Here are two bits of news that says it all about where Connecticut is going. First, CT lost nearly 4000 jobs in the first quarter of 2019. At the same time, the nation's employment grew by about 550,000. CT remains the only state that has not yet regained all the jobs that were lost in the 2009 recession. Second, the CT Legislature is debating a bill that would raise the state income tax on top earners by adding a 2% extra tax on capital gains income. This is on top of the plan to put tolls on nearly every state highway, the increase in the sales tax, and the so called "sin" tax increases on items like sugary drinks (a sin?), e-cigarettes, etc. This all comes when the neither the new Democrat governor nor the new and strongly Democrat legislature have made any attempts to cut any state spending.
One really has to wonder why the governor and the legislature haven't managed to see the connection between the ever rising tax levels and the job exodus from the state. An increase in the income tax would be the fifth such increase in the last decade or so. And it's not just jobs; the population of the state has been declining for the last few years as well.
The proposed tax increases don't even make sense. One of the big areas of employment in the New York City suburbs which lie in Connecticut is the hedge fund industry. Fairfield County (principally Greenwich and Stamford) are one of the world's three big centers of hedge funds (the other two being New York itself and London.) Hedge funds don't have big capital investments that tie them to any specific location. The principals of these mostly-private funds could easily move to Florida and avoid the heavy state taxation that CT puts on them. Targeting capital gains income for further tax increases would hit the hedge fund owners particularly hard as well. Hartford has to remember that if the head of a large hedge fund moves the group to Tampa, the state will lose not just that person's income to tax, but also the income earned by probably another 50 wealthy individuals who will make the move as well. It's a crazy tax policy that seems designed to force the wealthy to leave the state.
I've lived in CT since 1984. At that time, the state was one of the fastest growing in the nation. thousands of companies moved here to escape the heavy taxes of New York and Massachusetts. Then things changed. The state adopted an income tax. For the 15 years prior to that tax being adopted, CT's economy was the fastest growing of any state in the Union. Since that tax was adopted, CT's economy is in 49th place in terms of economic growth. The answer of our genius new governor and his compliant legislature is to raise taxes some more. These morons are responsible for the imminent demise of the state.
One really has to wonder why the governor and the legislature haven't managed to see the connection between the ever rising tax levels and the job exodus from the state. An increase in the income tax would be the fifth such increase in the last decade or so. And it's not just jobs; the population of the state has been declining for the last few years as well.
The proposed tax increases don't even make sense. One of the big areas of employment in the New York City suburbs which lie in Connecticut is the hedge fund industry. Fairfield County (principally Greenwich and Stamford) are one of the world's three big centers of hedge funds (the other two being New York itself and London.) Hedge funds don't have big capital investments that tie them to any specific location. The principals of these mostly-private funds could easily move to Florida and avoid the heavy state taxation that CT puts on them. Targeting capital gains income for further tax increases would hit the hedge fund owners particularly hard as well. Hartford has to remember that if the head of a large hedge fund moves the group to Tampa, the state will lose not just that person's income to tax, but also the income earned by probably another 50 wealthy individuals who will make the move as well. It's a crazy tax policy that seems designed to force the wealthy to leave the state.
I've lived in CT since 1984. At that time, the state was one of the fastest growing in the nation. thousands of companies moved here to escape the heavy taxes of New York and Massachusetts. Then things changed. The state adopted an income tax. For the 15 years prior to that tax being adopted, CT's economy was the fastest growing of any state in the Union. Since that tax was adopted, CT's economy is in 49th place in terms of economic growth. The answer of our genius new governor and his compliant legislature is to raise taxes some more. These morons are responsible for the imminent demise of the state.
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