by Donald Eng
STRATFORD, CT — State Sen. Ryan Fazio, the Republican candidate for governor, returned to a familiar topic earlier this week, proposing billions of dollars in tax reductions while contrasting that with what he called Gov. Ned Lamont’s record of higher taxes, fees and spending.
“Connecticut families are paying too much, and after eight years of Ned Lamont, they are getting less for it,” Fazio said. “Governor Lamont has increased taxes and fees by hundreds of millions of dollars while blowing through the spending cap. Connecticut does not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem, and we have a government that has become too comfortable reaching into the pockets of taxpayers.”
Fazio’s proposal, delivered in front of a struggling restaurant in Stratford Center, calls for reductions in the state income tax for lower and middle income earners – but not for those in the highest categories. In addition, he called for full expensing of capital expenditures to incentivize business expansion and investments and a property tax cap. Among a handful of other changes, he estimated the result would be an average savings of $2,500 per family by the end of his first term.
Fazio, though, acknowledged that delivering on some of the reductions would require buy-in from legislative Democrats, who hold solid majorities in both branches of the General Assembly that they are likely to maintain.
“The constituents of our Democratic colleagues and Republican colleagues say the same things to their legislators … they say our taxes are too high, especially people in the middle income range,” he said. “So those legislators, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans, I think they’re looking for leadership that can provide tax relief.”
And it’s up to the governor, Fazio said, to provide leadership.
“The governor of this state has a line-item veto to create efficiencies on the spending side,” he said. “So once that’s done, that will create surpluses that can be used to cut taxes. The legislature doesn’t even need to be a full participant in finding the spending efficiencies and reductions because of the line-item veto power of the governor. But … I know I can work with my Democratic colleagues and I, more than anything, know that tis state simply needs leadership from the top to pave a way to tax relief for the middle class.”
At least one Democrat, though, wasn’t on board. Stratford Town Council Chair Anthony Afriyie attended the event and later gave a Democratic response. He said Fazio’s spending cuts would reduce aid that families depend on, including halting contributions to the early childhood endowment fund that provides free or reduced-price early childhood education and childcare for families earning up to $150,000 per year.
“And on top of that, he’s talking about (reducing) funds that are based on negotiations with unions,” he said. “So all of this is just based on a house of cards.”