Candelora: Businesses will Struggle further Under Weight of More Taxes

WALLINGFORD — One by one, a half-dozen or so employers sitting around a table here today looked toward a bank of television news cameras and delivered a sobering message that liberal legislators in Hartford just don’t seem to get: More taxes on businesses will bring more job losses. For Republican legislators here, it was yet another stop on their “real world” tour that’s seen them travel to all corners of the state for frank discussions about Connecticut’s economy and what employers need from the legislature in order to provide the spark the state needs to get back on track: Jobs. Today’s stop was at Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, Inc. Rep. Larry Cafero, leader of the House Republicans, was joined by Rep. Themis Klarides and Rep. Vin Candelora as well as state Sen. Len Fasano. Cafero, of Norwalk, started the session by giving a snapshot of the job market in Connecticut. More than 20,000 businesses have closed over the last two years, he said, with a record 7,000 since the start of the year. Business owners took the torch from there, each sharing their story about employee layoffs, down profits and furlough days. Further, they explained that more taxes, as proposed by the legislature’s majority Democrats, would be like attaching an anchor to a struggling swimmer. One business owner asked Cafero and Fasano, both involved in budget negotiations with Gov. M. Jodi Rell, how many lawmakers knew anything about running a business. Too few, Fasano told them, and from there Candelora and Klarides described their experiences with family-owned businesses. Candelora, a third-generation manufacturer from North Haven, told the group that elected officials calling for tax increases on businesses have shirked their responsibility by making employers seem like bad guys when they’re forced to lay off employees. If anything, employers have been the heroes in this downturn because they’ve kept Connecticut’s economic engine churning, Candelora said. And Klarides, from Derby, added employers do everything they can to shield their employees from tough financial times — including sacrificing their own pay and free time before taking a dime from the pockets of those that work for them. At the end of the session, employers asked the Republican legislators if there’s anything they themsevles could do to make Connecticut friendlier to businesses. Cafero responded by telling the group to contact their legislators, Democrat or Republican, and tell them that now is no time to impose more taxes on businesses. And even better, tell your employees to make that call, Cafero said.