Teddy Roosevelt once said that, “The first requisite of a good citizen … is (to) be able and willing to pull his own weight.”
Now that we”™ve done our duty as voters, it”™s time to keep pulling our weight as citizens. That means watching what our elected leaders do as they work to develop a new state budget and determine the future of Connecticut.
We congratulate all of our new state leaders on their election to office, even though it”™s still unclear who will be our next governor. We are grateful that these people are willing to serve the state of Connecticut, especially in such difficult times. They face a daunting task.
For the rest of us, following the legislative process won”™t be nearly as exciting as this year”™s political campaign. But we can”™t afford not to keep an eye on what our elected officials do in Hartford; it”™s our job to help them in their work and hold them accountable for their actions and decisions.
Solving Connecticut”™s budget crisis and driving our economy to recovery will be difficult work. But the choice of how to do it is clear.
There are two paths before state leaders: One leads to a stronger economy and renewed job growth in Connecticut. Reining in state spending and encouraging private-sector job growth can revive our economy and restore confidence.
The other path is an express lane to much deeper trouble. Policymakers can thwart any chance for recovery by spending, borrowing and taxing more and exhausting any one-time revenues they can find. We”™ve taken that path all too often.
Grasping the problem
During the election campaign, it was obvious that most of the candidates truly wanted to fix the state”™s budget crisis. Democrat, Republican and Independent candidates all sounded the fiscal alarm and said the right things about restoring jobs and the economy.
But we couldn”™t help but notice that very few candidates had any ideas that would do anything more than knock a few chips off of the state”™s $3.5 billion budget deficit. It”™s not usually a winning formula to campaign on austerity, but voters and taxpayers are smart enough to know that shaving a few dollars here or there will not solve our immense problem.
We all need to fundamentally understand that a billion is a thousand million. Apparently we cannot really grasp that, which explains why many candidates never really articulated a clear plan of how to close a $3.5 billion budget gap, let alone attack the state”™s $60 billion debt.
The numbers everyone should understand a lot better are these: 100,000 unemployed Connecticut workers, and third-worst business climate in the U.S.
The budget-deficit numbers and the job numbers are locked together. Businesses cannot fully commit to a state that is handling its finances poorly and seem averse to fixing them. For too often the legislature has focused on making it harder for businesses to create jobs while ignoring a leaking fiscal ship of state.Â
Focus on solutions
That”™s why, to get Connecticut moving again, our new elected officials need to concentrate on these two basics that will restore fiscal responsibility and true economic growth:
Government accountability and responsibility. Make reducing the size and cost of state government the legislature”™s top priority. Focus on delivering services at lower cost, cutting waste, trimming expensive benefits for government employees and cutting millions of dollars from programs we can no longer afford.
Improve the business environment. Help keep companies and jobs in Connecticut and attract new firms here. Encourage companies to stay in Connecticut rather than relocate elsewhere by not increasing mandates and business costs. Hold the line on business taxes so Connecticut”™s taxes are competitive with other states. Help companies comply with the mountains of state regulations
We urge the new governor and state lawmakers to engage the employer community in this process to tap its experience, ingenuity and know-how.
None of this will be easy. But things will get a lot harder if we all don”™t handle our responsibilities as citizens of Connecticut ”“ helping our elected officials govern and holding them accountable for responsible, long-term results.
Joseph F. Brennan is senior vice president of public policy at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. Reach him at Joe.Brennan@cbia.com.
