Ned Lamont will bring honest and positive leadership to Connecticut

In 2011, Gov. Dannel Malloy proposed large state tax increases. As a state senator at the time (and a Democrat), I debated against and voted against these tax increases because they were the wrong direction at a time (then and now) when Connecticut was having serious economic challenges.

Based on the above experience, I have wanted to know how Ned Lamont, the Democratic candidate for governor, stands on more state taxes. I looked at his literature and viewed all three candidate debates and saw and heard that he opposes any increase in the income tax or sales tax. In order to confirm this, I went to his campaign headquarters and asked him directly, face to face, how he stood on new taxes. He looked me in the eye and said that he is opposed to any increase in the state income or sales tax and that his focus will be to bring in new businesses and to emphasize improved vocational training. I saw that he has already this year brought into Connecticut a large tech company with about 1,000 employees.

It is thus disturbing that Lamont’s Republican opponent, Bob Stefanowski, repeatedly is stating that Lamont proposes to increase the state income and sales taxes. That is false campaigning, and we should all call him on it. Stefanowski is a Johnny One Note, his only campaign proposal being to abolish the state income tax. That proposal has been decried as “ridiculous” by economists and leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties. After all, the income tax is over half of our state’s revenue which supports our towns and schools.

Ned Lamont will bring honest and positive leadership to Connecticut. Ed Meyer Retired state senator Guilford