Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal • October 26, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com OPINION & COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Time for Republicans to lead R epublicans have had the luxury — or misfortune — of playing Monday-morning quarterback the last few years as they've thrown mud at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his fellow Democrats for passing tax increases and unbalanced budgets. They've played the role of the annoying little brother whose cries for attention are heard but largely ignored. They've lamented policies adopted by the legislature's Democratic major- ity, but haven't been able to form a coalition that offers, and adopts, a different approach. Now, it's time for Republicans to truly show some leadership. Last week Gov. Dannel P. Malloy rightfully called for bipartisan budget talks, asking Democrats and Republi- cans to come to the table with actionable ideas to shore up Connecticut's short-term budget deficit and put the state on a more stable long-term fiscal footing. Malloy is playing a high-stakes game of political poker, trying to call the bluff of Republicans and some Democrats who have said publicly they have better ways to close a nearly $220 million budget deficit that has reared its ugly head over the last few months. Malloy has already ordered $103 million in budget cuts aimed at hospitals and other human services providers, which drew the ire of Republicans and Democrats. The business community, like Mal- loy, is eager to see what lawmakers bring to the table and the onus, for a change, should be on Republicans to offer a grand vision for the future. Malloy, whether you disagree or agree with his policies, hasn't shied away from big ideas, whether it's investing billions of dollars in the biosci- ence industry or calling for a 10-year, $100 billion transportation overhaul. His strategies, however, have had mixed results. Despite two major tax increases the state budget still continues to face deficits, largely a result of slow economic growth. At the same time, Connecticut's unemploy- ment rate has fallen to 5.2 percent, down from 9.2 percent when Malloy took office in 2011. Grand visions, of course, don't have to come with billion-dollar pricetags and that is the challenge facing Republicans. They need a strategy that reins in government spending, bal- ances the budget long-term, and also ensures long-term economic growth. Republicans have offered some ideas. House Minority Leader Themis Klarides (R-Derby), for example, has suggested scaling back Malloy's transportation investments and reining in municipal aid. Republicans have also made calls for labor concessions. These ideas may be right-minded but they have lacked specifics, turning them into Repub- lican talking points rather than a blueprint for the future that can garner bipartisan support. What happens, for example, if municipal aid is cut and towns and cities begin to raise property taxes, worsening one of businesses' biggest cost burdens? Businesses have also called for increased investment in the state's crumbling infra- structure. If we back off further investments in roads, highways, bridges, mass transit, etc., are we setting back our ability to more easily move goods and services around the state? How will that impact our economic competiveness? These are the types of tough questions Republicans must be able to answer as they bring ideas to the negotiating table in the days and weeks ahead. If Republicans really want to upend one-party rule in Connecticut, they need to play the role of visionary leaders, rather than obstinate rabble rousers. And, of course, Malloy and his fellow Democrats must give Republicans a fair shot at shaping budgetary policy, because it's state residents who stand to lose the most if Connecticut's fiscal ship doesn't find calmer waters. n HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM POLL Should CT subsidize a transatlantic flight out of Bradley Airport? ● Yes ● No To vote, go online to HartfordBusiness.com. Last week's poll results: Who is most to blame for the Dillon Stadium development debacle? 60.0% Segarra administration 23.5% City council 16.2% The developer OTHER VOICES Little-known U.S. policy undermines CT manufacturing By U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy T oday, defense manufacturers in Con- necticut need to be able to sell globally in order to compete. And having visited dozens of Connecticut military manufactur- ing companies since I was elected to the Sen- ate, I've learned that any factory in Con- necticut can com- pete with those in China or Europe or Mexico if the playing field is level. But too often, that's not the case. Sometimes, it's unfair trade practices abroad that stand in the way of Connecti- cut companies selling to the world. Other times, it's the wrongheaded trade agreements, like NAFTA, that harm our state's companies. But the most egregious, unjustifiable obstacles to global defense trade come from a little-known set of rules that are imposed on Connecticut companies by the U.S. government. They are called the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Reg- ulations (ITAR) rules, and I am on a mission to change them so that they don't hold our state's companies back from exporting. Since the 1970s, ITAR rules force companies want- ing to export prod- ucts to go through a slow, redundant and burdensome process to prove to the govern- ment that their products would not aid our enemies' militaries if they fell into the wrong hands. Before they can sell their goods, American firms must get sign-off from a host of separate government agencies that move at a glacial pace. The process for determining a product's possible military use often seems arbitrary, capricious, and many times lacks the objective and technical rigor required to make fair determinations. America's ITAR mess is no secret. Foreign competitors of American companies routine- ly use the U.S.'s notoriously inefficient ITAR certification process against us, even market- ing their products as "ITAR-free" to get the upper-hand in pitches to prospective custom- ers. This hurts Connecticut companies and, ultimately, costs Connecticut jobs. One Connecticut company found out the hard way just how burdensome our ITAR pro- cess is. While working to launch a product to improve reliability and safety on commercial aircraft, they were subjected to huge licens- ing requirements, legal liability and massive costs that ultimately doomed the product and almost bankrupted the company. The original intent of ITAR was to prevent the technological superiority of our military from slipping into the hands of terrorist or hostile countries — a noble goal. But the United States can ensure American companies aren't aiding our enemies without forcing U.S. companies into bankruptcy while trying comply with the rules. In 2009, President Obama sought to funda- mentally restructure the system by examining what we control, how we control it, and how we enforce those controls. Here's one exam- ple: the Obama administration has simplified regulations for equipment used commercially and moved almost all these products to a new streamlined Commerce Control List. This will reduce the number of regula- tory hoops companies are forced to jump through and allow for faster export approval to over 30 U.S. allies. There is more work to be done, but this new export system will strengthen our national security and boost our economy. The final step to fix these rules and open up more exports for Connecticut defense compa- nies will be action from Congress to perma- nently codify the work done by the President Obama's Export Control Reform initiative. This will require a major piece of legislation from Congress to establish universal rules for the export of commercial items and protec- tion of sensitive technology. I look forward to working with the Obama administration and the rest of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strengthen American made exports and keep more high-tech manufacturing jobs in our country. n Sen. Chris Murphy ▶ ▶ But the most egregious, unjustifiable obstacles to global defense trade come from a little-known set of rules that are imposed on Connecticut companies by the U.S. government. Send Us Your Letters The Hartford Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and guest commentaries for our opinion pages. Electronic submissions are preferred and welcome at: editor@ HartfordBusiness.com. Or you may fax submissions to Editor, Hartford Business Journal, at (860) 570-2493. ▶ ▶ If Republicans really want to upend one-party rule in Connecticut, they need to play the role of visionary leaders, rather than obstinate rabble rousers.

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