We Have a Better Way

By: State Senator Kevin Kelly

Last week I came across an article in the Connecticut Mirror discussing the amount of people leaving our state, and the towns and cities that were being hit the hardest. This article hit a little too close to home for me. Among the 143 towns and cities losing residents were towns right in my district and my hometown of Stratford.

Stratford alone lost 296 residents between 2015 and 2016.

When compared to other states Connecticut is third for population loss and ranks 29^th in the country for total population. The only states that had larger losses were Illinois and West Virginia. Here in Connecticut cities lost more residents than they gained between 2015 and 2016 – 15 of the state’s 19 largest cities showed declines.

This news may not be surprising for some, but it is certainly discouraging for all, especially given the April Consensus Revenue estimates and our current economic climate. That is why I am proud to stand with my fellow Senate Republicans in Hartford, as we offer Connecticut a new path, a path of fiscal responsibility and a path to help our middle-class families.

Our plan calls for:

• No increase in the sales tax
• No increase in the income tax
• No increase in the current hospital tax
• Rejection of cuts to the CT Home Care Program which helps seniors age in place
• A Cap on State government spending
• An increase to education funding
• Elimination of the income tax on Social Security

Now more than ever, we must move Connecticut in a new direction. We have already seen what tax increases have done – they have driven people out of our state and out of our communities.

Continual tax increases and over-spending does not keep people here, it does not attract new families to Connecticut and does not create good-paying jobs for those families. The good news is we have a better way, a stable and predictable path which is cemented in the common-sense, Senate Republican Budget proposal.