Economy, Budget and Taxes

Solving our state’s fiscal crisis and improving our economy is job number one.   Our legislature needs to address these issues head on and work together to find the solutions and we need people in the legislature who are willing to do it.  We need to ensure we have an income tax that is fair to all of our citizens and doesn’t try to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class. We need to look at new ways to attract jobs to our state and retain talent. We must update our infrastructure, revitalize our towns and cities, and focus on building a system of both secondary and higher education for the 21st Century workforce. We must finally take a good hard look at our property tax system and create incentives for regional solutions that make sense for our cities and towns and reduce the tax burden for middle class and working class families.  And yes, we must reign in wasteful spending and have fiscally responsible budgets.

Economic development - As a small business owner myself and a lawyer to many small businesses, I am particularly sensitive to the cost of doing business for small to medium sized businesses based in Connecticut, which are and should continue to be the lifeblood of our economy.  I believe our economic development approach should start from the bottom up and concentrate on supporting the small and mid-sized businesses in the supply chain of some of our larger industries. To encourage economic development, I believe we must support small business with tax credits for creating jobs.  We also need to continue to overhaul our Department of Economic and Community Development and Small Business Express lending program and make sure we know what is and isn't working.  I have been a leader at the Capitol in workforce development - particularly in the area of developing Connecticut's workforce pipeline in advanced manufacturing.  

Tax Reform - We need a more fair and equitable income tax structure.  I have successfully fought for reforming our tax codes to reduce taxes on middle class and working class people and our small businesses, and that fight will continue.  In 2022 we passed $650 million in tax cuts - the largest single year tax cuts in Connecticut's history.  In 2019, the very first two bills I introduced on day one at the Capitol, to eliminate two taxes affecting homeowners and small businesses, were passed into law.  I will continue to be a leader at the Capitol in fighting for tax fairness.

Solving the pension crisis - We have made tremendous progress on this issue since I first began serving in 2019 and I am proud to have played a part in this progress.  Our bond rating keeps improving and billions of extra payments have been applied toward our pension liabilities.  I will continue to do the necessary work for this to continue.