Stefanowski: $150M loan program for CT small businesses an ‘insult’
A day after Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled a $150 million small business loan program, Bob Stefanowski, his GOP opponent, went on the offensive, saying the funding would do little to help companies struggling with the highest inflation in 40 years.
With the state boasting a $5.5 billion budget surplus, $150 million in loans for small businesses is laughable, Stefanowski said at a news conference Tuesday morning in Plainville, where he repeated his calls for Lamont to provide bigger tax cuts to Connecticut businesses and residents.
“I don't know whether to laugh or cry about what he announced yesterday,” Stefanowski, the Republican candidate for governor, said. “But it is insulting to the small business community in terms of how they're suffering.”
The offices of Carrier Home Builders, Inc., a family-run construction company in Plainville, served as the backdrop for Stefanowski to pitch his $600 million plan for small business relief. John Carrier, who helps run his family's business, said supply chain issues and price increases haven't let up.
“The front door I used to put in was $1,500. Now it's $3,200,” he said. “The garage doors were $2,000. Now they're $4,000.”
The company has increased pay for its employees to help retain its workforce, but the raises haven't kept up with the pace of inflation, Carrier said. “They can't afford what they could afford two years ago, even with the pay increases,” he said. “The average person working eight hours a day, they're just not making ends meet.”
Stefanowski continues to position himself as the more business friendly candidate in the governor's race, saying he would go further than Lamont in providing relief.
“What I'm finding is governor Lamont is putting out policies that are just enough, just enough to run a TV commercial,” Stefanowski said Tuesday.
Stefanowski's plan includes paying back the state's $450 million unemployment debt, repealing the highway use tax on heavy trucks that takes effect in 2023, eliminating the 1 percent tax on prepared foods, and suspending the state's diesel tax through 2022. He said he would use part of the state's budget surplus to pay for his proposal.
Gov. Lamont has urged fiscal restraint – using the state's budget surplus to pay down its pension debt, saving residents more money in the long term, and filling its budget reserves to prepare for a possible economic recession in the future – while still providing a robust package of tax cuts and rebates.
In campaign ads, he's highlighted a suspension of the state's gas tax, property tax cuts, and a new child tax rebate.
“Gov. Lamont cut the business entity tax that was primarily paid by small businesses, froze the gas tax, expanded the property tax credit, paid down the unemployment insurance loan and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in workforce development,” said Jake Lewis, a spokesperson for Lamont's campaign.