Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal • March 12, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com OTHER VOICES More taxes, pipe dreams won't revive Connecticut By Chris Powell P eggy Lee's 1969 hit song "Is That All There Is?" could have been the fanfare for the report issued recently by the state Commission on Fiscal Sustainability and Economic Growth. The commission, composed of busi- ness executives, was thought to be stacked against government employee unions, thereby giving hope of some critical analysis as Connecticut sinks deeper into insolvency. But the commission proposed mainly more tax increases and pipe dreams. State income tax rates, the commis- sion said, should be reduced but sales and business taxes should be raised to recover all the lost revenue. While those tax recommendations were described as revenue-neutral, the commission urged raising the gasoline tax, thereby taking much pressure off state government to economize elsewhere in favor of transportation. This wouldn't be revenue-neutral. The commission also proposed letting municipalities levy their own half-per- cent sales tax on top of their property tax. This wouldn't be revenue-neutral either. Mainly it would ease pressure on municipalities to control their biggest cost, labor. The commission's recommendations about government labor costs were weak. State employee pensions and ben- efits should be removed from collective bargaining and set by statute, as they are in most states, the commission said. But this is barely a start and cannot be done until the current state employee contract expires in nine years. The commission would modify bind- ing arbitration of government employee union contracts, ending last-best-offer arbitration and authorizing arbiters to write contracts. But retaining any bind- ing arbitration will leave government labor costs beyond democratic control. The commission proposed raising Connecticut's minimum wage by nearly 50 percent to $15 per hour over four years, as if all private-sector businesses in the state are rolling in money and as if the commission wasn't created pre- cisely because they're not and because the state's economy has been shrinking. The commission proposed reducing the state budget by $1 billion but of course was vague about how. Nothing recommended by the com- mission would get state government out of its projected short-term deficits in the billions of dollars, much less its projected long-term deficits in the tens of billions. And then came the pipe dreams: "Reinvest" in transportation and cities, start a science and technical univer- sity in a city, and undertake "growth initiatives" as if state government hasn't been "rein- vesting" in cities for decades only for their demo- graphics to keep declining. Having barely noticed state government's labor costs even as the University of Connecticut lately has been unable to explain why it kept paying one of its employees his $200,000 salary for months after he disappeared, the commission offered no recommendations about welfare policy's perpetuation of poverty, child neglect, and urban decay, nor about the high cost of social promotion in the schools and the failure of most high school gradu- ates to master high school work. For decades business leaders in Con- necticut have meekly gone along with the destructive trends of state govern- ment, hoping vainly to mitigate them a little. The commission's report is an echo of that political uselessness, and thus another omen of the state's doom. Chris Powell is a columnist for the Journal Inquirer in Manchester. OTHER VOICES State can be a clean energy leader By Peter Rothstein V iewers of January's State of the Union address need not look beyond references to a so-called "war on clean coal" to know that renewable energy is not a priority for the Trump administration. In the midst of federal inaction on growing our clean energy economy and combatting climate change, states across the country have an opportunity to lead on these issues. Connecticut is one of them. Recently, local clean energy busi- ness leaders met with legislators and policymakers in Hartford to discuss how an increase to a policy known as the Renew- able Portfolio Standard (RPS) can re-establish Connecticut as a major driver of New England's clean energy economy. The RPS serves as the foundation for cost-effective renewable energy development at the state level, re- quiring utilities to provide an annu- ally increasing percentage of quali- fying renewables such as solar and wind in the electricity they supply. Currently, Connecticut's RPS requirement is on pace to increase until it hits 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, where it will flatten off unless the legislature extends it. A recent analysis by Synapse Energy found that increasing the RPS by 2 percent to 3 percent per year would put Connecticut's economy, environ- ment and energy mix in a much bet- ter position over the next decade. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protec- tion (DEEP) commendably included a 2 percent annual increase to the RPS as part of its recently released final Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES). The DEEP proposal would track the RPS to reach 40 percent by 2030, mak- ing it the centerpiece of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's ambitious pronouncement to achieve 75 percent zero-carbon electricity that same year. The General Assembly can and should go further to support 50 per- cent renewables by 2030 and preserve the ceiling price on renewable energy credits. This would solidify Con- necticut's commitment to renewable energy and allow the state to reap the many benefits of a strong RPS. Achieving 2030 RPS requirements between 40 percent and 50 percent will, without a doubt, be a major win for Connecticut. According to a 2017 report by the Department of Energy and BW Re- search Partnership, there are nearly 37,000 energy efficiency and solar jobs in Connecticut. Rather than slowing this progress, increasing the state's RPS can add roughly 7,100 jobs throughout the region in solar, wind, energy storage and transmission. The example Connecticut sets through aggressive clean energy policies can attract more investment from sustainably minded businesses and talented professionals contribut- ing to a more robust and environ- mentally friendly economy. Accelerating the RPS will put Con- necticut in a better position to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 2001 lev- els by 2050. However, like most states in New England, Connecticut relies heavily on natural gas to generate electricity. Without an aggressive RPS that more effectively diversifies the state's energy mix with more renew- ables, Connecticut risks missing this ambitious target and straying from the interim 2030 targets recom- mended by the Governor's Council of Climate Change and proposed by DEEP (45 percent reductions by 2030). The benefits of a diversified energy supply go well beyond the environment, supporting Connecticut residents and businesses as well. An overreliance on traditional fuels can spell trouble for customers who are susceptible to spikes in natural gas prices during frigid weeks. Strengthening Connecticut's RPS provides an insurance policy that protects customers from the risk of fluctuating prices by relying more on renewable energy. With inaction at the federal level putting us at a standstill in growing our nation's renewable economy and fighting climate change, states and localities have an opportunity to drive us into a cleaner, greener future. Increasing the RPS is the most efficient and cost-effective way to put Connecticut back on the map of states leading this charge. Peter Rothstein is president of the Northeast Clean Energy Council. Nothing recommended by the commission would get state government out of its projected short-term deficits in the billions of dollars. Opinion & Commentary Chris Powell Peter Rothstein

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