Chamber Hears Newtown and the Budget Dominate State Politics

The shootings in Newtown and the state's budget crisis have dominated the legislative session, said State Representative and Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, to the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce.

Sharkey, representing the Democrats, and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-28, representing the Republicans, spoke to nearly 200 chamber members Wednesday morning. In addition to the shootings in Newtown, hospital costs and the budget dominated the discussion.

"I honestly think it's worse than 1991, the income tax year," said Chamber Lobbyist Marshall Collins. "That was the year Lowell Weicker bonded $900 million to cover the deficit. He used the income tax to pay that off."

"We're facing a dramatic increase for health care costs, particularly Medicaid," Sharkey said. State government is looking for ways to raise tax money and cut expenses.

 Sharkey said he's been a supporter of tolls, in part, because he comes from Hamden, where he hears more complaints about high-priced gasoline than he does about the fear of tolls.

(For more Brendan Sharkey's comments, see the attached video.)

McKinney, the state senate minority leader, said he's constantly asked how Connecticut can jumpstart its economy. To do that, the state has to get its fiscal house in order, McKinney said, and that isn't happening.

"Solving our budget and fixing our long-term issues is priority number one," McKinney said. McKinney said the state tells local businesses it will tax them for two years only, and then it continues that tax beyond two years. It tells businesses it will collect taxes for transportation purposes, and then it steals the money for general budget expenses.

He said the state faces a 2.5 billion budget deficit over the next two years. State funding rose 300 percent and inflation rose 75 percent since 1991, the year Connecticut adopted the income tax, he said.