On behalf of our coalition members and our co-hosts, which included the Chamber Leadership Cabinet, the Chamber Insurance Trust and AT&T, Jobs for Connecticut Now would like to formally thank the six gubernatorial candidates for attending yesterday’s gubernatorial forum at the Connecticut Business Expo. Michael Fedele, Thomas Foley, Oz Griebel, Ned Lamont, Dan Malloy, and Tom Marsh, all provided an engaging and meaningful discussion about the economic and business issues facing the state of Connecticut and we are immensely grateful to all of them for their time. Additionally, had it not been for the expert moderation of CNBC’s Ron Insana, we would not have had as quality a program that was delivered to our audience.
The forum was an incredible opportunity for the candidates to discuss their ideas on job creation and closing the state’s massive budget gap as the race for Connecticut’s next executive office holder heats up. It was clear, that the goals of the candidates are quite similar: lower state spending, attract and nurture more small businesses, and emphasize new industries to end the twenty-year lull in job creation in Connecticut. The means, however, is where the debate lies.
For some of the candidates, the key to overcoming these economic challenges lie within the state. Their idea is to reduce state spending, which will in turn lower taxes. They also, want to increase funding for education, where the work force stems from, in order to keep more people in the state, and which wouldcreate a higher tax revenue, as there would be more taxpayers, without raising taxes. The internal approach also calls for incentives for small business, like tax credits for adding employees, and give tax credits to encourage research and development in newer industries. Another approach for job creation is to look outside the state to attract new business, rather than build on what already exists. It seems that some of the candidates believe that attracting new business would be more profitable than working with what the state already has.
We believe the final answer will be a combination of both an internal and external model. But most importantly, we saw that all of the candidates agree that anti-business legislation is a major factor in the job creation issue. The candidates share many similarities when it comes to solving the job creation deficit, but it will be their differences that set them apart as the race draws closer. For this race, a candidate will have to create innovative ideas to woo the people and convince them that he really can change the present and past problems we face with job creation and create a new opportunistic outlook for Connecticut’s business climate for future generations.
Again, we thank all of the candidates, our co-hosts, and Mr. Insana for their participation. And to all of those who were able to attend, we thank them for their support and engagement as well.
