Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | October 10, 2022 On The Record | Q&A Decision 2022 Newcomer Hotaling touts pro-business platform in Independent run for governor By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com R ob Hotaling is a newcomer to Connecticut politics but he's trying to make a big splash in his first run for public office. He's the Independent candidate for governor, taking on incumbent Demo- cratic challenger Gov. Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski. He was a relative unknown name before the Independent Party endorsed him as their nominee in an August vote. And he's a long shot to win office, with many recent polls not even listing him as a candidate. Still, he shares some common traits with Lamont and Stefanowksi — most notably they've all spent their careers in the private sector. Hotaling has also flirted with the Republican and Demo- cratic parties, having formerly been members of both. He describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially progressive. "I believe personally, that the govern- ment should not be in your pocket or in your bedroom," he said. Hotaling, a UConn electrical engi- neering graduate with a background in technology and finance, is currently a senior vice president and head of digital delivery at Stamford-based Webster Bank and he has some entrepreneurial experience. He founded a startup called Verbi, a mobile-first automated gunshot and explosion detection system. The company couldn't find enough inves- tors to gain traction, he said. Hotaling is running on a pro-business platform and his campaign recently unveiled a broad economic plan that prioritizes reducing the cost of living and doing business, addressing the labor shortage, and investments in aging infrastructure. He said burdensome regulations and high taxes are the driving forces behind Connecticut's unfriendly business climate and lack of higher-paying jobs. Some of his policy remedies include: • Eliminating business property and motor vehicle taxes and offset- ting any local revenue losses with expanded Education Cost Sharing funding. • Fully funding the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program in accordance with state promises to municipalities, to drive down property tax rates. • Lowering the income tax rate (6.99%). • Broadening the sales tax base (e.g. ensure compliance with the multistate compact to collect internet sales tax) while lowering the sales tax rate (6.35%) for individuals. • Investing — in the form of grants, tax credits and rebates — in modern small business manufacturing and technology businesses to create 100,000 new jobs and new tax revenue over 10 years. • Investing in infrastructure for inte- grated ports, rail and highways. The 44-year-old Hotaling, who lives in Cheshire with his wife Luz and their four young children, recently sat down with the Hartford Business Journal to discuss why he's running for office and what his plans would be if he became governor. Here's what he had to say: Q. How would you assess the state's economy and business climate right now? A. It's poor. If you look at CNBC, we went from 24th to 39th in business friendliness. We have two Fs, two Ds and three Cs. The two Fs are cost of living and the economy, the two Ds are cost of doing business and infrastruc- ture, the three Cs, surprisingly, include technology and innovation and access to capital. Independent Party candidate Rob Hotaling at Hartford Business Journal's downtown Hartford office. Being realistic, if we can turn these Fs to Cs over the next four years, and turn the Ds to Bs, that would contribute significantly in terms of economic growth. I'd like to eliminate business personal property taxes and motor vehicle property taxes. We know with economic modeling that if you do tax cuts or tax rebates, they typically spur economic growth because you're putting money back into consumers' pockets. You expect that consumer to go back in the economy and buy things. In my opinion, businesses in the state, especially manufacturers, are not incentivized to buy new equipment, because their tax rate is so high. That restricts growth. Q. How would you pay for elimi- nating business property and motor vehicle taxes, which raise hundreds of millions of dollars annually? A. We would not be looking at touching K-12 education, or public welfare program funding. What we're looking at is gaining efficiencies and savings by streamlining with technology, and using that money to reinvest rather than wholesale cutting programs. But we also want to look at underperforming programs. We would also fully fund the PILOT program and expand Education Cost Sharing funding to municipalities to make up the revenue lost from the property taxes. Q. On your campaign website you say you want to simplify regulations. What does that entail? A. I believe the more you deregu- late, the more businesses can reach their full potential, which can spur economic growth. A cornerstone of my campaign is to significantly expand the manufacturing sector, but in order to do that we have to reduce some of the regulations and compliance steps that manufacturers have to go through. Q. You're proposing to pay off the remaining unemployment insurance fund debt that employers must repay. Why? A. We have a multibillion-dollar surplus and I believe some of that money should pay off the remaining debt. Small businesses were hit hard by the pandemic, and it's not fair that they had to go into a government-forced lockdown. We should use the surplus to give them some relief. HBJ PHOTO | GREG BORDONARO ROB HOTALING Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Delivery Webster Bank Education: Bachelor's degree, electrical engineering, UConn Age: 44

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