State of Decay

Living in the Constitution State means never lacking material for a blog post, even if it’s just another list of metrics ranking how many cartoon stink lines radiate off Connecticut. Weekly, if not daily, some new measure is announced showcasing our slow-motion slide into the sea. GE moving to Boston? That’s so January news. These are from February alone:

  • The latest estimate of the state’s budget deficit is $266 million, ten times what it was estimated to be last month. Our deficit for fiscal year 2016–2017 is projected to be $900 million (Connecticut Post).
  • Likewise, the city of Hartford projects a $32 million deficit in the upcoming fiscal year (HartfordBusiness.com).
  • And while we’re talking about Hartford: After measuring 35 indices (unemployment, foreclosure rates, number of coffeeshops), Hartford is ranked the worst of the 50 state capitals to live in, worse than Trenton, New Jersey (and if you’ve never been to Trenton then good, you’re winning at life). Hartford has the lowest median household income, the highest unemployment rate, the highest percentage of residents below the poverty level, and the second least affordable housing. On the plus side, Hartford residents have the lowest debt as percentage of median income — presumably because everybody is already broke and out of work (WalletHub).
  • Only 39 percent of Connecticut residents have confidence in the state government, the third lowest in the nation (Gallup).
  • “[Connecticut] state employees earn an average of 25 to 46 percent more than their private sector counterparts.” We also have the second-most expensive retiree health-care benefits in the country (CT Viewpoints).
  • And finally this is from late January but too noteworthy to ignore: An audit of the State Comptroller and other offices found they’ve been breaking Connecticut law by not using GAAP standards. As a result, they’ve been underreporting obligations and liabilities and overreporting contributions and capital gains (Yankee Institute).

Mrs. Kuhl tells me to stop posting and tweeting bad news about the state; after all we own a house here, so if I want to move away then I have to convince a buyer that Connecticut is just aces. I respond that the first step to recovery is admitting the problem exists.

Declare the Pennies on Your Eyes

Last night I attended a public forum on taxes hosted by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy. The forum panelists consisted of Institute experts and local Republicans and was moderated by Joe Scarborough, who ran the proceedings much like his radio show, which is to say he mostly talked over his guests in his excitement to hear his own voice. The event was a commercial for the Republican party (we were told that Democrat invitees declined) but nonetheless they made their point: Republicans in Connecticut are a toothless minority and our economic tailspin will continue as long as control of the state budget remains in the hands of our one-party junta.

Consider:

  • Based on wages, taxes, cost of living, unemployment, and workplace illnesses and injuries, Connecticut is among the top ten worst places to live and work in the US (MoneyRates.com).
  • In 2014, Connecticut was ranked the worst state for job creation (Gallup).
  • Though declining, Connecticut’s unemployment rate remains above the national average (CT News Junkie).
  • Connecticut has the fifth highest gas taxes in the country (Tax-Rates.org).
  • Connecticut was tied with New Jersey for having the latest Tax Freedom Day in 2015 (Tax Foundation).
  • Although US population is growing overall, the population in Connecticut is declining; in 2013–2014, CT was one of just six states to lose people  (US Census Bureau).
  • Forty-nine percent of Nutmeggers would move out of the state if they could (Gallup).

Now, just weeks after passing the second-largest tax increase in state history, General Electric is considering moving their headquarters from Connecticut to Georgia. Governor Malloy is reportedly negotiating a package with GE to keep them here, but as my state senator Tony Hwang said last night, this kind of piecemeal approach — special tax breaks and corporate welfare for big boys, nothing for others — is not only patently unfair, it’s also a bald admission that broad tax increases damage our economy. GE pays an estimated $3.5 million $1.8 million in local property taxes annually, and the vacuum created by their departure will suck the loose change from the pockets of everyone living in my town. In their fervor to blast their favorite bogeymen, the Democrats aim their drones at the Taliban corporations but instead the bombs and missiles, as usual, fall on us luckless citizens sitting in our mud huts.