In the 2010 gubernatorial election between two Fairfield County candidates, Tom Foley and Dannel Malloy, the issues are of great significance, but none as crucial as handling the economy.
Republican Foley, a Greenwich businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, and Democrat Malloy, former mayor of Stamford, are locked in a tight race to succeed Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who is not seeking re-election. Independent candidate Tom Marsh is also in the running.
In the latest polls, Malloy continued to hold a small lead over Foley.
“Clearly the next governor is going to be from Fairfield County and he is going to understand the issues here, which is good,” said Joseph McGee, vice president of public policy and programs at The Business Council of Fairfield County.
“They are both acutely aware of the needs of businesses and both understand that the state has to pursue a pro-growth strategy for business and job growth. They are looking at the info and understand what has to be implemented. Job growth is going to be front and center,” McGee said. “That”™s good news for Fairfield and good news for the state.”
The major issues of the campaign as broken down in order by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association are state budget and taxes, labor and health care costs, energy, education and skilled work force and transportation.
“In this election everybody cares mostly about the economy and jobs, and then everything else,” said Joe Brennan, senior vice president of public policy at CBIA. “The economic issues overwhelm the concerns of the public. Connecticut has really been through a pretty tough patch with pretty stagnant job growth. There”™s still quite a bit of anxiety out there.”
Brennan said it is no secret to business people that the state has a deficit of $4 billion.
“How that”™s going to be solved is being taken into account in this election,” Brennan said. “It”™s a difficult problem to solve no matter who is elected. Malloy and Foley have very different approaches.”
Brennan said Foley is grounded in a stance of reducing the size of state government and reducing the state”™s budget without raising taxes. Malloy”™s strategy to govern is based on making more key investments with state dollars, holding out the possibility for a need to raise taxes.
On the issue of state budgets, Malloy has said he would apply a strategy he used as mayor of keeping growth in spending on budgets to less than the rate of inflation.
“We were able to do this by responsible, realistic budgeting that focused on the city”™s highest priorities and most productive investments,” Malloy said in a statement. “I recognize that sensible state budgeting is connected to fairer local budgeting. As governor after governor has proven, we simply cannot fix the system without addressing this relationship.”
In regard to taxes, he said he would initiate “long overdue comprehensive tax reform,” institute wiser spending, reduce reliance on debt and prioritize projects based on their ability to stimulate job growth.
Foley said he is looking into neighboring tax rates in order to promote business retention and an aggressive cut in spending in order to reduce taxes.
“Hartford just keeps on spending their tax dollars as if there was no tomorrow,” Foley said in a statement. “State general fund spending, despite a large estimated deficit this year, is projected to increase another 8 percent by 2012. Spending by the legislature must come down.”
Using state dollars to attract, retain or expand companies is a complex equation, Brennan said.
Southern states have for years been successfully and aggressively courting Connecticut businesses.
“You can”™t just sit idly by,” Brennan said. “You”™ve got to moderate the costs of doing business and do what we can to make Connecticut more welcoming. There”™s so much in the way of getting things done here.”
Whichever candidate is elected, he said, it will be a real challenge to turn the tide and create a climate that is encouraging of private sector investment.
“That”™s been a problem in our state for quite a while,” he said. In the late 1980s and early ”™90s, the larger state-based companies invested their dollars in out-of-state facilities; a continued trend of missed opportunity and fleeing dollars, he said.
“For quite a while now we”™ve had a reputation for not being pro business.”
Malloy has defined his “job number one” if elected as revitalizing the economy. On his campaign website Malloy outlines a plan to focus on tax incentives that show return, job creation through expanded investment, improving business climate by reducing energy and health care costs, business recruitment and bolstering competitiveness in high-tech and new energy industries. His plans also include focusing on revitalizing manufacturing, the adaptive reuse of the state”™s brownfield sites, women- and minority-owned business investment, transportation enhancements, benchmarks and greater accountability for those business that receive state aid, and work force development and education.
Foley”™s strategy for the economy and job growth, as outlined on his campaign website, entails repealing excessive mandates, regulations and fees that discourage growth, expediting the state approval process, creating incentives to lenders to provide more startup capital to small and new businesses, looking into employers transportation needs and improving cooperation between the state”™s economic development agencies.
Foley has said he will focus investment in the industries with the most promise ”“ health care services, highly engineered manufacturing, financial services, medical devices, alternative energy research, development and manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. He has also called for transparency in the state government.
“Obviously you hear a lot of rhetoric but after the election it”™s about who”™s going to do the best job,” Brennan said. “What we”™re really talking about here is preserving our quality of life, which we will see diminish if we don”™t see our economy growing and bringing in more jobs. Fiscal policy is really going to dominate the first year for the new governor as well as the first session for the general assembly.”
