Joe Brennan of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association said there still isn't a lot to like in this budget.
Business leaders in Connecticut say the changes in the budget implementer bill that passed the General Assembly this week are only a start.
The bill delays the implementation of what’s known as unitary reporting — a tax change that will see major corporations paying more of their tax bill in Connecticut. It also rolls back some of the planned hike in sales tax on data processing, something health insurer Aetna said would be particularly burdensome. Hospitals see about $30 million of additional cash over the two year cycle of the budget.
The changes came after the business community, including General Electric, staged an unprecedented intervention in state politics. But Joe Brennan of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association said there still isn’t a lot to like in this budget.
"By the fact that they did open it and roll back some of the tax increases, undid some of the damage," Brennan told WNPR, "but we still have to look at the fact that there's still over a billion dollars in tax increases, most of them on employers, at a time that we don't think that we can afford that for our economy."
Brennan is particularly concerned about the changes to research and development tax credits, and the reduction in the ability of companies to carry forward losses for tax purposes. He said he’d like to see legislators focus on the state’s business climate when they reconvene.
"It's only going to bear fruit if lawmakers continue to focus now on economic competitiveness going forward," Brennan said.
Governor Dannel Malloy signed the budget into law Tuesday, saying he was proud of the amended document.
