Maintaining the Momentum
The events in recent weeks around the state budget clearly showed what can be accomplished when CBIA and its members work with a singular purpose to achieve an important goal.
Although business taxes were reduced only by about 22% of the $700 million called for in the legislature’s original budget, we achieved something very difficult—and possibly unprecedented: We succeeded in convincing policymakers just a few weeks after a budget was adopted to go back, reopen that budget, and scale back tax increases on businesses.
And we succeeded in shining a spotlight on the ability of—and necessity for—Connecticut companies to compete in regional, national, and global markets.
Of course, we recognize that taxes are only one component of a state’s business climate. In many ways, however, the 2015 legislative session marked a tipping point after years of frustration over high costs and the many other barriers that make doing business in Connecticut not for the faint of heart.
The question now is how do we keep the momentum going? That’s a key question, because for you, our members, so much more needs to be done to make Connecticut a truly competitive state.
In the months ahead, we’ll continue to enhance our efforts around the CT20x17 campaign. We’ll also adopt strategies to engage more people inside and outside of the business community who care about competitiveness issues. And we’ll work closely with human services providers so we don’t fall victim to the false choice that many of our opponents mistake for reality—that we either have to impose massive tax increases or decimate public services.
My sincere thanks to all of you who helped in this intensive effort to undo some of the tax damage contained in the original state budget. Throughout the process, legislators continually told us that they were hearing from a lot of our members back in their districts.
The outcome of this year’s budget debate is bittersweet. We ultimately have a budget that we don’t like, and we have a long way to get where we need to go, but we also showed that we can make a difference by working together to achieve what some would have said was impossible.
This can’t, however, be a one-off event. We still believe in Connecticut; we still believe we have enormous potential. We now need to fight for public policies that align with our strengths so that we can achieve that potential.
Joe Brennan