Politics & Government
Harding wants to fight inflation by slashing taxes
State representative says governor, Legislature need to address unfunded liabilities
By Scott Benjamin
BROOKFIELD – State Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107) says constituents tell him that filling their gas tank has gone recently from “$45” to “$75” – which is “eye-opening” and “scary.”
“If there ever is a time for tax relief, it is now,” said the fourth-term legislator, whose district encompasses all of Brookfield, the Stony Hill section of Bethel and a slice of northern Danbury.
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“We’re facing record-setting inflation,” said Harding of the 8.6 percent national rate for May.
“The easiest and the quickest way to address that issue is by providing relief to residents,” he exclaimed.
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Harding of Brookfield has embraced a state Republican proposal to provide $746 million in tax relief beyond the $600 million that was approved earlier this year.
GOP lawmakers are holding rallies across the state to generate support and Harding stood with some of his colleagues recently near a gasoline station in Torrington, one of the 18 municipalities in the 30th state Senate District, where he is the GOP candidate in the November 8 election.
CT News Junkie has reported that the Republicans want to hold a special session of the General Assembly to reduce income tax rate from 5% to 4% for individuals making less than $75,000 and households making less than $175,000; reduce the state sales tax from 6.35% to 5.99% until the end of the year; eliminate a mileage-based highway user tax scheduled to go into effect next year and extend a current gas tax holiday to diesel fuel.
In an interview with Patch.com, state Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury said, "The question that they haven't answered is how to pay for it."
CT News Junkie recently reported that Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) has stated that the state has a $2.1 billion budget surplus.
Harding remarked, “When we have a significant surplus we can return a significant amount of that money to taxpayers."
However, Godfrey said that much of that surplus is due to federal American Rescue Plan funding from the pandemic, and "you can't spend that on tax cuts."
Susan Haigh of the Associated Press stated recently that state Senate President Pro-Tempore Martin Looney of New Haven and Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk, both Democrats, claim the GOP plan, which they called “irresponsible,” would “slash $750 million in debt payments” at a cost to taxpayers this year and over the next 25 years.
CT Mirror budget reporter Keith Phaneuf wrote that "Connecticut is poised to deposit an extra $3.6 billion in its cash-starved pension funds when the fiscal year closes in June, after tax revenues surged yet again. Those supplemental payments would be on top of the $2.9 billion in required contributions Connecticut made this fiscal year to pensions for state employees and municipal teachers.
Harding remarked “[Lamont] increased the states’ funding of those liabilities in the budget, which makes perfect sense."
However, Harding still believes further tax relief can be provided.
Yet, state Sen. Eric Berthel (R-32) of Watertown told Patch.com on May 5 at the Republican convention in the Fifth Congressional District that the state faces a projected $1 billion budget deficit a year from now.
So how can you reduce revenue by $746 million when you face a $1 billion deficit in a year?
Harding said, “I think it’s a good question.”
“A few years down the road we’re going to have to decide whether to increase taxes by a billion dollars or cut services by a billion dollars,” added Harding.
He said one of the “biggest drivers” in the projected deficit is the collective bargaining agreement with the state employees that was approved by the General Assembly this spring and signed by Lamont.
CT Mirror reported that, " Each year [in the three-year agreement includes a 2.5 percent general wage increase, as well as a step hike for all but the most senior workers. In addition, full-time workers would receive a $2,500 bonus in mid-May and another $1,000 bonus in mid-July. Part-timers would be eligible for prorated bonuses."
Regarding the overall cost of the new contract, Harding said, “It’s nearly 50 percent of what our [annual] budget will be in the future."
“I’m not saying that the employees are not deserving of those salaries,” he remarked. “Many of them are. It comes down to what we can afford. At the end of the day, we keep having these collective bargaining agreements where we do not address these issues with our unfunded liabilities."
However, Larry Dorman, -Communications Director for AFSCME Council 4, which represents about 15,000 state employees - told Patch.com in 2018 that according to a report from a consultant to the state Office of Policy & Management, the governor's budget arm, between 2017 and 2037 the state employees would make $24 billion in concessions to save money for taxpayers.
Phaneuf of CT Mirror told a Wilton League of Women Voters forum in April 2019 that Connecticut's state employee pensions were structurally underfunded each year from 1939 through 2010.
Harding voted against the revised $24.2 billion state budge this spring, saying that even though there were reductions in taxes, he objected to the 6.7 percent spending increase. He said, "It's just not fiscally prudent" since the state is running surpluses.
On a related topic, former state Senate Republican Leader John McKinney of Fairfield, former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst and Greenwich hedge fund manager David Stemerman, each of whom have run for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in recent years, have at various times endorsed establishing a state office of Inspector General, which would be staffed by forensic auditors, They have indicated that the federal government’s Office of Inspector General has produced considerable savings.
Said Harding, “Any steps we can take to address waste in taxpayer's money, I certainly will advocate for. Although I would have some pause in adding further bureaucracy to our state government, this may be an effective way to find this aforementioned waste. Therefore, I would be willing to explore this in the legislature as a potential option.”
On another subject, Harding said that although some small steps were taken during the recent regular session of the General Assembly to address the increase in crime, further action needs to be taken.
He commented, “In my opinion, we have become far too lenient in addressing criminal justice issues in Connecticut.”
As was the case when he spoke with Patch.com last October, Harding said Brookfield residents still express “frustration” on the progress of the 198-acre Brookfield Town Center district.
The concept was developed in the late 1980s by Democratic former First Selectman Ken Keller. By the 1990s the traffic traveling daily through the Four Corners intersection on Federal Road had increased to 30,000 vehicle trips per day.
To address that, in 2009 the state completed the $105 million, 2.1-mile Route 7 bypass, which considerably reduced the traffic flow near the Four Corners and made it possible to assemble a New England-style central business district.
Tax abatements were approved about eight years ago for Brookfield Village - a retail area with apartments on the higher floors. About six years ago construction began with considerable state funds to build the first phase of the street scape.
However, during the 2021 municipal election campaign some voters voiced concern in interviews about the lack of progress, saying that only two phases of the streetscape had been completed - there are at least six phases that are under consideration - and the project wasn’t identical to pedestrian-friendly Greenwood Avenue in Bethel or Main Street in Ridgefield.
“I think some residents believe it isn’t what they were promised,” said Harding.
However, he said that he is pleased that work by the state Department of Transportation is being completed to reconfigure the odd-shaped fork near the Old New Milford Road and alter the traffic flow.
Harding added that further south on Federal Road a third lane is scheduled to be added by this summer at the intersection near the branch for the Savings Bank of Danbury to make it easier to negotiate a left-hand turn.
He commented, "Thankfully, there haven't been more accidents. Taking that left-hand turn on a weekend is a scary thing."
Resources:
https://ctmirror.org/2022/05/0...
https://patch.com/connecticut/...
https://www.journalinquirer.co...
https://ctmirror.org/2022/05/20/ct-poised-to-pay-down-3-6-billion-in-pension-debt/
Patch.com interview with state Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury, Thursday, June 16, 2022.
https://patch.com/connecticut/...
