The wrong plans for state’s future

Connecticut is an economic basket case. Consider the following four facts. 1) Even before the corona crisis, Connecticut, with unfunded liabilities of $124 billion, had no chance of meeting its obligations. 2) The Mercatus Center of George Mason University, ranked our state’s solvency at 49th of 50 in fiscal solvency. 3) Under the SEBAC agreement with state workers, Connecticut’s payroll will swell by $353 million on 1 July. 4) Connecticut’s deficit at the end of fiscal year 2019-20 is estimated to be $170 million.The only thing that keeps Connecticut from bankruptcy is that federal law prohibits it and the state continues to tax and borrow to cover its debts.

Imagine my dismay when Rep. Liz Linehan in a recent video conference call had the audacity to say, “The state is not bankrupt ... the state is better positioned than most other states.” With that, she touted a convoluted provision in the state minimum wage law that she may support and demurred on whether she would support an effort to delay or cancel pay increases to state workers. “I don’t know if we can do that,” she said.

All citizens who live within their means and pay mortgages and property taxes should be concerned with any new additions to the state’s liabilities. Connecticut’s profligacy forces well-managed towns like Cheshire to cut services or raise mill rates. The inevitable effect is continued depreciation in home values, forcing residents to make the bonecrushing decision to cut their losses now and move to states with favorable tax policies.

More federal money (Who’s going to pay for the bailouts, Ms. Linehan?) and yet another “program” aren’t going to solve Connecticut’s problems. Any lawmaker advocating either must be removed from office in November. In their place, we need representatives who will face the reality of the depth of Connecticut’s fiscal woes. Whoever wins the 103rd District must reduce the size of our state government, make deep cuts to spending and return Connecticut’s future to its citizens.

Robert Ham Cheshire