HARTFORD – Senate Republicans offered a new urban agenda on Thursday, offering legislation that would support start-up businesses and provide tax credits for employers who hire handicapped workers and veterans.
The GOP lawmakers, during an afternoon news conference in which they invited the mostly Democratic Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, also announced support for a bill aimed at preventing those convicted of serious as teenagers, from serving prison terms that the U.S. Supreme Court says are too long.
“We firmly believe that the strength of our state depends on the strength of our cities,” said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven.
Sen. L. Scott Frantz of Greenwich,left, ranking member of the Finance Committee said that jobs can help Connecticut’s cities overcome many of their challenges.
“A job is a source of pride, it’s a source of dignity and purpose, not to mention the fact that you can actually earn some money and put it in the bank and invest it and someday be able to go out and do some great things with that capital,” he said.
The loan program for start-ups would provide between $10,000 to $50,000, while costing the state about $4 million. “This is designed to be used in the urban areas where it’s more difficult to find capital,” Frantz said. “We are the first to recognize that the entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive within the inner cities, but we’re also the first to admit that the funding sources are just not there.”
Another plan – a revival of a program approved in the Legislature’s bipartisan jobs session of 2012 that expired last year – would allow $500 a month tax credits for companies that employee the disabled; and $900 a month for those that hire military veterans.
Sen. Michael McLachlan of Danbury, left, said tax credits would be offered to convert vacant buildings in cities to mixed-use development or commercial space.
“If you drive through any one of the urban centers of Connecticut including my hometown, downtown specifically there is a high vacancy rate,” McLachlan said. “We believe that incentivizing development in those areas mean jobs for communities that have higher unemployment rates, specifically in downtown neighborhoods.”
McLachlan said that the tax credits would be used in conjunction with federal tax-credit programs.
Sen. Rob Kane of Watertown, whose district includes Oxford and part of Seymour, said that state agencies don’t make it easy for people to obtain online information and assistance, so the GOP caucus will advocate streamlining economic-development websites.
“It’s very frustrating, especially for a young entrepreneur or a person looking to do a start-up,” Kane said.
In response, two Democrats, Sens. Edwin A. Gomes of Bridgeport, left, and Gary Holder-Winfield of New Haven, said the GOP proposals are disingenuous.
“Let’s not forget that these are the same legislative Republicans who opposed an increase in the minimum wage and fought against the creation of an Earned Income Tax Credit for working people while at the same time proposing the elimination of taxes on luxury goods like yachts and Rolex watches,” Gomes said in a statement. “It’s nice that the Republicans have finally noticed that there are cities in Connecticut.”
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