Letter To The Editor: Brian Farnen Understands

To the Editor:

It seems like only yesterday that Connecticut was being battered by a raging storm of chronic budget deficits, weak economic growth, high taxes, a stagnant and aging population, no job growth, deteriorating job quality, a heavy burden of outstanding debt and unfunded retirement liabilities, and huge overdue needs for infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.

Suddenly, it seems, the sun is shining and the weather is fine.

On his campaign website, Governor Lamont takes credit for this remarkable transformation, saying he has “eliminated the budget deficit he inherited without raising taxes, led the state to a record budget surplus of nearly $4 billion, and secured the first bond rating upgrade in 20 years.”

Believe that if you wish, along with recent newspaper headlines like “CT’s Turnaround Is Real,” but the reality is unfortunately quite different.

All the recent good news for Connecticut is the fortuitous result of an unexpected flood of non-recurring cash into the State treasury from federal Covid-19 relief and Capital Gains Taxes, the latter after the most amazing bull market in stock market history (a SEVEN-fold increase in the S&P 500 from its March 2009 low to its January 2022 high).

Meanwhile, none of the State’s structural problems have been solved. None. Very soon, all the problems cited above will be starkly apparent again. If anything, they will be worse than ever due to higher inflation, higher interest rates, and major economic pressure on the NYC Metro region as more and more residents take flight from our high cost of living, our growing crime and other quality-of-life issues, our long, expensive and unpleasant commutes, and our deteriorating commercial tax base due to half-empty office buildings and continued eCommerce inroads on traditional retailers.

The most important thing we can do as voters at this time is to elect people to represent us in the General Assembly who understand that Connecticut is still in Big Trouble and that increasing spending and raising taxes on the residents who are still here will only accelerate the decline. The State’s focus should instead be on reducing the high costs of living and doing business in Connecticut to attract and retain the many new resourceful residents and businesses we need to achieve a real turnaround.

Brian Farnen understands that the current eye of the storm should not be confused with the end of Connecticut’s storm.

Bud Morten
Fairfield, CT