News reports seem to finally have some encouraging news about the economy—if it is not getting better, at least it is not getting any worse. Recently I visited several small businesses throughout Fairfield County to hear from the owners and workers about how government can help get the economy moving again. The answer is not an $800 billion pork-barrel stimulus package, but rather some common sense coming out of Hartford and Washington.
Small businesses will provide the key to ending the recession. 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.
I spoke with companies ranging from a mail service company in Stamford to a light manufacturer in Bridgeport. The small businessmen and workers I spoke with felt the federal stimulus package has failed, and has simply resulted in a $1.5 trillion deficit—the largest in our nation’s history. First and foremost, the stimulus package has failed to actually help the economy. Less than 20% of the funding will be spent in 2009. Where funding is being spent, it is often on pork-barrel projects for Congressmen. Worst of all is the fact that we will be paying for these projects with interest for years—over $2,500 for every man, woman, and child in America.
Everyone also felt the worst thing Connecticut could do right now is raise taxes. Raising taxes on small businesses will just force them lay off more people. Raising taxes on families means they will buy less products and services, thus forcing small businesses to lay off more people. Instead, all the workers and business owners felt the state needs to do exactly what their businesses and families are doing: cut back on spending. I completely agree with them, and am proud to have co-authored a no tax increase budget proposal to eliminate our $8.5 billion deficit. Unfortunately, it looks like the Democratic controlled legislature is going to ignore our proposal and raise taxes on the middle class and small businesses.
Instead, the small business owners and workers offered several common-sense solutions for how government can actually help businesses grow as we come out of the recession. First, they suggested we streamline government processes like permitting to encourage business activity in the state. I believe we can accomplish this through a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis of state regulation to see which ones truly make sense. Second, they suggested taking steps to lower energy costs in Connecticut, including allowing new power supply to come online (especially environmentally friendly power supply). Third, they proposed we try to maintain our strong, educated labor pool by not driving people out of state with higher taxes. They liked my proposal to give small businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every net new job they created. One business owner said, “that could be the difference between me hiring four versus five people when we come out of the recession.”
But the best quote came from one worker who cited the Hippocratic Oath: “First, Do No Harm.” At the very least, we in state government should not be passing new laws that harm small businesses and economic growth.
I am committed to working to make Connecticut more friendly for small business. Whether proposing tax credits for any small business that creates a job or streamlining the permitting process, I will continue to propose laws that help the true engine of our economy—the small business owners and their employees.
Dan Debicella is the State Senator representing Shelton, Stratford, Monroe, and Seymour. If you have feedback for him or want to talk about the issues, he can be reached at (860) 240-8875 or by e-mail at dan.debicella@cga.ct.gov.
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