By Senator
Dan Debicella
Like the entire country, Connecticut is in a recession.
We have lost ten of thousands of jobs, and all of our
families are feeling the pinch. While state government
cannot end the recession by itself, we can create an
environment favorable for job growth. I have introduced
several pieces of legislation that I believe will help
lift our economy in the next twelve months.
The key to economic recovery is job creation. Job growth
provides the economic basis for everything else we seek
as a society. Businesses—especially small businesses—are
the key to job creation. Small business owners have
created more than 90 percent of the new jobs in our
state in the last 10 years. While big corporations are
great to have in Connecticut, it is the little guy who
really drives our economic growth.
We need to make Connecticut friendly to small business,
and create laws that will encourage them to expand their
companies and create jobs here. I have introduced five
pieces of legislation that I believe will help small
businesses create jobs:
Expand Job Creation Tax Credit - I
was proud to author the jobs creation tax credit legislation
that passed with bipartisan support in 2007. Under this
law, corporations that create 10 or more net new jobs
in a year can qualify for a tax credit equal to 60 percent
of each new worker’s state withholding tax. However,
this law does not apply to small business and it is
not automatic (businesses need to apply for it). I have
proposed expanding this tax credit to any job created
by any business (large or small), and making it an automatic
deduction.
Reduce Burdensome Regulation on Small Business
- Connecticut small businesses are buried under the
weight of state regulations that cost them a lot of
money without benefiting the state. I have proposed
conducting a cost/benefit analysis of every state business
regulation every five years. Rather than just passing
regulations and then forgetting about them, government
needs to see which regulations are actually working
and which are just burdens on small business.
Attract Next Generation Industries
- In 2006, the General Assembly created a movie industry
tax credit that succeeded in attracting film-related
industries to Connecticut. I have proposed extending
this credit to emerging “next generation”
industries that will create the types of middle-class
jobs that will employ Connecticut residents in the decades
to come. Examples include alternative energy, environmental
remediation, optics and photonics, life sciences devices
and nanotechnology.
Fix Our Infrastructure - We must improve
both road and rail to facilitate economic development.
To relieve traffic on our highways, I have proposed
expanding I-95 and the Merritt Parkway by one lane at
strategic “choke points”, much like we did
with the Sikorsky Bridge. To make mass transit more
convenient, I have proposed laws expanding parking at
train stations and a comprehensive shuttle system to
take people from the MetroNorth to work in lower Fairfield
County.
Automatically Lower Taxes - While
we will not be able to lower taxes this year given our
massive deficit, we should set up the mechanism to lower
taxes automatically in the future when we return to
having a surplus. Under my proposal, fifty percent of
any future state budget surplus would have to be used
to reduce taxes. The other fifty percent could be used
to reduce debt or added to the Rainy Day Fund.
We need to make Connecticut “open for business”
to ensure that we have solid middle class jobs and a
good quality of life. While we cannot control the national
economy, we can make sure that state government is doing
everything in its power to create jobs and grow our
economy here at home.
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