Srinivasan Hammers Governor, Democrats for Aetna News: “HERE WE GO AGAIN”

In the wake of news that Aetna, Inc., is searching for real estate in the Boston area, Prasad Srinivasan, declared candidate for Governor in 2018, blasted the Malloy Administration for placing the State’s economy into a precarious position and failing to do anything to get out of it.

“Here we go again,” Dr. Srinivasan said. “Governor Malloy and the Democrats implemented record tax increases in 2011. Our largest employers begged them not to do it again in 2015 – and they didn’t listen.”

The Hartford Courant reported on January 31 that Aetna has been actively searching for approximately 400,000 square feet of office space in the Boston area for six months. In 2015, as Gov. Malloy and the Democrats pushed through their second billion-dollar tax increase in four years, General Electric, Aetna and The Travelers Companies each expressed their dismay at the State’s job-killing policies, and GE announced that it would move its headquarters to Boston in early 2016. Later last year, Bristol-Myers Squibb canceled plans to build a development site in Connecticut, announcing that it would close its facilities in Wallingford, and transfer employees to Danvers, Mass., just outside of Boston.

“GE and Bristol-Myers Squibb have left for Boston and are not looking back. Now Aetna is threatening to do the same. When will it end?” Dr. Srinivasan asked.

On October 26, 2010, Gov. Malloy famously said, “I want to be very clear: We’re not raising taxes. That’s the last thing we will do.” Less than one year later, the Governor signed a $2.5 billion tax increase into law. Four years later, despite clear warnings from some longtime Connecticut institutions, including GE, Aetna and Travelers, the Governor and the Democrats increased taxes by $1.3 billion. Neither budget received even a single Republican vote.

“To the taxpayers of Fairfield, and Wallingford, and Hartford, and their surrounding towns, your property taxes could increase because of the Democrats’ ineptitude and lack of foresight,” Dr. Srinivasan said. “Connecticut needs a Governor that it can trust, and economic policies that work for all of our residents. We must bring about a change in leadership before Travelers, or The Hartford, or ESPN follow these corporate partners to lower-tax environments.”