Adrenaline Shot

In 2012, Brownback signed a large income-tax cut, saying it would be “like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the economy" and pave the way to the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs.

It didn’t work out that way. The anticipated economic growth didn’t come, blowing a hole in the state budget. Kansas made deep cuts to education, borrowed to make pension payments, and siphoned off its highway funds. Kansas’s credit rating was downgraded. Four years after the experiment, Republicans in the legislature approved $1.2 billion in tax increases to balance the budget.

“People point to Kansas -- they don’t point to Tennessee, Florida, Texas," said Stefanowski. “The states that don’t have a state income tax are outperforming."

Academics who have studied the relationship between taxes and growth at the state level say that taxes are just one factor in attracting new businesses and residents. The quality of schools, the skill level of the workforce, and weather also play a role.

Connecticut, the quintessential suburban state, also lacks a thriving metropolitan center like Boston or New York City to attract young, educated workers.

Seek Concessions

Stefanowski’s tax cuts would decimate spending for education and lead to property-tax increases by local governments that would have to make up for lost state aid, Lamont has said. Connecticut’s property taxes rank in the top five among U.S. states. Some local governments are struggling, and the capital city, Hartford, was flirting with bankruptcy until it was rescued by the state.

“Bob’s tax plan would drive our economy to a dead stop," Lamont said at a Sept. 17 debate. “Eliminating $10 billion of revenues in a short period of time, guaranteed, no matter what, would just be dysfunctional."

Lamont has promised not to raise income taxes and is proposing a $300 property-tax credit in his first year and a $1,200 credit in the second. He also wants to increase spending on transportation by tolling out-of-state truckers. He said he would seek concessions from government employees to hold down costs.