March 17, 2010
Better for Choices for Connecticut has released a report outlining several options to modernize Connecticut’s revenue system while closing our state’s massive budget deficit. The Better Choices coalition, made up of nonprofit providers, public service workers, and community and advocacy organizations, pressed legislators to adopt the measures to protect families in this devastating national recession, and maintain vital public services— including education, health, public safety, environmental protection, and transportation systems—when families are needing them most.
Increasing revenue, according to the Better Choices report, would align Connecticut with 30 other states that have acted in the last year to increase state revenues to not only keep pace with the growing need for public services, but to position themselves for future growth and sustainability when better economic conditions return. Notably, citizens in Oregon themselves voted to raise personal income taxes on higher-income households in order to maintain the state’s quality of life.
The menu of revenue options advocated by Better Choices for Connecticut includes proposals to:
- Close corporate tax loopholes that benefit multi-state companies over local companies;
- Evaluate the $5 billion in tax breaks in state tax laws and reduce or eliminate unproductive tax breaks;
- Increase income taxes for those who can best afford it, the state’s wealthy residents;
- Delay reductions in the gift and estate tax, a tax that affects only a handful of the state’s wealthiest residents;
- Either increase the sales tax or modernize it to cover services rather than only goods;
- Raise taxes on unhealthy products such as soda;
- Restore the scheduled Petroleum Gross Earnings Tax rate increase; and
- Tax excess profits of electricity generators.
“We can balance the budget without relying solely on spending cuts that damage the state’s economic future and harm families,” said Jamey Bell, Executive Director of Connecticut Voices for Children. “There is a wide range of more balanced alternatives, such as evaluating and reducing the state’s ‘hidden budget’ of tax breaks and corporate tax loopholes.”
“Coming to grips with the projected deficit requires both reductions in expenditures and increases in revenue,” said William Cibes, chancellor emeritus of the Connecticut State University System and former secretary of the Office of Policy and Management under Gov. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. “It’s not a question of IF revenues will be raised, but WHICH revenues will be raised. Better Choices is performing an important public service by putting forward some very constructive suggestions about how to do that.”
“During a recession as deep as this one, demand for public services dramatically escalates. Slashing vital state services would hurt the working poor and middle-income people who have lost their jobs and are falling behind. Connecticut is the wealthiest state in the nation, but it is among the most unequal. We have the capacity to protect and invest in our people and our communities,” said Maggie Adair, Deputy Director of Connecticut Association for Human Services.
The report, “Revenue Solutions for FY 2011,” is available on the Better Choices for Connecticut website.
Better Choices for Connecticut is a broad-based community coalition that supports a balanced and equitable revenue system that reflects the priorities and values of the state’s residents. For more information, go to www.betterchoicesforCT.org.
