Candelora: If we continue down this road, Connecticut will not be better off

Deputy House Leader, State Representative Vincent Candelora (R-86) voted against the majority party budget “fix.” The theoretical budget remedy includes $1.4 billion in additional tax hikes on Connecticut’s middle-class and already struggling job creators. This budget will only put our state back in the red a few years from now, Rep. Candelora said yesterday, during a special session of the state House of Representatives. “This budget does the same thing we’ve seen year over year,” Rep. Candelora added. “We are looking at businesses potentially relocating and residents fleeing the state because they simply can’t afford to live here anymore.” S.B. 1502 – An Act Implementing Provisions of the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2017 Concerning General Government, Education and Health and Human Services – passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 78 to 65. The majority party’s budget “fix” rolls back only 10 percent of the initial $1.8 billion in tax hikes that led to weeks of public outcry by both taxpayers and state businesses alike. The Democrats paid for much of the tax rollbacks by diverting more than $100 million in additional revenue from sales tax increases that were intended to go to towns and cities. One of the most controversial measures is the implementation of a “unitary tax” which requires corporations to pay taxes on companies they run out of state. In an effort to appease companies threatening to relocate out of state because of the increased tax burden, that unitary tax, originally set to be retroactive to last Jan. 1, has been delayed to Jan. 1, 2016, a small change that does little to address the fundamental issues or provide relief to Connecticut employers. Candelora noted that the majority party has put themselves on the defense and now has to try and figure out how they will maintain jobs in Connecticut. “If the legislative process wasn’t broken and public hearings were appropriately held as they were in the past, I don’t think a tax like the “unitary tax” would have even made it to this chamber. We can’t make changes without knowing what the impacts are. If we continue doing what we've done over and over and over again, Connecticut will not be better off,” Rep. Candelora said. “It’s budgets like these that continues to stagnate the growth of Connecticut. This budget will continue to hinder our residents and employers. I hope that going forward we can look to creating a solution rather than adding to the problem. Until then, I will refuse to go down a road that does not leave Connecticut better off and that is why I voted no,” said Rep. Candelora. To read the entire bill, visit: http://cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&which_year=2015&bill_num=1502. The special session was required because the Democratic-led legislature left unfinished business on the table when it adjourned June 3.