Behringer: It’s time for Connecticut to get back to business

Submitted by Michael Michael Behringer

It’s Time for Connecticut to Get Back to Business Connecticut has a jobs problem it can no longer ignore.

During the 12-month period ending June 2024, jobs in Connecticut grew by a paltry .7% versus the national average of 1.7%. According to the CT Department of Labor, 20% of our job growth occurred in government jobs, while 70% came in the educational and health services; jobs that are either directly funded by taxpayers or indirectly through Medicare, and Medicaid.

That means roughly 10% of our job growth originated from the private sector!

And even with all the public sector jobs created during this time, Connecticut was still dead last among New England states and an embarrassing 42nd place nationwide. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Even Governor Lamont recognizes Connecticut’s problems. At the 2024 Yale Innovation Summit, Lamont shared, “We were once the most entrepreneurial state in the country. We were pretty good. We got a little flat.” Indeed.

Bolstered by a favorable tax structure for businesses and residents, our state used to be a mecca for businesses of all sorts. Consider, that until the mid-90s, Stamford had the third highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the country, with 18 companies headquartered in the city. Today, that number sits at just 4.

Since 2017, the list of companies relocating their US-based headquarters include such storied names as Aetna (New York), Lego (Boston), GE (Boston), United Tech (Boston) and Alexion (Boston). It begs the question – how bad do your policies have to be that you move to Massachusetts?

Connecticut’s failure to create significant numbers of private sector jobs should come as no surprise. Democrats in Hartford have erected numerous obstacles that hinder economic growth. Today, we consistently rank among the highest business, property and labor costs in the nation. According to a 2023 study by the Tax Foundation, Connecticut ranks 15th (1st being the worst) in combined federal and state corporate tax rates. And, unlike so many other states, our government does little to incent companies to remain, much less relocate, here.

One of our biggest challenges lies in hiring employees. Democratic policies facilitated a -1.2% decrease in our labor force during the past 12-month period. Once again, we’ve the dubious distinction of being dead last in New England, and well below the national average which saw a 2.4% gain.

As CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima commented, “Connecticut needs more people and the state’s high cost of living—driven by high taxes and our energy, housing, and childcare costs—is a key challenge.”

We need a vibrant private business sector to grow our local economy, pay the taxes needed to invest in our infrastructure, retain valued public sector workers and support our growing state-pension obligations. Reliance upon state-created jobs is not a viable framework for a sustainable future.

Connecticut needs to adopt policies to create real economic opportunities for our citizens and promote economic growth. And it starts with stopping the outflow of businesses and residents to other states. We should be offering tax incentives and grants to attract (and retain) businesses, limiting regulations on small business that quell growing and hiring, and reducing the tax burden on our citizens.

It’s time to put an end to a Democrat-controlled House, Senate and Governor’s Office that has been great at growing government and taxes, but continues to miss the mark when it comes to private-sector job creation.

I know many business people and residents in the 149th District share my concerns. That’s why I hope you’ll join me in voting for Tina Courpas for State Representative this November, so that we can bring common-sense to Hartford. It’s time for Connecticut to get back to business.

Michael Behringer
District 149
Greenwich, CT

Editor’s note: GFP is accepting letters about local candidates in the Nov 5, 2024 election for consideration for publication for three weeks: Oct 8 through Oct 29 at 12:00 noon, hard stop.