Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Gubernatorial contenders spar on jobs, roads, taxes

  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • June 30, 2010
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Let it not be said that Connecticut Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on anything.

It took about five minutes for the three Republicans and two Democrats running for governor to agree during Tuesday’s debate that Connecticut is a poor place in which to do business.

And about the only thing harder than trying to grow a business in the state, they further agreed, was trying to drive in it.

What the five major party candidates who squared off at the Stamford Plaza Hotel couldn’t find consensus on was the role tax increases should play in resolving the largest budget deficit in state history.

Tom Foley and Michael Fedele insisted they can close the $3.4 billion gap built into 2011-12 — a shortfall equal to nearly 20 percent of the current budget — without any tax hikes. Dan Malloy disagreed. Oz Griebel wouldn’t rule them out.

gubernatorial debate2 6-30-10

Gubernatorial candidates (from left) Tom Foley, Dan Malloy, Michael Fedele, Ned Lamont and Oz Griebel (Nicolas Kemper)

And then there was Ned Lamont, who focused more on his pledge to remain independent of party politics — despite his Democratic affiliation — than on declaring his position on tax issues.

“It’s an anti-private sector, anti-business, anti-jobs attitude in this state,” said Griebel, who is on leave from his post as president of the Greater Hartford Metro Alliance. He said state government spending and taxes, combined with inadequate investment in transportation, job training and higher education, has left Connecticut unprepared to compete with other states for business.

Engaged in a three-way primary battle with Foley and Fedele for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, Griebel added that Connecticut has to be prepared to upgrade its transportation system now, and without much help from a federal government plagued with its own budget problems. “If Connecticut is serious,” he said, “we are going to have to bear more of the cost.”

“Investing in transportation infrastructure is critical toward keeping the private sector fully engaged and getting people back to work,” he said.

“I talk on the road about Connecticut having spent too much and invested too little,” said Foley, a Greenwich businessman who has never held elected office. He said state government has “repeatedly raided” fuel tax revenues to prop-up non-transportation programs. “One of the reasons this has been permitted is we have not been working toward a long-term economic plan. Without it, it’s hard to make choices,” he said.

One of two home-towners at Tuesday’s debate, Malloy, who was mayor of Stamford for 14 years, said Connecticut has to assess its state and local tax policies against those in neighboring states, particularly New York, if it hopes to win back some of the jobs and businesses it has lost over the past two decades.

“We need to make sure we’re not shooting ourselves in our own toes in terms of job production,” said Malloy, who also has said the wealthy and larger corporations should bear a greater share of any new tax burdens as opposed to middle-income families and small businesses. Malloy and Lamont face off in the Aug. 10 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Connecticut also must end its practice of borrowing to close general fund deficits, Malloy said, adding it is using up too much of the state’s credit and leaving too little borrowing capacity for financing that helps the economy.

“One of the problems is that we go to Wall Street to borrow money for operating expenses,” the former mayor said, adding that research shows 22,000 new construction jobs can be created for every $1 billion spent on transportation and other capital projects.

Fedele, a former state representative from Stamford who has been lieutenant governor under retiring Gov. M. Jodi Rell since 2006, placed the blame for state government’s fiscal woes on the Democrat-controlled legislature.

Though all of the candidates insisted tax hikes should be kept to a minimum, Fedele disagreed with Malloy’s assertion that they have to be part of the solution.

“Let us not stand here and tell you that these challenges are going to be fixed overnight,” he said, adding that unless the next governor forces the legislature to dramatically cut spending before taxes are debated, real change will not occur. “The more (revenue) we give them, the more they spend,” he said. “There are the right opportunities to do things before we look at taxes.”

Lamont, a cable television executive from Greenwich, said his administration’s economic development policies would focus on small- and mid-sized businesses, adding that if each business in Connecticut added one or two new employees, “It would dramatically change the economy.” And though he didn’t offer many thoughts about tax hikes, he did say that “I don’t want to do anything in this budget that hurts job creation.”

The Democratic frontrunner according to a late May poll from Quinnipiac University, Lamont continued a theme he launched in a television ad this past weekend, comparing himself to Lowell P. Weicker Jr., Connecticut’s former third-party governor who led the state through a recession in the early 1990s.

Lamont said he is “not afraid to shake things up, not afraid to take on the Democrats and the Republicans.” And though he talked about the need to “fundamentally reform” how state health care programs are purchased and delivered, he didn’t address the single-largest factor that impacts costs — the level of health benefits provided to public employees and to low- and middle-income families.

Foley was quick to point out that Weicker pledged in the 1990 gubernatorial campaign not to seek a state income tax in his first term, and then proposed one two months after taking office — and signed it into law in August 1991.

“I can promise you in a Foley administration, what you hear from me now, you will get,” he said. “We can solve this budget deficit without any new taxes.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Man jailed on $155k bond dies of COVID-19
by Kelan Lyons

This is the sixth incarcerated person to die from the virus this month.

Senate leader pitches new state property tax on high-value homes
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state Senate’s highest-ranking Democrat proposed new taxes on high-value homes and the capital gains of Connecticut's highest earners.

It’s time to standardize arts grants in Connecticut
by Mandi Jackson and Daniel Fitzmaurice

What all arts organizations need most right now is multi-year, unrestricted general operating support with simplified, fair processes for accountability. This would allow the arts community to better respond to the needs of Connecticut residents instead of the political process, lobbyists, or wealthy donors.

Accessory dwelling units are a good thing
by Toni Gold

Connecticut’s large, old houses are a resource that any town should treasure — not just for their charm and historical value, but because of their potential for adaptation. One tool that can help ensure the viability of these structures is zoning, and particularly zoning for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). There’s a movement to  legalize ADUs statewide. It’s a good idea whose time has come.

New Haven and Yale: Giamatti and DiLieto:  A historic moment? Or a model? 
by Neil Thomas Proto

The City of New Haven’s effort today to seek an increase in financial contribution from Yale is more historically justified than is often recognized.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion It’s time to standardize arts grants in Connecticut
by Mandi Jackson and Daniel Fitzmaurice

What all arts organizations need most right now is multi-year, unrestricted general operating support with simplified, fair processes for accountability. This would allow the arts community to better respond to the needs of Connecticut residents instead of the political process, lobbyists, or wealthy donors.

Opinion Accessory dwelling units are a good thing
by Toni Gold

Connecticut’s large, old houses are a resource that any town should treasure — not just for their charm and historical value, but because of their potential for adaptation. One tool that can help ensure the viability of these structures is zoning, and particularly zoning for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). There’s a movement to  legalize ADUs statewide. It’s a good idea whose time has come.

Opinion New Haven and Yale: Giamatti and DiLieto:  A historic moment? Or a model? 
by Neil Thomas Proto

The City of New Haven’s effort today to seek an increase in financial contribution from Yale is more historically justified than is often recognized.

Opinion A call to save arms: is vaccination really the solution?
by Genevieve Diamant

Economic modelling done by professional statisticians is often used to claim that the ounce of prevention provided by a vaccine is much better than the pound of cure that well-funded hospitals, fully staffed with professional nurses and doctors, using effective pharmaceutical remedies, can provide. But is this actually true?

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO