November’s gubernatorial election will weigh heavily on the upcoming legislative session, as key state policymakers look to position themselves for a run at the state’s top executive office.
Candidates in both parties are already lining up their talking points, which they’ll likely sharpen during the three-month legislative session that begins Feb. 5.
Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has not yet declared a re-election bid but is expected to, is touting the turnaround from a two-year, $3.6 billion budget deficit the state faced when he took office in 2011 to the $500 million budget surplus the state is projected to have this year, all while keeping the social safety net in place.
“That is a good body of work in a couple of years,” Malloy said. “I’m proud that we have done all these things in fairly short order.”
Senate Minority Leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield) who has declared his gubernatorial candidacy, has attacked Malloy’s surplus talks, saying the amount is buoyed by one-time revenue and borrowing, and the state is still projected to have a budget deficit over the two-year budget starting in July 2015.
“I’m concerned that surplus will leave other legislators to ignore the structural budget deficit that we have,” McKinney said.
McKinney said he wants to repeal the two-year, $1.5 billion tax increase Malloy passed in 2011 to fix the budget deficit. He also wants to repeal anti-business laws like paid sick leave. He said the state’s economic recovery has been slow and its 7.6 percent unemployment rate is the result of Democrats’ control of the state legislature.
“Every election year, the Democrat majority comes forward with a package of bills they say will help businesses and grow jobs,” McKinney said. “It rings hollow when you have a governor who instituted the largest tax increase on business in the state’s history.”
State Sen. Toni Boucher (R-Wilton) is also exploring a run for governor, while several Republicans not in the legislature — Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Tom Foley, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, and former West Hartford Town Councilor Joseph Visconti — have thrown their hats in the ring, too.
Malloy said Republicans like McKinney are just looking for clouds on a sunny day. Connecticut has gotten more business friendly during his first three years in office, he said, thanks to an energy strategy designed to lower costs and his planned regulatory reform for this year on top of efficiency measures his agency commissioners already have implemented.
“A lot of that helps to understand the inadequacies and shortcomings of regulation in the state,” Malloy said.
Whatever happens during the session, business industry groups are making it clear they are taking what they see starting in February and applying it to their decision making come November.
“Small business owners are keenly aware that this is an election year and will be closely watching what the governor and the legislature do to help them,” said Andrew Markowski, Connecticut state director for the National Federation of Independent Business.
