The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Fasano disputes ECS funding, ‘carried interest’ claims
HARTFORD — The Senate Republican President Pro Tempore reacted this week to comments made Tuesday by Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ned Lamont and his pick for lieutenant governor Susan Bysiewicz at a Middletown school.
Len Fasano, R-North Haven, took issue with the candidates’ statements on the state’s Education Cost Sharing formula and “carried-interest” loophole proposal. This measure allows managers of private investment funds to get a preferential tax rate on income known as “carried interest.”
“You’ve got to fund the cost sharing,” Lamont said during the tour of Macdonough Elementary School. “If we’ve got to find a fairer way to distribute that going forward, let’s do it.”
“Right now, it’s been sort of hit and miss. I hear a lot of complaints from communities all over the state that ‘our town was shortchanged,’” he said. “We’ve got to fully fund education. It’s the best investment we can make in this state.”
“Ned Lamont and Susan Bysiewicz need to do their homework,” Fasano said in a release. “If they really want to bring ideas to the table, then they need to know the facts. Ned Lamont is wrong when he says that Connecticut’s Education Cost Sharing formula today is not fair.”
“While Democrats did not follow a fair formula in past years, the bipartisan budget passed last year took historic steps to implement a true education funding formula that now takes into account need, population and poverty,” Fasano added.
But, Lamont said Thursday afternoon, “There’s nothing fair about the way the ECS formula is implemented in Connecticut.”
“I’d encourage Senator Fasano to visit the towns I have across the state and hear from the teachers, students and families who are struggling to deal with education funding cuts year after year,” he said.
Lamont called for implementation of the ECS formula as it was originally written “to truly address need, not the politics of passing a budget. ‘Playing politics’ is finding fault with a process that Republicans have been part of, without offering any real solutions,” he said.
The new formula has a phase-in plan that will assure Connecticut’s 169 municipalities know what they can count on from the state, and know their needs will actually be addressed in a fair and equitable manner, Fasano said in the release.
“Either Ned Lamont has no idea what the new bipartisan formula does or he is purposefully choosing to ignore it in favor of playing politics.”
Fasano also addressed comments made by Bysiewicz, a Middletown resident, suggesting eliminating the carried-interest loophole would bring in $520 million in revenue that could be used for the state’s education needs.
“Susan Bysiewicz is obviously unfamiliar with Connecticut tax policy. In Connecticut, we do not have a carried-interest loophole. Connecticut actually already taxes this income. The loophole Bysiewicz is talking about is an entirely federal issue. If she wants to change it, she should be urging Connecticut’s federal congressional delegation to act,” Fasano said.
“Even if the federal law was changed, Connecticut would get no additional revenue because the state already taxes this.”
“Senator Fasano’s statements are plainly not true,” Bysiewicz said in a statement Thursday evening. “Closing the hedge-fund loophole can be done at both the state and federal level. Connecticut needs to partner with our federal officials to find more equitable treatment with respect to carried interest and work with our neighboring governors to find the best solution for our state and the region.
“While Congress refuses to act, that doesn’t mean the leaders in Connecticut have to follow suit. We believe in proactive leadership, and that is the approach we will bring to a new administration,” Bysiewicz concluded.