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A Better Business Climate

As the father of three children (aged 13 to 19) I am concerned about the ability of our young people to settle in Connecticut once they have completed their educations and are seeking to start a career; buy a home and start a family.

Governor Dannel Malloy and the Hartford democrats seem determined to drive companies from this state through a combination of high taxes and excessive regulation. There are 49 other states competing for new start-ups and trying (with great success) to lure our existing businesses away. The result of their policies has been to drive companies and opportunity out of Connecticut. In fact, Connecticut consistently ranks toward the bottom for youth retention and business confidence.

State Senator Art Linares, Jr. (R-33) and State Representative Devin Carney (R-23)have been working to reverse this trend. Both founded the bipartisan Young Legislators Caucus where they pushed legislation that makes it easier for entrepreneurs to start new businesses and legislation that will give Connecticut residents the ability to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. In addition, both have proposed reductions in taxes on business, such as the business entity tax, which requires anyone who wants to start a business to pay the government a fee to simply exist. It’s taxes like these that frustrate small business owners.

Art and Devin will continue to push for a better business climate in Connecticut. If we want our children to have the option to live and thrive in our state, we should vote to re-elect Art Linares for State Senate and Devin Carney for state representative.

Harry Ruppenicker

Westbrook