate of 3% on the first $20,000 of earned income and 5% percent of income up to $100,000 a year drop to 2% and 4.5%, respectively. That’s in addition to Lamont’s proposal to increase the earned income tax credit, ensuring families making less than $50,000 will pay no state income tax. More than 200,000 low-income workers are eligible for the credit

Combined, the two proposals are predicted to save low- and middle-income taxpayers nearly $500 million a year.

Lamont also called for increasing funding for affordable housing, childcare programs and local education and canceling overdue medical debt for thousands of residents. And he proposed fully restoring a tax credit that helps business owners avoid a $10,000 federal cap on state and local tax deductions, as well as expanding a tax credit for corporations that provide job training, childcare subsidies, tuition reimbursement and other services to their employees.

Republicans, who welcomed Lamont’s willingness to cut taxes, say it’s time to start giving back to taxpayers, especially considering the current fiscal year is expected to end with a $1.3 billion surplus.

‘I think there’s still a real affordability issue in the state of Connecticut,’ House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora said. ‘So while government has been working well for itself, the residents don’t feel that way.’

Veteran lawmakers acknowledge the prospect of debating which taxes this session to cut is a marked difference from 2014, when former Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget director, Ben Barnes, warned that the state was in ‘a period of permanent fiscal crisis.’

At that time, Connecticut had experienced multiple years of projected budget deficits and massive unfunded state pension liabilities, forcing Malloy to raise taxes, lay off state employees and cut programs to balance the books.

Lamont and state legislators credit a package of bipartisan fiscal ‘guardrails’ imposed in 2017 for leading to billions of dollars in surpluses in recent years. Those budget controls, which the General Assembly is expected to renew on Thursday, include caps on spending and revenues, including potentially volatile stock market earnings that Connecticut has traditionally relied on heavily.

Despite those reforms, Connecticut still faces challenges, including roughly $88 billion in unfunded pension liability and debt.

‘I think there’s a lot of room for optimism. I also think we need to have some cautious optimism. Why? Because we still have significant long-term liabilities that aren’t addressed,’ House Majority Leader Jason Rojas said. ‘I still think we’re in this kind of transition period in terms of our state’s economy.’

Legislators in New Mexico have proposed seven gun laws in a wide-ranging package of proposals.

Members of a House committee want to establish a two-week waiting period for firearm purchases plus prohibit the sale and possession of certain semiautomatic rifles and handguns in the state.

The proposed ban would go into effect in March 2024 with some exemptions for people who already have the prohibited firearms.

Meanwhile, a proposal to ban AR-15-style rifles in New Mexico began moving Tuesday through the Legislature.

Also advancing in the legislative session were proposals to ban firearms at polling places, raise the minimum age for gun purchases to 21 and prohibit the sale of hollow-point bullets.

The proposals passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee and head next to the House Judiciary Committee, potentially their final step before reaching the full chamber.

House approval would send the bills to the state Senate.

Lawmakers have until March 18 to grant final passage that would send a bill to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Democratic legislators are pursuing aggressive new gun-control measures intended to address mass shootings and other crime.

But Republican lawmakers and other opponents said the restrictions would interfere with the rights of law-abiding citizens and do nothing to deter crime.

New Mexico’s firearm fatality rate is among the nation’s highest with 562 state residents dying in 2021 due to gun-related injuries, according to state Department of Health data.

EXCLUSIVE: The Biden administration is significantly reducing the number of aerostats being used to monitor the overwhelmed southern border, with multiple sources telling Fox News that it is due to a lack of funding — with a majority already being taken out of service.

Last year there were 12 aerostats, nicknamed ‘Eyes in the Sky’ by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), along the southern border. CBP sources tell Fox that only four remain now, all in the Rio Grande Valley Sector.

CBP’s Air and Marine Operations uses the aerostats for detection and monitoring along the southern border and coastal regions. The Department of Defense, which agreed to spend $52 million to continue operating aerostats through to the end of FY 2022, which ended in October, after the Department of Homeland Security cut funding for the program. 

Last year, the Biden administration added a balloon in Nogales, Arizona. A CBP spokesman told local media that the technology has been used along the border since 2013, that the blimp in question has a range of 3,000 feet above ground level and allows Border Patrol to ‘maintain visual awareness of border activity in the United States for longer periods of time.’

But with that funding gone, authorities are phasing out most of the balloons along the border and sources said only a handful will remain through March 31st.

‘The U.S. Border Patrol began reducing the number of Tactical Aerostats it deploys along the southwest border on January 1, 2023,’ A CBP spokesperson confirmed to Fox News. ‘Although the Border Patrol’s number of aerostats will be reduced, the Border Patrol will continue to use aerostats throughout FY 2023.’  

