More Taxes Won’t Solve

The State’s Problems

To the Editor:

The tax hikes proposed by Governor Malloy to resolve the budget deficit are unacceptable. Connecticut residents already pay enough in taxes. It takes Connecticut residents longer than the residents of any other state in the country to satisfy their tax burden. The tax hikes proposed by Gov Malloy will extend the tax burden even further.

The current deficit was created by irresponsible policy and excessive spending, and raising taxes is an ineffective solution. In Connecticut, taxpayers have traditionally borne the burden of irresponsible government policy. Fifty thousand people marched on the state capital in 1991, opposing Gov Weicker’s newly enacted state income tax. This tax was deemed “necessary” to cure budget deficits and to create new jobs in the state, despite little popular support. Twenty years and billions of additional tax dollars later, the income tax was ineffective.

First, job growth is nonexistent. The number of employed individuals in the state is about the same as in 1990. Connecticut has become a zero-growth state. Future prospects look just as dismal. Businesses are discouraged from moving into or hiring in Connecticut, and those remaining must choose between leaving the state and downsizing.

Second, high taxes have discouraged population growth. From 1990 to 2009 Connecticut’s population increased only seven percent, eliminating Connecticut’s Sixth District seat in Congress.

Third, wasteful, irresponsible spending has bloated state government, without an increased benefit to the taxpayers. In the last 20 years, state spending fueled by added revenue from the income tax has ballooned over 200 percent. The massive increase in state spending has not resulted in a significant improvement to the quality of life for most state residents. For example, the majority of residents use the state highways. For many residents, the state transportation system is the only significant state service utilized. Yet the state highways and infrastructure have significantly eroded in the last 20 years, with more congestion for commuters. Public transportation is almost nonexistent. The additional tax dollars taken from paychecks since 1991 were not used to significantly ease the taxpayers’ commuting burden.

In short, in 1991, taxpayers were promised more jobs, better transportation, more efficient state government, and a balanced budget in exchange for additional tax dollars. Twenty years later, not one of these promises has been realized.

Now Gov Malloy proposes another tax hike to create jobs and cure budget deficits. I am disappointed that the governor is resorting to already tried and ineffective solutions to balance the state budget. The governor needs to break with the tradition of soliciting more tax dollars to “cure” conditions that are actually caused by fiscal irresponsibility and over-spending. State government needs to look inward this time and get its own house in order before coming to the taxpayers for another bailout.

Rosanna Rogers

22 Clapboard Ridge Road, Sandy Hook                       April 11, 2011