Major policies opposed by businesses loom in Democrat-controlled legislature

From Hartford Business Journal.

With what’s been deemed a regressive tax system, wide income disparities and an eroding middle class, Connecticut is an increasingly tough place for a common person to build wealth and climb society’s slippery mobility ladder, according to state Rep. Joshua Elliott.

Those challenges, which aren’t unique to Connecticut, are part of what drives the Hamden Democrat, who hopes to chip away at them this legislative session by pushing his party as far to the political left as possible.

“We’ve come into this paradigm where people confuse how the stock market does and how good our GDP is with how well the economy is doing,” Elliott, 34, said in a recent interview at Season & Thyme, a Hamden health and food market he manages. “We hear news about how good things are, but in our pocketbook, we still feel it’s tighter than it’s ever been.”

The law school graduate and co-owner of a second, similar market in Shelton was reelected to a second term in November. He drew his fair share of headlines for a freshman legislator, openly discussing his own after-hours marijuana use, and jousting with business interests, Republicans, and even fellow Democrats he deemed not sufficiently on board with what he views as non-negotiable pieces of the party platform.

That includes support for a $15 minimum wage (or higher, if possible) and creating a paid family medical leave program for private employees, actions that could impact the bottom line of his and other businesses, which is why employer lobbying groups have fought both policies in recent years.

See complete article from Hartford Business Journal online.