Budget & Historic Tax Increase Dominate Discussion at Westport Legislative Wrap Up Event

July 10, 2015

From left: State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-136); Matthew Mandell, Executive Director of the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce; state Rep. Gail Lavielle (R-143); state Sen. Toni Boucher (R-26); state Sen. Tony Hwang (R-28); state Rep. John Shaban (R-135); and Bonnie Stewart, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), gather for a photograph following a Legislative Wrap Up event at the Westport Public Library on July 7, 2015.

From left: State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-136); Matthew Mandell, Executive Director of the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce; state Rep. Gail Lavielle (R-143); state Sen. Toni Boucher (R-26); state Sen. Tony Hwang (R-28); state Rep. John Shaban (R-135); and Bonnie Stewart, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), gather for a photograph following a Legislative Wrap Up event at the Westport Public Library on July 7, 2015.

WESTPORT — Connecticut’s much-maligned new budget and its anticipated adverse impact on businesses in the Nutmeg State served as the backdrop Tuesday for a “Legislative Wrap Up” at the Westport Public Library.

Co-hosted by the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce and the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), the July 7th forum largely focused on jobs and the economy, taxes and state spending and borrowing, transportation funding and the need for major investment to improve infrastructure like rails, bridges and highways, though topics such as the environment and social services were also discussed.

Legislators participating in the forum included Westport’s state delegation — Sen. Toni Boucher (R-26), Sen. Tony Hwang (R-28), state Rep. Gail Lavielle (R-143) and state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-136) — along with state Rep. John Shaban (R-135), whose district includes Weston and Easton.

Matthew Mandell, the Chamber’s Executive Director, served as forum moderator, while Bonnie Stewart, CBIA’s Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel, offered introductory remarks.

Stewart noted that every legislator in attendance had voted against the $40.3 billion state budget, which increases spending by about 7% over the next two fiscal years and carries with it the second highest tax increase in Connecticut history.

“You have one of the best delegations in the state,” Stewart told the audience.

The 2015 Legislative Session ran from Jan. 7 to June 3, and passing a new two-year budget was the main order of business. While Republicans presented an alternative budget, called Connecticut’s Blueprint for Prosperity, the budget narrowly approved in the final hours of session was the product of closed-door negotiations between Democrat legislative leaders and Gov. Malloy.

With a resounding outcry from residents, Republicans and businesses, including the 10,000-member strong CBIA, about the havoc the historic increase in taxes would wreak on the state’s economy, particularly corporations like General Electric and Aetna, Gov. Malloy and Democrat leaders in the legislature scaled back and delayed some of the taxes. Those changes, along with action on an implementer bill to authorize provisions of the budget and to vote on a package of criminal justice reforms, were taken up during a Special Session on June 29.

Hwang-Boucher-Westport-Delegation-Legislative-Wrap-Up_7-7-15_bFrom left: State Sen. Tony Hwang (R-28), state Sen. Toni Boucher (R-26), State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-136), state Rep. Gail Lavielle (R-143), and state Rep. John Shaban (R-135) listen to a question from an audience member at a July 7 Legislative Wrap Up event at the Westport Public Library, co-hosted by the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce and the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA).

“What we unfortunately saw in the 2015 legislative session was a breakdown of our democratic process, and a byproduct of that dysfunctional state government is a bad budget that puts Connecticut further down the wrong road,” Sen. Hwang said. “But even amidst all the budget drama, Democrats and Republicans worked together on some really great legislation this year, from the Long Island Sound Blue Plan to the CARE Act. That gives me hope for the future of our state, if all legislators can find the courage to work in a bipartisan manner all the time and not just sometimes.”

“Constituents want to fight for a better Connecticut. I want to help them fight for a better state too,” ,” Sen. Boucher said. Which is why I told them I voted against the Governor’s budget, which has our largest employers threatening to move out, taking their jobs with them. We don’t have to raise taxes and we don’t have to settle for poor roads and bridges. State leaders need to prioritize spending and change what is funded instead of spending more during a time of persistent deficits. Changing the balance of power in Hartford will achieve those goals.”

“Our perpetual fiscal crisis is both (i) accelerating the departure of employers and taxpaying citizens from our state, and (ii) causing good public policy to suffer at the expense of funding the government’s unsustainable spending habits,” Rep. Shaban said. “Because of our unsustainable spending, we can no longer properly fund education reform, environmental programs, hospitals, parks, etc., etc. The majority party’s fiscal mismanagement is hurting everyone from the wealthiest to the neediest.”

“A stable tax and regulatory structure will promote prosperity for everyone, not more rate and rule changes,” Rep. Shaban added.

Rep. Lavielle said, “It is unfortunate that despite the massive public outcry, majority lawmakers still produced a budget that increases spending by 7% and ushers in the second largest tax increase in state history, yet fails to make the structural changes necessary to set Connecticut on a sustainable fiscal path. The budget directly hits the middle class, it will cause irreparable damage to our employers and our economy, and it will accelerate the continuing exodus of jobs and people from our state. I’m pleased, however, that the legislature’s collaborative bipartisan work in other policy areas did produce a number of good pieces of legislation. I’m particularly proud of our work as leaders of the Education Committee on a broad range of bills, and of the ABLE legislation that will allow persons with disabilities to save tax-free for disability-related expenses.”