Rethinking business incentives
DECD head talks about governor’s plan to lure employers to state
We’re heading into a 2020 legislative session that could see a frustrating lack of progress on transportation funding, tax reform, gaming strategy, rational marijuana laws, longterm liabilities and health policy.
Here’s a bright spot: Economic development incentives.
Democrats and Republicans agree Connecticut needs to find a newway to attract and retain companies. That means carrots that are clear, doled out evenly and designed to reward the kind of jobcreation Connecticut needs.
It means no more forking over upward of $ 200 million a year thatwe borrow with bonding in order to bribe handpicked businesses with customtailored packages— grants, loans and tax credit awards worth asmuch as $ 40,000 per job and sometimes even more.
“For incentives to be effective, they need to be simple and they need to be transparent,” said David Lehman, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
Lehman has spearheaded a newstrategy since last winter. It’s the biggest change in theway the state has done business incentives in 28 years, since the dawn of the modernday big deals that defined a generation such as Swiss Bank in Stamford, later UBS.
After nine months of gestating, the newbaby is finally ready to be born. Here’s howit’s going to look when it’s presented to the GeneralAssembly towhat I expect will be a positive reception. It may be too stingy but that’s easy enough to fix down the road.
An eligible company that 1 creates at least 25 eligible jobs starting at the time of a signed agreementwould be