New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
What Connecticut comeback?
If we are to change the direction of our state, we can begin by bringing more balance to Hartford and electing more Republicans.
Gov. Ned Lamont has been quick to tout economic numbers that point to what he calls a “Connecticut comeback,” but the facts tell a very different story. Connecticut’s mismanaged budget priorities have created an affordability crisis that threatens to undercut our economic recovery and future growth.
According to a study from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, Connecticut faces the second highest tax burden in the country, second only to New York. Instead of viewing this data as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage on our neighboring state, some Democrats doubled down on their tax, toll, and other policies that have increased spending.
This increased spending, using one-time federal dollar funds, will result in future deficits that will likely result in Democrats attempting to push unfunded mandates on our cities and towns to cover the budget deficit. How do we know? They tried exactly that the year before the federal government poured billions of dollars into states in the form of pandemic relief. Our mayors and first selectmen were forced to pass those costs onto the taxpayers through property tax increases and cuts to services despite having little to no say in the creation of these mandates.
Our state’s affordability crisis touches every aspect of our lives, from high property taxes to the costs of higher education, transportation and housing — Connecticut ranks among the highest cost in all categories. Connecticut residents have been forced to fund a state government that takes more and gives back less while it continues to grow, tying future generations to massive pension and health care liabilities.
The reality is that working-class families are the ones who face the brunt of Democrats’ misguided policies. In 2019, Gov. Lamont and Hartford Democrats instituted a tax increase on small business owners — including family-owned restaurants and grocery stores like the one my family used to own in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
They increased taxes on everything from sandwiches to coffee, dry cleaning to laundry services. Despite multiple studies showing that sales and property taxes disproportionally hurt the middle class, Democrats continued to grab every tax dollar they could.
When you look at the hard facts and not the Democrats’ political spin, it is easy to see why Connecticut continues to be unaffordable for working-class families. According to WalletHub, Connecticut places 27.7 percent above the national average overall for affordability, with housing 44.7 percent above average, transportation 11.8 percent above average, and groceries 14.2 percent above the national average. This is not a formula for middle-class growth.
A decade’s worth of Democratic rule in Hartford has driven up the cost of living for families, the cost to run a business for entrepreneurs and the cost to simply retire in Connecticut, forcing seniors to leave our state in droves.
While other states around the country have economically recovered from the COVID pandemic, Connecticut, as always, continues to lag. Our state missed out on the decade-long economic expansion and has yet to regain the jobs we lost in the 2008 recession. Still, Hartford Democrats seem intent on ensuring that situation remains as they continue to push through broken policies that have crushed small business owners and stifled growth.
If we are to change the direction of our
state, we can begin by bringing more balance to Hartford and electing more Republicans. The Democrats, until last month’s special election victory in the 36th Senate district by Ryan Fazio, have had a supermajority and virtually no guardrails to slow their progressive agenda. Without adult supervision, Democrats will continue their tax, toll, and spend policies that have created this affordability crisis.
Real leadership, vision, and the ability to get things done will be the only way to get Connecticut back on track and growing again — not more gimmicks and worn-out slogans from our leaders in Hartford.