HARTFORD (February 8, 2017): In response to Governor Malloy’s budget address today, the following statement may be attributed to Andrew Markowski, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB):
The Governor’s focus on ensuring that everyone in Connecticut has an opportunity for success coupled with his admission that our state’s reluctance to improve the business tax climate has resulted in neighboring state’s having the upper hand with interstate competition represents a fundamental shift in his vision for the future. The small business community has been waiting for years to hear lawmakers in Hartford acknowledge such facts and today is certainly a great beginning for this year’s budgets negotiations.
The economic reality for small business owners is that they have been forced to do more with less for a decade. Governor Malloy encouraging lawmakers to find a way to maintain existing services while reducing costs to taxpayers is exactly the kind of leadership that Hartford has been lacking. Our hope is that our elected officials, from the municipal level up, will work with him to make that a reality. We certainly understand that municipalities will have some difficult choices to make, and we will be watching closely to ensure that they do not shift the financial burden onto the backs of local property tax payers.
The Governor himself stated that we have a history of shortsighted state government and a record of half-step policy fixes, the small business community calls upon lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to join him in not only acknowledging the mistakes of the past but adopting his realistic outlook of our economic future.
