As a follow-up to the previous blog post about the controversy surrounding the film and television production tax credits being claimed by Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment I decided to reach out to a couple of state legislators who have been involved with the business incentive.
The first, former House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, who is currently seeking the Democratic nomination to run for Governor in 2010, helped spearhead the tax credit legislation a few years back.
The second, Rep. Patricia Widlitz, D-Guilford, was part of a small committee of legislators established earlier this year to recommend changes to the tax credits in light of the state’s budget crisis.
I asked Amann if Connecticut should have prevented established companies like WWE from taking advantage of the credits. Some critics have argued WWE was a successful company long-before the credits came along and should not have been able to hop on board the gravy train.
“That would have been silly,” Amann said. “Don’t we want to pump up our own companies first? Certainly you wanted to see what we could do to help them.”
Widlitz said the point of the credits is to encourage companies “to do more work in Connecticut, including existing businesses.”
But what about cutting the companies off after a while?
“Absolutely not,” Widlitz said. “As soon as you do that another state will entice them away with a better deal.”
