🔒Election year tax-cut proposals should draw voter skepticism

Election-year politics often bring about grandiose promises from candidates looking to win office and this year is no different.

In recent weeks, state Democrats and Republicans have outlined their legislative agendas ahead of the Nov. 8 elections, with both parties pitching a series of tax cuts aimed at winning the favor of a populace that has been hit in the last six years with the two largest tax increases in state history.

Voters should be skeptical. It's not that we don't support cutting taxes — surely it would be a better way to spur private-sector investment than continuing the tax-and-spend policies to which our legislature has become accustomed.

But if the state is going to achieve any modicum of fiscal stability over the next few years, tax cuts must be secondary to spending reforms and reductions. With the state projected to be facing billion-dollar deficits in the next two fiscal years, lawmakers first must figure out how to make ends meet without raising taxes again, never mind thinking about ways to cut state revenue streams.

While the various tax-cut proposals represent good ideas that would make it more affordable to live and operate in Connecticut, they can't be taken seriously unless lawmakers pair them with a clear plan to balance the budget. So far, we haven't seen any convincing blueprints to make that happen from either party.

Among the proposals being bandied about is an increase in the property tax credit from $200 to $500 for individuals and families making less than $100,000. That Senate GOP proposal would cost the state $24.9 million in tax revenues per year over six years. Republicans also want to eliminate taxes on pension income under $100,000, which would cost the state $17.2 million per year.

Meantime, Democrats last week unveiled a series of tax-cut proposals including a measure to exempt new college graduates and social-security benefits from the income tax and making student-loan debt tax deductible.

The good news is that both Democrats and Republicans seem to be taking a pro-business stance heading into Election Day, with pledges not to raise taxes, an unsurprising stance they must be held accountable for over the next few years.

Democrats, also unsurprisingly, are much more upbeat about the state's prospects. As the majority party in the Senate and House, they have a higher risk of being ousted during a change election in which only 24 percent of the electorate approves the work being done by the General Assembly.

With all 187 House and Senate seats up for grabs, power in both chambers is within the grasp of either party, but voters are more likely to be swayed by honest plans to restructure state spending habits than by tax cuts that seem unlikely to happen in the face of mounting red ink.

Taxpayers are looking for some form of predictability from state government, as evidenced by a recent Connecticut Business & Industry Association survey, which found that businesses have a strong lack of confidence in state government, despite experiencing the highest levels of profitability in a decade. The 331 businesses that were surveyed said the best way to restore confidence is through fiscal stability and predictability.

The party that pitches the most likely plan to make either happen stands the best chance to win at the ballot box this November.