Create more original, in-depth, non-partisan journalism for Connecticut.
From now until the end of the year, all donations to CT Mirror will be matched dollar-for-dollar as we aim to raise $160,000.
For nearly a decade, it has been the favorite argument of those opposed to higher state taxes for Connecticut’s wealthy — migration. Simply put, if you tax them, they will leave.
But is it true?
The Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth produced a bleak assessment of Connecticut’s fiscal health for the incoming governor and General Assembly on Wednesday, the panel’s second attempt in nine months to convince policy leaders that the state is rapidly approaching a tipping point.
Progressive Democrats in the General Assembly pushed back Friday against the state’s new fiscal stability panel, charging its recommendations shortchange key priorities, like poor cities, education and social services.
Two progressive policy groups have charged the state’s fiscal stability commission with failing to disclose documents — including those tied to a nonprofit that funded key budgetary consultants for the panel. They are asking the legislature to put off acting on the panel’s recommendations until their request for the documents is resolved.
Connecticut’s business leaders offered much praise but were more cautious with their support when it came to the recommendations of the state’s Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth.
Webster Bank Chairman Jim Smith and Robert Patricelli, founder of several healthcare companies, are the co-chairmen of the state Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth. In this Sunday Conversation they talk about the need for more civic engagement and their expectations about how Connecticut’s government will respond to their sweeping recommendations on restructuring taxes and encouraging economic development.
Despite a proposal that could jeopardize state aid in the coming years, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities has endorsed the full report of the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth, arguing it offers more long-term benefits for the state and its communities.
A much-anticipated report on stabilizing state finances and jump-starting Connecticut’s economy isn’t likely to get far before legislators adjourn in early May to run for re-election.
A state panel recommended a dramatic shift in state tax burdens Thursday from wealthy income taxpayers onto businesses and consumers as part of a sweeping plan to stabilize government finances and jump-start the economy.
Given the Herculean task of navigating Connecticut through one of its worst fiscal crises in modern history, a new state panel is pledging at least to deliver a map — on time — on Thursday.
Labor leaders called Friday for a more progressive state tax system and greater investments in Connecticut’s cities to revitalize the economy and stabilize the budget.
Connecticut’s top labor official questioned publicly Thursday whether the state’s new fiscal sustainability study panel is biased in favor of business and against labor, but the panel’s co-chairs say they want to hear from everybody.
Municipal leaders urged a state study panel Tuesday to support further restrictions on public-sector pensions, ending collective bargaining for retirement benefits and aggressively redistributing education aid from communities losing students to those gaining them.
Given just two months to address deep-rooted fiscal problems neglected by generations of Connecticut politicians, the co-chairs of a new study panel are undaunted, insisting the political establishment has reached a tipping point and is ready for change. History, and the election calendar, weigh heavily against them.
