Malloy: Change biz taxes; Sharkey: We’ll see [WTNH]

WTNH

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Before he heads to Europe to drum up business for the state at the Paris Air Show, the Governor has announced big changes he wants in the new state budget in order to get business already here to stay. But, are these the changes big business wants and are the Democrats in the legislature willing to make them?

After being hammered for more than a week over what’s been called an unfriendly to business budget, the Governor now says he wants some changes.
“I am proposing removing the tax from car washes and parking services,” he said.

Stopping the new car wash tax before it goes into effect is just one of the taxes on business that the Governor now says he wants to stop or change in a Special Legislative Session.

“I am proposing to repeal the increases in the data processing and world wide web service taxes and capping them at one-percent,” added Gov. Malloy.

Big Connecticut-based corporations like Aetna and Travelers use a lot of data, and this is one of the tax hikes they were objecting to. The legislature approved doubling it the first year and tripling it the second. Malloy is proposing to cap it right where it is.

The Governor is also calling for a delay of one year before imposing the so called “unitary or combined reporting tax.” It’s another tax the big companies hate because it would tax money they make outside of Connecticut for the first time.

“We’re pleased that the Governor put on the table, earlier today, some specific cuts and tax increase modifications that will help mitigate the damage from that budget,” said Joe Brennan of the CT Business & Industry Association.

Malloy is asking the legislature to cut a quarter of a billion dollars in spending, or give him the authority to do it himself in order to make up for the lost revenue. Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey of Hamden seems reluctant to say that will happen, leaving the door open to doing something else.

“I think, he, like all of us, have listened to the business community and the concerns that they’ve raised, and this is the proposal he’s offering,” said Sharkey.

“I think the Governor’s finally sees the ‘Trojan Horse’ of a bad budget that really is harmful to Connecticut, it’s harmful to our middle class, and harmful to the business community,” said Deputy Republican Leader Kevin Witkos, a state Senator from Canton.

But the Democratic leadership and the Governor both say the budget is very good for the middle class and for business too because it should cut property taxes and begin the rebuild of the state transportation system.