As our nation as well as our state continues to face one of the most unsettling financial crises since the Great Depression, the State of Connecticut’s fiscal condition is dire. The financial markets continue to be at risk, the stock market volatility has us all on edge, consumer confidence is still not where it needs to be to encourage consumer spending. Jobs continue to be lost – in Connecticut, we’ve lost over 85,000 - and state and local governments continue to spill red ink.
As a result, the 2010 Session of the Connecticut General Assembly will be one of the more difficult and challenging Legislative Sessions since the adoption of the state income tax. It clearly will require a bi-partisan effort to avoid making what is a very difficult situation worse and the adversity around us needs to be seen as an opportunity to seriously consider the structure of our state government and the services that it provides. That being said, lawmakers must continue to recognize the strategic importance
of improving the environment for business in Connecticut and must continue to strive to make state government efficient and cost-effective, in short fiscally responsible.
PREAMBLE
The BRBC has four policy priorities that form the basis of its Legislative Agenda:
1. Invest strategically in economic development;
2. Improve the quality of public education and closing the achievement gap;
3. Improve the state of health care access, affordability, and quality;
4. Reform the property tax system equitably, encourage investment, and reduce sprawl.
In addition, the BRBC supports the effort to undertake a strategic analysis of the structure of state government and how the state conducts its business in an effort to find efficiencies, reduce expense, and avoid duplication of services.
Likewise, the BRBC supports the establishment of a jobs creation program that will enable Connecticut to begin to recover the jobs that have been lost as a result of the recession.
Recognizing the priority importance of these policy items, the most important priority of the coming Session must be to close the state’s budget deficit and adopt a balanced budget that does not include increasing the burden on the state’s businesses. To do so will only prolong the current recession and ultimately work against our long-term economic interests and recovery.
The 2010 Session will again be critical in terms of the need to continue to emphasize fiscal restraint and to not retreat from a pro-jobs growth agenda. We must continue to be vigilant in guarding against any attempts to add burdens on business.
Also, there must be a renewed effort to establish equity for our state’s urban centers, and there must be equity with regard to state investment, particularly as it relates to economic development, social services, transportation, and public education.
Likewise, health care is still an overriding issue that will affect the ability of our state to remain competitive and prosper. A health care policy must be established that creates an accessible, high quality, continuous, universal health care system that is affordable for society and enhances health and well being. It is well past the time to study the situation and it is time for action.
Lastly, after a number of years of effort, the state must prioritize added progress in transportation infrastructure investment to avoid stagnation and at the same time increase efforts to prevent further urban sprawl and concentrate as much as possible development efforts in urban centers and around transportation infrastructure. Connecticut must get greener and must invest in brownfields remediation. It is an opportunity.
Fiscal Policy
Support a state fiscal policy that:
• Controls and reduces state spending,
• Prevents tax increases that hurt business recruitment and retention,
• Institutes a long-term plan to lower debt service,
• Institutes a plan that prioritizes state bond supported projects to those with a demonstrated jobs growth impact,
• Addresses state employee salary / benefits costs to bring in line with private sector,
• Eliminates the state’s business entity tax;
• Vigorously supports regional revenue sharing initiatives;
• Reforms the property tax in ways that levels the urban/suburban playing field, such as:
- Focus opposition to business surcharge allowance;
- Focus on full pilot payments;
- Focus on making motor vehicle taxes more equitable;
- Focus on providing technical and financial assistance to towns to assist with tax collections and assessments;
- Tax incentives for shopping in urban areas;
- Tax credits for residents of urban areas;
- Equalization and sharing of conveyance tax revenues.
Funding equity
Support:
• Efforts that will provide state funding equity for Bridgeport, and the greater Bridgeport region, as well as the state’s other urban centers, particularly in the areas of public education funding, transportation funding, social services, and economic development funding.
Education
Support:
• Efforts that will update the state’s Education Cost Sharing formula that enables increased funding for priority school districts;
• Efforts that will provide funding for pre-school initiatives;
• Efforts that will provide funding for regional school construction projects.
• The Bridgeport Board of Education’s request for funding to reinstate early reading success, provide adequate funding to cover rising costs and ECS formula changes to increase weighting for ELL students, and support increasing priority district grant to address achievement gap and give bonus points for ELL students, funding pilot programs for in-school suspension mandates, and funding school health services for all schools.
Economic Development
Support:
• A strategic urban investment policy that results in job and tax base growth projects;
• Funding for the Bridgeport region’s priority development projects:
A brownfields development fund, the Intermodal Transportation Center, the Seaview Avenue extension, the Steelpoint project, sanitary sewer separation, and the Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo South American project;
• Legislation that expands brownfield development opportunities;
• The repeal of regulations impacting the communications industry, especially those competing with newer services not subject to such rules, and oppose new rules which serve to stifle competition, private sector investment, and consumer choice.
Energy
Support:
• Legislation that provides large and small businesses with the availability of reliable energy at a cost that is both reasonable and predictable, without impacting the financial integrity of the state’s regulated utility companies;
• Continue upgrading of the electric transmission and distribution infrastructure to maintain the reliability and availability of energy for business and consumer needs;
• Legislation that allows electric distribution companies the right to develop renewable energy parks.
Health Care
Support:
• Health care coverage that is universal;
• Health care coverage that is continuous;
• Health care coverage that is affordable to individuals, families and businesses;
• Health care coverage strategies that are affordable and sustainable for society;
• Health care coverage that enhances health and well being by promoting access to high quality care that is effective, efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered and equitable;
• Efforts that increase the safety of health care and decrease cost;
• Efforts that decrease the cost of malpractice insurance;
• Efforts to reduce the cost of healthcare for employers, including reducing the cost shift from government payers, by fully funding the Medicaid program.
Transportation & Land Use
Support:
• The investment recommendations of the Transportation Strategy Board;
• The proposal of the Connecticut Community Transportation plan to increase funding for bus service, and the complimentary enhancements to bus and rail operations as outlined in the FY 07-09 biennial budget as an important first step toward achieving the goals outlined by the Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board;
• The Greater Bridgeport Transit District’s Transit Capital Improvement Projects;
• Legislation that will improve the methods of funding distributed through transit districts so that they may operate in a more business like manner and reduce operating costs;
• Increasing the gasoline tax by three cents per gallon each year for five consecutive fiscal years beginning 7/1/10, and segregating those monies from the state’s operating budget for transportation investments exclusively;
• Establishing an integrated electronic toll system for one or more of the state’s highways with first phase implementation targeted for 7/1/11, and segregating revenues specifically for transportation investments;
• Evaluating options to privatize the construction and operation of certain state transportation assets and systems, including any roads that will be tolled;
• An open space policy that recognizes the need for land preservation and discourages sprawl.
Jobs
Support:
• A jobs creation tax credit that focuses on small and mid-size companies;
• A sales tax exemption for “green” technologies;
• The creation of a small business loan pool that sets aside a fund for micro loans;
• A loan forgiveness program that encourages college students to stay in Connecticut.