The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Connecticut divided over Republican tax overhaul
Connecticut Republicans predict the positives will outweigh the negatives.
That is their take on the GOP’s historic overhaul of the nation’s tax code.
As the victorious GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives was putting the final touches Wednesday on the tax plan, state Republican leaders said corporations and middle-class families alike will benefit.
“Overall, taxpayers with middle incomes and lower incomes do better under this plan,” said state Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven.
But Democrats warned again that affluent northeastern states with high property taxes, including Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, are being targeted by the $1.5 trillion bill.
The accompanying deficit sets up Republicans for their long-sought cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and even Social Security, Democrats charged, stressing it favors the wealthy minority at the expense of low- and middle-income workers.
After a 224-201 vote that was necessitated when Senate procedural requirements sent the tax package back to the House for a redo, Republican representatives cheered, while one Democrat yelled “Do over,” the Associated Press reported.
The bill now heads to President Donald Trump for his first major legislative victory — and the first major changes to the tax code since 1986.
Fasano said a couple of weeks ago, he felt less supportive of the legislation, but in subsequent drafts, provisions to retain deductions for medical expenses and student loans were back in.“I think this bill is a good bill,” he said. “You can’t leave the status quo and expect anything to change. I think it does hit those with high property taxes and high incomes, like Fairfield County, and that is disheartening. Overall, taxpayers with middle incomes and lower incomes do better under this plan. I think as it rolls out, the positives will outweigh the negatives.”
Linda McMahon, of Greenwich, administrator of the federal Small Business Administration, said she believes the bill will meet the president’s goals.
“I am confident that small business owners across the country will see increased opportunities for the development and expansion of their businesses in the upcoming years as a result of this important legislation,” McMahon said in a statement.
“At the end of the day, tax reform was desperately needed,” said J.R. Romano, state Republican chairman. “The economy is moving in the right direction under President Trump. This was a chance to jump start the economy even more.”
Republican gubernatorial hopeful, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, said the new tax bill’s reduction and capping write offs on state and local taxes, enhances his candidacy.