Labor coalition to Lamont: Tax the rich
A coalition of labor leaders, progressive legis lat or sand other act ivis ts upped the pressure Monday on Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly to tax Connecticut’ s wealthy top reserve vital services coming out of the corona virus pande mic.
The“People’ sR ecove ry” plan offered by the Bargaining for the Common Good coalition is centered on households earning more than $1 million annually and corporations with gross income top ping $100 million per year.
“We’ re here calling for the help of the legislature to tip the scale sin the direction of justice by moving towards greater tax equity ,” Rob Baril, president of the state’ s largest healthcare workers’ un ion, said during a late-morning press confer en ce outside the Ca pitol.
“A child that’ s born in the city of Greenwich just has a different life opp ortun it ya head of him than somebody born in Hartford and Bridge port and New Haven and Norwich,”h es aid .“Educ ati on, healthcare, housing livable wages, a fair retire men t—those things should be a condition of birth, as opposed to something that are available only to the privileged few. And our state’ s budget, our state’ s tax dollars, can move in that direction.”
But La mont’ s budget office says state finances, unless adjusted, are headed deep into the red, with projected gaps of more than $2 billion—or about 10% of the General Fund —in each of the next two fiscal years.
The governor, a Greenwi ch businessman, has steadfastly opposed ra isin gs tate income tax rates on Connecticut’ s wealthy as a means to expand government services or to fund state tax relief for low-and middle-income households, arguing it would prompt wealthy taxpayers to fleet he state.
Democrats from a ff luent Fairfield County also have gained several
House and Senate seats in recent years, and they also are wary of raising taxes on the wealthy and of sparking an exodus.
The governor has said he favors higher federal taxes on the rich so that states aren’ t forced to compete. But critics argue that even if such a propo sal were to clear a Congr ess plague din recent years by partisan gridlock, Connecticut tr a diti on ally receives a smaller share of federal aid that most other states do because of its great percapita wealth.
When asked on Nov .4 —one day after the last election—whether he would consider higher state taxes on the wealthy, La mont insisted the timing for any tax hikes was wrong since“we have the [economic] wind to our back .”
Chris Di Pen tim a,p re sident and CEO of the Connec ti cut Business and
Industry Association, said the coalition’ s propo sal would blunt any hope of a swift economic recovery.
“Just look at the last 10 years ,” he said, citing major state tax hikes enacted in 2011 and 2015, as well several other smaller increases during the past decade .“What was the outcome of that? It drove away businesses .… It drove away jobs .”
Di Pen tim a added“If there is any state in the country that is an example that massive tax increases don’ t work, it’ s us.”
Melissa M cC aw, the governor’ s budget di rector, was cautious Monday when invited to respond to the coalition’ s dem ands.
“Gov. La month as consis tent ly welcomed all ideas and potential so luti ons to the table and he looks forward to con tinu ed engagement with all stakeholders and the legislature on the best means to balance the budget, deliver highquality services, and conti nu et he sound financial practices that have enable dour state to proceed through this public health crisis ,” she wrote in a statement.
But La mont is facing increasing pressure to compromise on taxing the rich from many of his fellow Democrats in the General Assembly.
Sen. Saud An war of
South Windsor, one of 14 progressive Democratic lawmakers to endorse the “people’ s recovery” proposals, said Connecticut can not slash education, health care and other core services while so many households are hurting economically.
Connecticut still has more than 180,000 people receiving unemployment benefits weekly. That’ s
50% more than all jobs lost statewide during the last recession.
“Austerity at a time like this is going to be more harmful for the people who are barely surviving at this time ,” An war said. “We need progressive taxation. There is no way around it .”
And those whore lyon these services the most are the same people who have suffered most durin gt he pandemic. While many worked from home, nursing home staffers, other caregivers, grocery store employees and many public-sector employees kept vital services going, said Baril, who heads District 1199, SE I U, New England HealthCare Employees Union.
“People at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum were the ones who suffered ,” Bari ls aid. “They were the ones who got sick. They were the ones who rose tot heoccasion.”
He added that District
1199 lost 19 of its members due to the pandemic ,15 of whom were Black or Hispanic.
The coalition offered several proposals Monday to raise revenue over the next few fiscal years, including:
Higher state income tax rates on couples earning more than $1 million per year, and on individuals top ping $500,000.
An income taxs urcharge on capital gains, dividends and investment earnings. Research shows Connecticut’ s highest earners derive the bulk of their income from these areas rather than from salaries.
Ease the state spending cap as well as others avin gs-related rules.
Increase the corp orati on tax rate on com pani es with annual earnings beyond $100 million and establish a new 10% levy on digital ads placed by major corporations. Two weeks ago, the La mont administration reduced the projected deficit for the current fiscal year from $879 million to $640 million due largely to improvements in corp orati on and sales tax receipts .
“We don’ t lack theresources, what we lack is the will to commit ,” said Maureen M. Chalmers, president of the union representing community college instructors.