State Senator David J. Cappiello, R-Danbury, today called upon Democrats in the General Assembly to join him and other Republican legislators in coming out against a decision by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal that would allow a legislative committee to have access to individual and corporate tax returns. Sen. Cappiello said that the issue goes to heart of the right to privacy of taxpayers.

"Allowing the government to have access to this information is an incredible intrusion of privacy and something I will not stand for. As legislators we should be protecting the right to privacy and you don't do that by allowing a legislative committee to have access to private tax returns. To say that I disagree with this ruling would be a huge understatement," said Sen. Cappiello. "There is no reason for this, we already know how much tax revenue comes into the state each year and where it comes from. Looking specifically at returns from certain individuals and businesses makes no sense to me whatsoever. My fear is that this information, which should remain confidential, will be used in ways that were never intended, such as the releasing of private bank account and Social Security numbers."

According to Sen. Cappiello, the issue arose last Friday when Attorney General Blumenthal determined that the legislature's Program Review and Investigations Committee along with an outside consultant could have access to personal and corporate tax returns. Sen. Cappiello, along with several of his Republican colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, said that the Attorney General should take back his opinion for the sake of clarity. He also said that he is in favor of legislation that would prohibit the use of such tax records by any legislative committee if necessary.

"If the Attorney General does not reverse his ruling I will propose legislation that would guarantee the privacy rights of every taxpayer in Connecticut," said Sen. Cappiello. "The question I have is whose tax returns do we need to see and why? Unfortunately, people in this state pay a lot of taxes so there is a lot of information out there. At the very least we need to keep that information confidential," said Sen. Cappiello.