Ultimately, it is the General Assembly that decides the mix of revenue sources.  A Governor can suggest, implore, threaten, and cajole General Assembly members, but ultimately their majorities are what we must settle on.

 

A Governor Mark Stewart has one overarching tax policy: we recoup what we spend almost immediately.  Short of a WWII-like emergency, if state spending rises by 1.5% in 2019, we MUST collect the difference in 2020.   We do not run budget deficits.  That causes planning to go awry and increases borrowing costs.

 

The remaining forms of taxation are all negotiable.  My preference is for user fees instead of income taxes.  Thus I would:

 

•     abolish the state income tax 

•     reduce the corporate income tax 

•     reduce the sales tax

•     reduce "sin" taxes, and

•     reduce the travel and tourism tax.

 

Now, these reductions can only come with massive reductions in spending.  Elsewhere I discuss what's needed, including replacing state individual welfare with private welfare and never paying a dime for new pensions. 

 

Should this combination fall short, then I believe in user fees for roads, and gradually working in user fees for non-school activities taking place at school sites.  I also have the expectation that the CT Lottery can add nearly $500M annually to the General Fund from out-of-state sales.  Remember, we will see an abundance of revenue from sales taxation on online purchases, whether or not North Dakota v. Quill  is overturned.