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

GE becomes state Capitol’s latest political football

  • Money
  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • August 28, 2015
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"
Sen. Len Fasano

Keith M. Phaneuf :: CTMirror File Photo

Sen. Len Fasano

General Electric Corp.’s ongoing search for a new home, possibly outside of Connecticut, has become the latest political football at the Capitol.

Two members of the Senate’s Republican minority called Friday for a special session to entice GE to stay by repealing a controversial new corporation tax provision.

Calling for a special session has been a popular GOP play in recent years to focus attention on issues where they believe Democrats are vulnerable.

But Democrats counter that the GOP is grandstanding and proposed a budget during the last session that now is out of balance and employs several gimmicks that Republicans usually decry.

“While you may not have the constitutional authority to order a direct repeal of the unitary tax, you can call a special session so that the legislature can take action on this critically important matter,” Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano of North Haven and Sen. Tony Hwang of Fairfield wrote to Malloy. “In doing so, you would be sending a resounding message – to legislators, the business community and the public alike – that we must take measurable steps to ensure GE and all Connecticut-based businesses remain valued partners.”

“We do not intend to call a special session on this topic,” Malloy spokesman Devon Puglia said Friday. “However, if the senator has a thought-out, thoughtful, realistic proposal that doesn’t involve phantom savings, we are happy to listen to it.”

“Once again, Connecticut Republicans are siding with Wall Street corporations and their legions of tax lawyers and accountants instead of Main Street businesses that can’t afford those same luxuries and those same tax loopholes,” Senate Democratic Caucus spokesman Adam Joseph said. “Connecticut was the last state in New England to enact combined reporting for corporations. Democrats remain focused on our positive state employment numbers and our increasing economic output.”

A spokesman for the House Democratic Caucus declined to comment.

At issue is a new budget provision that imposes a unitary reporting requirement next year within the corporation tax.

In Connecticut, companies largely have to report only the earnings of their in-state operations — a requirement that critics charge allows corporations to hide profits among out-of-state affiliates, and thereby minimize their tax bill here.

The new unitary requirement would compel companies to share information on all of their operations — both in Connecticut and outside — and undergo a more detailed assessment of what earnings are tied to their presence in this state.

Analysts estimate Connecticut companies would pay an extra $23.7 million per year with this requirement.

Malloy confirmed this week that he and others in his administration have met with GE and proposed some specific assistance to keep its headquarters in Fairfield, though the governor didn’t disclose details.

GE was one of several major Connecticut employers that publicly criticized Malloy and the General Assembly after they negotiated a new biennial budget that would have increased state taxes about $1.5 billion across this fiscal year and next combined.

Malloy relented on the deal his administration originally signed off on, and pressed his fellow Democrats in the legislature’s majority to scale back the overall tax hike. A revised two-year plan was enacted in late June that reduced the overall two-year tax hike by just over $175 million, including repeal of a planned tripling of the state tax on data processing services. The unitary requirement, originally applied to the 2015 tax year, was delayed until 2016.

Republicans argued this relief was too little and predicted companies would begin leaving Connecticut.

Fasano said the governor’s office’s response Friday “shows the governor refuses to lead. … The Democratic Party — with the governor — is proud of and has no interest in getting rid of the unitary tax.”

House and Senate Republicans often point to an alternative budget they proposed that offered $270 million in tax cuts over the next two years, but at the same time it canceled or delayed $243 million.

But there are some problems with that proposal.

It relied upon about $900 million in savings from labor concessions, wage and hiring freezes and overtime reductions.

Unions already have said they wouldn’t grant givebacks this year, having provided concessions in 2009 and 2011. That would leave large-scale layoffs as the only option to achieve most of those savings.

And since the Republican budget was first issued, fiscal analysts have downgraded revenue projections for the next two years, leaving the GOP plan $227 million out of balance.

House Republicans didn’t offer any proposals to rebalance it.

Fasano offered a plan to do so in June, but it included borrowing to cover debt payments, specialized fund sweeps and the postponement of middle class tax relief – options he has criticized in Democratic proposals.

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 A winner of numerous journalism awards, Keith Phaneuf has been CT Mirror’s state finances reporter since it launched in 2010. The former State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Keith has spent most of 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. A former contributing writer to The New York Times, Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Equity issues dominate hearing on Lamont’s marijuana bill
by Kelan Lyons and Mark Pazniokas

The administration's testimony took up the hearing's first five hours. More than 130 people are signed up to speak.

Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

House approves big municipal aid pledge, tax incentive bills
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

The House approved bills Wednesday pledging $100 million-plus in new municipal aid and offering tax incentives to attract data centers.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Equity for women and girls essential to rebuild Connecticut’s economy
by Jennifer Steadman and Michelle Riordan-Nold

As Connecticut’s economy seeks to recover and rebuild, our success as a state will depend on how we respond to the disproportionate adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women and girls, particularly women and girls of color.

Opinion Connecticut immigrants deserve health insurance
by Brooke Lifland, MD; Tanner Bommersbach, MD; Marco Ramos, MD PhD; and Eden Almasude, MD

Connecticut should pass House Bill 6334 to expand health insurance to all immigrants regardless of status. Our state wisely chose to protect the immigrant community by using Emergency Medicaid funds to cover expenses associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment for residents who were excluded from Medicaid based on their immigration status.

Opinion Truth or consequences: The impact of lie-based politics
by Charles M. Ericson and Sedona Ericson

A radio show by the above name, emceed by a man named Ralph Edwards, became a big hit starting in 1940. It eventually became a TV show, and all told, it lasted for decades. The format of the show was to be asked a question, and if it was not answered truthfully, the contestant submitted to undertaking a silly stunt of almost any kind. The show seemed reflective of a culture that valued untruth for perceived rewards, however trivial.

Opinion Recreational marijuana and sports gambling will be all around us
by Steven Block

It is likely that every other state in the Northeast will regulate both marijuana and sports gambling within a few years. The passage of these important bills in 2021 will allow Connecticut to become a competitive force in the region rather than an island of legislative stagnation.

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