Connecticut, Start Thinking About Tomorrow

The pandemic will cause permanent social change in our country. But is Connecticut and its state government ready to adapt?

Two trends are already raising the stakes for our state’s future. First, families in New York and other cities are eager to leave their small dwellings and dense neighborhoods for greener pastures. Some of them have already set their sights on our town and neighboring ones for their natural beauty and strong communities. The home rental markets are booming locally and realtors are also reporting increased interest from buyers.

Second, millions of Americans are now able to work remotely, meaning that they can move and live anywhere in the country. Some major companies like Facebook and Twitter have already said they will permit employees to work from home permanently. Others are likely to follow their lead. We want these workers and their families to come to Connecticut, raise home values, broaden our tax base, create jobs, and contribute to charity.

But while these major social changes are an opportunity for Connecticut to do better, three major underlying policy problems stand in the way.

First, Connecticut does not provide a reward to work here compared to our high-tax neighbors. Consider a married couple making between $100,000 and $150,000 combined. They would pay a 5.5 percent marginal income tax in Connecticut and New Jersey and 6.1 percent in New York. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, that couple would face a tax rate of 5.0 and 4.8 percent, respectively. Small changes to marginal rates could have a large effect on whether people in the northeast move to or from Connecticut.

Second, and more importantly, our overall tax burden on families is much higher than the rest of the country’s. According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, Connecticut faces the second-highest tax burden of any state—slightly lower than New York and slightly higher than New Jersey. But if much of our high-quality, high-skilled workforce in southwestern Connecticut can work from anywhere, what is to stop them from moving to Palm Beach or Harris Counties, to say nothing of Westchester or Bergen? We cannot settle for being slightly better than New York. The size of government must be addressed.

Third, we must create a sustainable economic environment for the future to attract good jobs and investment in our community. Connecticut infamously has the second-highest unfunded liability and debt burden in the country. That bill will come due to regular families in the form of much higher taxes and worse services if nothing is done. Employers and workers are wise to this risk and so it must be confronted by state leaders here and now. They can start by stopping $350 million of pay raises for state employees this year when so many private sector workers have lost their jobs.

Most of these policy problems are not new, but they are more important in the face of new economic and social realities. The politicians in Hartford have been decadent and stubborn for many years, taking more power for themselves and raising taxes on families over and over—including this term. It’s time for a change. Now more than ever our community needs new thinking in Hartford—or new leaders who will bring it.

Ryan Fazio is the endorsed Republican candidate for the 36th State Senate District.

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