Curry points to property tax reform, public option

By Scott Benjamin

Former two-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Curry says instead of focusing on attracting or keeping “big companies” the state government should instead be making Connecticut “the most friendly state in the country toward small business.”

Curry, of Farmington a former state comptroller and White House aide in the Clinton Administration, lamented, “We keep doing the same economic development, gambling that big companies will stay or will come.”

That strategy apparently was altered somewhat between the administration of former Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Essex) and his immediate successor – Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich).

Malloy, who was in office from 2011 to 2019, and his commissioner of Economic Development, Catherine Smith, developed the First Five Plus program that provided incentives to such major employers as Cigna, ESPN in Bristol and the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund in Westport in return for an increase in jobs and a commitment to remain in Connecticut. The state also spent $292 million to bring Jackson Labs, a bio-medical research firm, to Farmington.

Smith’s successor, David Lehman of Greenwich, who was appointed early in Lamont’s administration, told Patch.com in 2019 that his research indicated that there was no other state that had a program similar to First Five Plus. The Malloy administration also established the Small Business Express program, which was targeted at firms with less than 150 employees.

That effort has been discontinued. However, in recent weeks Lamont has touted the upcoming addition of major companies in Stamford and Greenwich.

Curry said in a phone interview with Patch.com that two of the biggest expenses for small businesses – particularly those in the central cities – are property taxes and health insurance for their employees.

“Small businesses have a high mortality rate,” he lamented.

“For 30 years every Democratic candidate for governor has supported property tax reform,” Curry noted. “It has never happened.”

Former Middletown Mayor Dan Drew told Patch.com in 2017 that Connecticut is a largely suburban state with urban sprawl, which has left many of its cities, all small in population by national standards, with some of the highest tax mill rates among its 169 municipalities.

Curry said in a 2020 interview with Patch.com that, "The business lobbies are not that united about it," Curry explained. "CBIA [the Connecticut Business & Industry Association] has been nominally for it. I think that they see that kind of tax cut as a zero sum game

The labor unions have not been strongly for it

Gary Rose, the chairman of the Government Department and the author in 2019 of Connecticut In Crisis" Academica Press, 302 pages) on the state's fiscal obstacles and the 2018 gubernatorial campaign, told Patch.com in 2020 that Lamont has been criticized on not enacting property tax reform since it was one of his priorities when he was running for office.

Regarding the public option, CT News Junkie has reported that “The bill promoted by state Comptroller Kevin Lembo would have allowed his office to create a state-run option for small businesses and nonprofits that would compete with health insurance plans currently offered by the industry.”

According to CT NewsJunkie, “Lembo credited the health insurance industry for their lobbying and advertising efforts against the legislation as one of the reasons for its impending death."

Lamont has sought to cap increases in prescription drug costs.

Despite the setbacks, Curry said he is “optimistic” about Connecticut since it ranks “in the top three to five states s in income, wealth and educational achievement.”

Last year 24/7 Wall Street rated it as the fourth best state to live in, after Massachusetts, Colorado and New Jersey. The rankings are based on the poverty rate, life expectancy and the percentage of residents 25 years and older with at least a four-year college degree. In Connecticut the life expectancy rate of 80.9 years is about two years above the national average and nearly 40 percent of the residents have at least a four-year college degree.

Last year Kiplinger reported that Connecticut ranked third in the nation in wealth concentration.

Curry remarked, “Even without the extra billionaires in Greenwich, our median income is one of the highest in the country.” Patch.com has reported that Greenwich is the home for 10 of the 14 billionaires in Connecticut on Forbes’ annual list.

On another topic, Curry praised Lamont for his handling of issues related to the pandemic.

“He does things with a good heart, and that is rare in politics,” he related.

Curry said he believes that Lamont’s administration is running the current state operations efficiently, “which is no strong thing.”

However, he said the state is in need of structural reform to its operations.

Curry said when he gives a speech on federal issues, “the speech changes every time I give it. When I give a speech on Connecticut issues it is usually the same speech every time. We are so behind the curve on making our state better. We are a well-educated state but we’re not doing things that other states have done to be better.”