CONNECTICUT SMALL BUSINESS NOT SURPRISED BY DISASTROUS RESULTS
HARTFORD
(April 8, 2015): The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) wasn’t
a bit surprised to learn today that the ALEC-Laffer State Economic
Competitiveness Index found Connecticut scraping the bottom of the barrel for
economic performance and outlook in their latest national study.
“Any
small business owner in Connecticut can tell you without needing a study that
while the rest of the country has begun to see the economy slowly turning
around, they are still waiting to reap the benefits of bouncing back from the
recession.” Said NFIB Connecticut State Director Andrew Markowski,
“Unfortunately for those same small businesses, we find ourselves ranking 47th
on economic outlook and that is largely based on legislative action. This study
clearly indicates that Connecticut law makers lack the resolve needed to make
the hard decisions necessary to help our economy.”
According
to the study, the Economic Outlook Ranking is a forecast based on a state’s
current standing in 15 state policy variables. Each of these factors is
influenced directly by state lawmakers through the legislative process.
Generally speaking, states that spend less—especially on income transfer
programs, and states that tax less—particularly on productive activities such
as working or investing—experience higher growth rates than states that tax and
spend more.
“Connecticut
ranked poorly in economic performance because while other states throughout the
country were making legislative and policy changes necessary to assist their
small business owners, law makers failed to do any of the things we have said
all along would bolster our economy,” Continued Markowski, “Had we lowered
taxes and reduced regulations, the burden placed on small businesses in our
state would have decreased and we would have seen our economy and jobs market
ranking a lot higher than 45th.”
ALEC-Laffer
State Economic Competitiveness Index notes that the Economic Performance
Ranking is a backward-looking measure based on a state’s performance on three
important variables: State Gross Domestic Product, Absolute Domestic Migration,
and Non-Farm Payroll Employment—all of which are highly influenced by state
policy. This ranking details states’ individual performances over the past 10
years based on this economic data.
