HARTFORD, CT – Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, and Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont laid out their competing priorities for improving affordability and opportunity in Connecticut, if elected.
The two spoke separately with Chris DiPentima, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) at the organization’s annual Connecticut Economy Conference at the Marriott Hotel in Hartford this week.
Fazio took to the stage first. He described Connecticut as having all the fundamental attributes to succeed, but said the people he’s talked to on the campaign trail have been pessimistic.
“People are struggling to pay their bills,” he said. “I know that this state and this state economy can grow and succeed like no other place, but it’s going to take a change in direction and policy from the top in order to accomplish that.”
The senator’s plan to improve affordability centers on tax relief. He said his first priority would be passing the biggest middle class tax cut in state history, equaling approximately $2,000 for a family earning $100,000. He also proposed capping property taxes.
Fazio said he would pay for the tax cut by limiting growth in government spending to a level comparable to the rate of inflation and through efficiencies in government such as those outlined in a 2021 report prepared for the state.
On energy costs, Fazio said his administration would seek to cut electricity bills by 20% by eliminating the public benefits charge and other taxes.
He also discussed the rising cost of healthcare, supporting the idea of association healthcare plans where small businesses can pool together to buy large-group insurance. Fazio said there is bipartisan support for the association plans, but blamed the governor for his lack of leadership in getting a bill passed.
DiPamenta asked Fazio about the declining workforce in the state, and Fazio’s answer was straightforward.
“We know when we talk about the workforce problem in Connecticut, it really does start with affordability,” he said. “We’re going to have an ambitious economic agenda to make Connecticut affordable, which is a prerequisite for this economy growing into the future.”
The state’s fiscal guardrails expire in 2028, and Fazio laid out his plan for “fiscal guardrails 2.0.” He repeated Lamont’s statement about the spending cap being sacrosanct, but took the governor to task for what he called a pattern of spending around the cap. Fazio did acknowledge the need for change in the guardrails, saying the volatility cap requires more flexibility and the bonding cap should be tightened.
“The budget guardrails are the least sexy and most important policy innovation in Connecticut in my lifetime,” he said. They’re one of the only really, truly good things that have come out of state government in the last 15 years.”
Lamont joined DiPementa about a half hour later. He began by agreeing with Fazio that high prices for commodities such as gasoline “puts a cloud over people’s aspirations.”
However, he defended his administration’s record over the last eight years. Lamont tied the state’s affordability crisis to housing, saying increased supply would help bring prices down. He touted his administration’s progress, saying that last year Connecticut had the biggest increase in housing permits in the nation.
On the healthcare front, Lamont said getting control over rising costs will be his administration’s biggest priority, if he’s reelected. Lamont said he is “very sympathetic” to association healthcare plans, but dared his political rivals to think larger.
“I’d like to see the association plan for small businesses come in with our state employees, come in with our retirees, come in with municipal government,” he said. “I want a big purchasing pool, so when it comes to negotiating with our hospitals and negotiating with our insurance companies, we come in with some real skin in the game.”
Lamont was clear, though, to draw a distinction between large association insurance pools and a potential statewide public option for health insurance, reiterating his opposition to the latter.
In regards to the state’s labor force, Lamont pointed to gains in population the state has made since the pandemic, and pointed to programs such as CT Pathways for training new employees and debt-free community college apprentice programs as evidence of his administration’s efforts.
The governor also agreed with Fazio about both the need to maintain the fiscal guardrails after 2028, and to adjust them. Lamont said his administration had been very disciplined, becoming the first administration to begin to pay down the principal on the state’s pension debt. Lamont did warn about the impacts federal changes would have on the state’s finances, including impending cuts to Medicaid.
Energy costs was another area where Lamont said there were some constraints. He said the key to lowering costs lies in generation, and that nuclear power is part of the solution.
“There’s a lot of grief about how you’re paying for nuclear power, you’re paying for energy efficiency through the public benefits charge. Yeah, I can’t eliminate that,” he said. “You’ve got to continue to pay for nuclear power, and energy efficiency reduces costs and reduces load upon the grid. So just moving that to the taxpayer does not make good sense to me.”
Lamont ended by saying that although the future may hold challenges, his job is to prepare Connecticut for those times.
“Is there a recession coming? Damn right there is,” he said. “We’ve had seven or eight really strong years, but there’s a lot of volatility and a lot of risk out there. I want to make sure that Connecticut’s better positioned to handle it than we were in the past. I think we are.”
