House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said Thursday the General Assembly should override Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s veto of a bill that the governor says would have extended a state manufacturing tax credit to wealthy individuals who play no role in job creation.
Aresimowicz said the bill, which extends a corporate tax credit for apprentices to so-called “pass-through entities” such as S corporations, partnerships and limited liability, was intended to help small businesses. It passed unanimously in the General Assembly.
“We need to continue to up our investment in job creation and economic growth, and advance manufacturing is a fast-growing area that is looking to hire every day, but there is a shortage of skilled workers ready to go,” Aresimowicz said. “This incentivizing credit for employers will work in concert with the enhancements we are making at our vo-tech schools and community colleges.”
Malloy said Wednesday in his veto message the bill may have been aimed at helping small-business owners, but misses the mark by allowing individual partners and shareholders to claim the tax credits on their personal returns without limit. Only 10 percent of such entities are small businesses with employees, he said.
“A much more precisely targeted bill, with limits on the total deduction, could help these taxpayers and drive small-business investment without creating a windfall for those who need it least,” Malloy said.
The bill would have cost the state $650,000 a year.
Aresimowicz also said he favors an override of the governor’s veto of an education-funding bill last week, breaking with other legislative leaders who were disinclined to make the effort. The bill would limit the governor’s authority to reduce education grants to cities and towns after the budget has been adopted and the new fiscal year is underway.
Other legislative leaders have noted there is a similar language in the state budget enacted last month.
“Some say an override may not be necessary, but I think it is important that the legislature remove any doubt of this reoccurring,” Aresimowicz said.
As of Wednesday night, Malloy had signed 114 bills from the 2018 session, vetoed two and allowed one, a health-insurance measure, to become law without his signature.