Hartford Courant Editorial
September 15, 2018

Bob Stefanowski’s Tax-Cut Promise Needs Details

Bob, it’s time to tell us where you’re going to find the $10 billion. Either that — or stop running around telling the voters of Connecticut you’re going to make the income tax go away if you become governor.

That’s the magic number — $10 billion, the amount of money Connecticut collects every year in income and estate taxes.

If you want that to go away, it can come from one of two places — new revenue or reduced expenses. You were once chief financial officer of a bank. If you presented a budget to the bank’s board that looked like this campaign platform, you’d have been fired.

But, so far, all we’ve heard from you as the Republican nominee is that you’ll get a billion out of the budget in waste, fraud and abuse. We’ve heard that one before. Got any details? The state budget is a public document. Have at it.

But let’s give you that billion. What about the other $9 billion? All we get for that are vague promises. Growth. Jobs. Rising tide. You ask us to believe that a tax cut will somehow fill that hole. How?

In the meantime, how will you pay the bills? Will you just stop paying the state’s debt? Stop putting money in the state’s retirement fund, one of the worst-funded in the nation? What services can we live without?

It’s time to stop disrespecting the voters of Connecticut with empty promises. You want the job? Show your work.