Indiana tries to lure Connecticut firms amid tax controversy [FoxCT]

June 11, 2015

Fox CT

HARTFORD — The state of Indiana is suggesting three major Connecticut employers that openly criticized planned tax increases consider moving to the Hoosier State.

On Wednesday, Indiana ran a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal that reaches out to General Electric Co., Aetna Inc. and the Travelers Companies Inc. The ad says Indiana is offering its “support in the wake of Connecticut’s looming tax increase, because friends don’t let friends pay higher taxes.”

State Sen. Kevin Witkos (R-8th District) told Fox CT of the ad, “‘It’s disheartening that another state would take out an ad in a nationwide publication.”

Joe Brennan of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association said other states also contacted those companies since the General Assembly passed a Democratic budget last week.

The CEO of GE, Jeffrey R. Immelt, even sent a letter to all 5,700 employees in Connecticut to inform them that “I have assembled an exploratory team to look into the company’s options to relocate corporate HQ to another state with a more pro-business environment.”

Brennan said he hopes to meet with Gov. Dan Malloy this week to discuss the tax situation.

A Malloy spokesman said Connecticut has one of the lowest corporate tax rates.