The spokesperson said that Border Patrol would use surveillance technology and ‘explore new technology to increase surveillance of the border region.’

‘Currently, the Border Patrol has successfully deployed 195 Autonomous Surveillance Towers with more than 80 additional planned for deployment and 256 Remote Video Surveillance System upgrades; 75 Remote Video Surveillance System legacy sensor towers will be upgraded in FY 2023,’ they said.

The spokesperson also said that CBP will continue to invest in aerostats and plans to expand deployments to coastal border regions.

But the reduction of balloons at the land border comes as the U.S. continues to be wracked by an ongoing migrant crisis. There were more than 2.3 million encounters in FY 2022, and nearly 600,000 gotaways — illegal immigrants who slipped past Border Patrol agents.

Several sources told Fox News that the loss of the aerostats would have an immediate negative impact on border security, and warned that cartels and smugglers would take advantage. 

‘You can never beat persistent situational awareness,’ one Border Patrol agents told Fox News. ‘They are a great tool.’

Some warned that it could artificially reduce ‘gotaway’ numbers as agents won’t be able to even spot illegal immigrants evading them, while others pointed out that the U.S. is pouring billions to Ukraine while simultaneously ending what they see as a vital asset at the U.S. border for cost reasons.

The Border Patrol union slammed the move to wind down the balloons, arguing that it was an important tool and said the move contradicted President Biden’s remarks at the State of the Union, where he touted his administration’s border efforts.

‘Aerostats have been one of the most successful tools deployed on the border. It allows us to see what’s crossing into the US illegally, guide us to the location, and apprehend both people and contraband, including fentanyl,’ the union said in a statement. ‘The loss of these tools will be a blow to border security, making the American people less safe. This move defies logic and is directly contrary to Biden’s comments last night during the State of the Union which proves he does nothing but peddle rhetoric.’

Rodney Scott, who served as Border Patrol chief during both the Trump and Biden administrations, called it a ‘kick in the gut’ for agents and rejected the idea that there wasn’t money for the program.

‘This administration doesn’t really, truly care about securing the border. They care about optics by dropping these aerostats,’ he said. ‘So they’re going to lose one more visual into what’s really going on. And the money’s there. They just redirected it to soft sided facilities, processing and humanitarian efforts. When I say humanitarian, I mean carrying and feeding and transporting illegal aliens.’

The move is likely to fuel Republican criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis. Biden called on Congress to pass immigration measures in his state of the union, and cited numbers suggesting recent border measures were working.

But his remarks were met by heckles by some Republicans, who yelled at him to ‘secure the border.’

‘You got it,’ he responded.

Authorities in Texas have busted a suspected fentanyl lab in Houston which was disguised as a car rental, and which law enforcement believe is linked to Mexican cartels seeking to expand their reach into the U.S.

Texas Department of Public Safety raided the building on Jan 30th, finding pill press machines, more than 17lbs of possible fentanyl precursors from China, over 1 kilogram of suspected counterfeit Xanax pills laced with fentanyl and 0.3 lbs fentanyl-laced Oxycodone.

Authorities also found cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine pills, a stolen vehicle, three pistols and a rifle.

Law enforcement arrested four men on an array of offenses including felony evading in a motor vehicle and the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl. Fox News has learned that all four are out on bail as of Wednesday morning.

The U.S. has been grappling with an opioid crisis for year, much of which is down to fentanyl. Officials have said that of the 108,000 overdose deaths in 2021, more than 80,000 were linked with opioids like fentanyl — which can be deadly in tiny doses, and is often cut into other drugs, so people don’t know that the drugs they are taking contain it.

Fentanyl is primarily made in Mexico using Chinese precursors and smuggled across the land border.  Authorities told Fox this week that the case is an example of how drug cartels in Mexico are seeking to expand drug distribution throughout the state of Texas and the U.S. by moving production to U.S. soil.

Fentanyl seizures have shot up at ports of entry in the last few years, which officials cite as a success due to the drug being apprehended rather than allowed into the U.S. More than 14,000 lbs were seized at the southern border in FY 2022 after more than 10,000 in FY 2021. But it has raised concerns from Republicans about how much is getting past officials at the border both at and between the ports.

President Biden mentioned the fentanyl crisis at the border in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

‘Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year. Let’s launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, sale, and trafficking, with more drug detection machines to inspect cargo and stop pills and powder at the border,’ Biden said, before calling for cooperation with couriers and increased trafficking penalties.

The mention of fentanyl led to Republicans yelling, ‘It’s your fault’ and renewed calls from some Republicans to ‘secure the border.’

President Joe Biden didn’t reference Iran once in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, prompting outcry from analysts who warned that the Iranian regime is too great a threat not to mention.

