Making Connecticut More Business Friendly

James Maroney, newly elected State Representative from the 119th District, wrote on his Facebook Fan Page this weekend:

“What can the state of Connecticut do to become more business friendly? Short of cutting taxes that is, due to the current fiscal situation that is off the table. One example from a conference I attended put on by the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses), a woman who owned a fleet of trucks complained that she is only allowed to register 3 at a time at DMV, so she needs to make several trips. Regulations are implemented because they are intended to help a problem, but sometimes they can cause other unforeseen problems. Please share some of your ideas on how we can streamline processes or make other changes to make Connecticut more business friendly.”

This mindset is exactly how and why Connecticut finds itself in such a fiscal free fall as it is now. Connecticut will never be “business friendly” as long as the tax burden remains crushing and the regulatory atmosphere and fees stifling.

Representative Maroney asks, “What can the State of Connecticut do to become more business friendly?” As a small business owner, here are a few of my suggestions.

1. Reject the governor’s budget that calls for a 10% increase in state spending and, instead, institute an across-the-board spending cut of 5%.  Further, these cuts should be made with the stipulation that they will be invisible to the public.  For example, no department can cut counter hours or staffing during those hours when they are directly dealing with the public.  Open hours of parks and recreation areas may not be reduced. 
2. Eliminate the “First Five” program which gives special incentives and tax breaks to a few large corporations in exchange for a (largely unenforceable) commitment to create 200 jobs in Connecticut.  This program is a giant boondoggle and truly amounts to welfare for the wealthiest of corporations.  Eliminating the excessive regulation inherent in doing business in this state would go much farther in improving Connecticut’s business climate than handouts and bribes to a few companies.
3. The governor has proposed a $1.5 billion expansion at UConn in science and engineering.  I am a strong supporter of education – I am a member of the adjunct faculty at Gateway Community College – but, at this time, we cannot afford to pay even our existing bills; until we get our fiscal house in order, we should not be committing to new discretionary projects, no matter how worthy they may seem.  Since the 2009-10 fiscal year, CT has run through $900 million in Federal Emergency Stimulus Aid as well as the state’s $1.4 billion Rainy Day fund.  The state also borrowed $550 million in emergency financing, and still the Governor wants to increase rather than cut spending!  And, apparently, Rep. Maroney is okay with this.
4. Really and truly streamline the regulations and processes of dealing with the State.  I have heard stories (even from Rep. Maroney’s Democratic colleague Sen. Gayle Slossberg who also represents this district) of it taking up to three years to secure all the necessary permits to open for business in Connecticut.  In my own experience as a business owner, each year it takes six to eight weeks to register my trucks with the IRP (interstate program). My colleagues in New Jersey are able to walk up to the counter with their registration papers and walk back out on the very same day.  To move my business from one location in town to another location in the same town also took six weeks from submitting the application until the license for the new location was issued.  These delays cost businesses time and money, and make it more likely that executives who have a choice of where to locate their businesses are more likely to choose another state. If a business wants to open in Connecticut, it should be welcomed with open arms, not with daunting regulations and procedures that serve no purpose.  We should minimize bureaucracy and red tape to whatever extent is necessary to make Connecticut attractive to business owners. Most businesses should be able to accomplish what is necessary to open legally with one trip to Hartford; where there are regulatory issues, the business should be able to open in weeks, not years, or even months.

Rep. Maroney’s assertion that tax cuts must be off the table is wrong-headed.  We need to undo the fiscal mess that the state is in.  We cannot tax our way out of the hole that the State Legislature has dug.  Connecticut already has the highest taxes in the nation. This hole is too deep and the governor has tied our hands with his one-sided deal with the unions.  The only way Connecticut can once again be the prosperous and vital state that it once was is by revitalizing its business climate.  By implementing the suggestions above, we can make Connecticut business friendly once again. The inevitable result will be an increase in government revenues that naturally follows an improving economy. More businesses means more people employed, more economic activity within the state – and that means more revenue to the state.  The further we travel down our current path, the more Connecticut’s economy contracts as businesses and individuals leave for friendlier economic climates.