Thomas MacMillan File Photo
After state representative candidate Debra Hauser released a campaign statement on state tax policy, her opponents responded by welcoming what they called her support of their ideas.
Hauser (center in photo) is running for the 96th District General Assembly seat being vacated by State Rep. Cam Staples at the end of this term. She faces East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar (right) and Hamden historian John Morrison (left) in the Democratic primary.
In an email release last week entitled “Hauser On Taxes, The State Budget, And The Economy,” Hauser proposed three ideas: a progressive income tax, the closing of a tax loophole, and full state funding of Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT).
Great ideas, said her opponents. We’ve been talking about them for months, they added.
Hauser’s email presents the ideas as solutions to the state’s current tax structure, which is “unfair to homeowners, small businesses, and low-income residents.”
She proposes a progressive income tax, with higher tax rates for those earning over $500,000 per year. (The state implemented a modest form of progressive taxation in 2009.)
Second, she proposes closing a tax loophole that allows multi-state corporations to avoid paying state taxes on revenue earned in Connecticut. For instance, a company like Wal-Mart, which operates in many states, is allowed to declare its Connecticut income as Nevada income and pay lower or no taxes.
Third, Hauser says the state should fully fund PILOT, the payments made to cities to make up for revenue lost by granting tax exempt status to non-profits and universities.
“Sounds good,” said Lemar, in response to Hauser’s statement. “Seems like she’s cribbed a lot of this (some actually verbatim from our debate a few weeks ago) all of which I’ve been talking about for months, as has John Morrison. Most of this has already been proposed at the state level over the past few years, so its good that she’s on board with a lot of it.”
Lemar said he was surprised to see Hauser throwing her support behind progressive taxation, when she did not initially support it at the nominating convention.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out exactly where she stands,” he said.
“It’s certainly interesting that she’s now favoring progressive taxation,” Morrison said. He said he has been calling for progressive taxation to pay for 100 percent funding of educational costs in Connecticut and lower state property taxes. “She simply hasn’t picked up on that.”
Morrison said he is not familiar with Hauser’s second proposal, to close the tax loophole.
Lemar said efforts at the state level have been trying to address that problem, known as the “Las Vegas loophole” for some time. He said he has advocated for its closure.
All the ideas on Hauser’s statement are good ones, Lemar said. “The challenge is being able to execute next year.”
“The talent that I have to offer is building coalitions,” Lemar said. “And getting things done.”
Contacted by phone for response, Hauser said she couldn’t talk immediately. She asked to hear the Independent’s questions. She called back three hours later to say, “Good ideas are good ideas, and I’m happy my opponents agree with my ideas.”
In response to Lemar’s claim that he’s the best candidate to turn ideas into action, Hauser said, “I’m pleased with my community activism.”
She said she’s “brought a number of people to the table” to discuss issues like “community violence and poverty.”
In article after article, Hauser is a disaster. Plain and simple. This race should be between Lemar and Morrison. You've got to do some serious work to convince yourself that Hauser would even be a below-average representative.