‘To omit any reference to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism that’s advancing its nuclear program and exporting drones to the Russians is a gross oversight’ by the White House, said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Iran officially revealed the first-of-its-kind underground airbase dubbed ‘Eagle 44,’ capable of housing fighter jets and long-range cruise missiles, several hours before Biden’s speech. The next day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, displayed an apparent ballistic missile with the words ‘Death to Israel’ emblazoned in Hebrew down the side.

Still, Biden didn’t mention Iran at all despite uttering 9,191 words, a record for a State of the Union address, over an hour and 13 minutes.

‘President Biden’s State of the Union address was very weak on national security,’ said Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who also served as a senior staffer on the National Security Council. ‘There was no reference to Iran despite a surge in its nuclear program and selling weapons to Russia that it is using to attack Ukraine.’

Other analysts expressed disappointment with Biden.

‘I was disappointed the president did not mention Iran,’ said Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran. ‘It’s important to recognize that the threats the U.S. face come not only from Russia and China. Let’s remember: Iran’s regime has sponsored kidnapping and assassination attempts against U.S. citizens on American soil.’

‘I think it was also a missed opportunity to express very clearly the bipartisan U.S. support for the Iranian people,’ he continued. ‘That signal and rhetorical support, which should be consistent from the highest levels of the U.S. government, is critical. A presidential bully pulpit matters.’

That bipartisanship was on full display Wednesday when several lawmakers introduced a bipartisan resolution, with 166 cosponsors, in support of Iranians protesting against the regime and calling for Iran’s leaders to be held accountable for human rights violations.

‘With this resolution, the elected representatives of the American people add their voices to the growing chorus for liberty and justice in Iran,’ Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said at a press conference introducing the measure. ‘Our parties are divided on many issues but not on this one.’

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, echoed that point at the conference.

‘We have no disagreement for the question and the answer: When should Iran be free? And the answer is now,’ said Lee.

The resolution recognizes that the Iranian people, who’ve been engaged in nationwide anti-government street protests for months, ‘are rejecting monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny’ by ‘legitimately defending their rights for freedom against repression’ in order to establish a ‘democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran.’ The measure also calls on the U.S. to work with its allies to hold the Iranian regime accountable for various ‘malign activities,’ including human rights abuses.

Anti-government protests erupted across Iran in September when a young woman died in the custody of Iran’s so-called morality police, which had allegedly detained her for wearing a hijab, an Islamic head covering that’s mandatory for women in Iran, in an ‘improper’ way.

Since then, the protests have grown in scope and intensity, reaching all of Iran’s 31 provinces and nearly 300 cities, according to local reports and the organized Iranian resistance movement. Chants calling for the regime’s overthrow have been common at protests.

Lawmakers introduced the resolution three days before the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution, when protesters overthrew the last shah, or king, of Iran. The country soon thereafter became governed by an Islamist theocracy, which remains in power today.

‘This unprecedented bipartisan resolution should be a compass for Washington to adopt the right policy on Iran,’ said Majid Sadeghpour, political director of the Organization of Iranian-American Communities. ‘It denounces the shah’s ruthless and corrupt dictatorship and the current ruling religious tyranny. It supports the call for a secular, non-nuclear Iranian republic.’

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which seeks to overthrow the regime and has influence in Washington, also spoke at Wednesday’s press conference, expressing hope for the success of the current protest movement.

‘I am confident that this revolution will succeed because it is led by those who are willing to pay the price,’ she said.

Experts criticized Biden’s response to the protest after they erupted, arguing that he should do more both in terms of words and actions to back the Iranian people. Over time, many of these critics saw progress from the Biden administration as officials began speaking out more against the regime and in support of the demonstrators.

‘While the Biden administration has embraced the bully pulpit a bit more regarding the protests, it shied away from doing so at the State of the Union,’ said Taleblu. ‘In so doing, Biden missed a chance to align the country’s head and heart on Middle East policy. It seems the administration is comfortable with the status quo but fails to understand the status quo is both dangerous and unsustainable.’

He added that while it’s ‘inspiring’ to see Congress pass ‘important’ bipartisan resolutions, ‘actions, not words’ will be the true test of how the U.S. government stands with the Iranian people.

It’s unclear why Biden didn’t mention Iran during his speech. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.

Experts explained to Fox News Digital that Biden and his top officials need to speak out more on Iran, arguing that a lack of clarity on U.S. policy creates ambiguity, which can be dangerous.

‘I hate to say it, but the evidence shows President Biden just doesn’t care about the plight of the Iranian people,’ said Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department special adviser on Iran and fellow with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. ‘Unlike President Trump and Obama, he hasn’t given a single speech about Iran and has barely mentioned the country in the last two years.’