State Representative Vincent Candelora (R-86) today stood in opposition to the largest proposed tax hike in state history which was unveiled today by legislative majority Democrats. Candelora, who serves as Ranking Member of the legislature’s Finance Committee opposed the measure before the committee this afternoon in a meeting at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
The Democratic proposal raises taxes by $1.85 billion including a huge increase in the income tax, and a hefty new tax on businesses that will likely lead to more job losses in the state.
Candelora noted that the legislative session ended two months ago, and that the fiscal year had ended last month with no budget being acted on by the legislature. Governor Rell and legislative Republicans called for making all possible cuts to state spending before enacting tax increases. Following six months of fruitless budget negotiations where Democrats refused to make significant cuts or give up on massive tax increases, Governor Rell announced that she would agree to some tax increases to move the process.
“The governor has come to a point where she can’t get any further with a group unwilling to consider any alternatives to raising taxes,” said Candelora. “I can understand her dilemma because she needs to be able to move the process forward. But I do not believe that tax increases on the public and on a struggling business community at a time when they are suffering most is good policy.”
Candelora also noted that the Democratic plan relies on billions of “one shot” revenues such as the $1.4 billion Rainy Day Fund, $3 billion in federal stimulus money and “securitization” of $835 million in unspecified state assets that have to be replaced within two to three years. Candelora said that the state will have to raise taxes on more taxpayers to cover a projected $5 billion hole in the future.
“This budget action is in lieu of making tough choices and prioritizing government spending,” said Rep. Candelora. “This proposal is a cop-out on the part of the legislature. What we are learning is that there is no crisis severe enough to keep Democrats from doing business as usual. In the meantime, their tax increases risk a serious potential loss of jobs in a state that has already hemorrhaged 65,000 jobs during this recession.”
Candelora joined House Republicans which twice proposed No-Tax-Increase budgets that are balanced and spend nearly $1 billion less than the Democrats’ latest version. Candelora said he believes it is still possible to craft a budget without raising taxes. The Democratic plan also includes a 15 percent surcharge on all business profits, a 75 cent increase on cigarettes and a 30 percent surcharge on estates.
Dear Representative Candelora,
I am writing to you as my representative to say how appalled I am with the recent news about Governor Malloy’s proposed tax hikes that will be especially hard on middle income families in our state. I do not see how some of these tax increases i.e. gas tax, income tax, sales tax, etc. and the elimination of the $500 property tax credit will help in job creation. If anything, people will be leaving this state because of the high taxes, therefore, why bother with job creation when there will be no one left in our state to create them for? In addition, what businesses are going to want to set up shop in our state…there’s no incentive, just high taxes! We already pay the highest gas tax in the nation so why would Malloy ever consider raising the gas tax another 3 cents? There has to be more viable solutions to tackle our budget deficit such as putting tolls at either side of our state to generate income for road improvement/construction. I know this idea has been talked about before, so why has this not been acted on? As I have said in the past, we have the two largest casinos in the world in our state, why can we not get more income from those institutions? What about our state government and all the perks state employees receive, i.e. company vehicles, cell phones, full pensions, etc.? I heard on the radio yesterday (don’t know if it’s true) that CT has more government officials, representatives, etc. than the state of California and California is 10x the size of our state. It’s time to take a long hard look at our state government and identify the need for jobs, departments, pensions, etc. and eliminate all unnecessary waste. And I am quite sure there is waste up in Hartford!!! Also, what about taking a closer look at the state’s welfare programs, is anyone making sure that those who are receiving benefits from these programs are truly eligible? I know for a fact someone whose children are on the State’s Husky insurance program when in fact this person’s spouse owns not one but two businesses. How can these people get away with this and why do I and the other residents of CT have to pay into these programs when people are illegally taking advantage of these services? Makes me wonder how many other individuals are illegally receiving benefits.
I sincerely appreciate your opposition to Gov. Malloy’s proposed tax hikes and I hope that you will do everything in your power to put a stop to some of them and help come up with better solutions to our budget deficit.
Sincerely,
Michele Tondalo