The State Makes A Bad Deal

A tax break or any other giveback to a single entity is awful. When done following a threat to move it’s awful and distasteful.

Tonight on the news Mark Davis reported on a ‘deal’ to save Pratt and Whitney’s engine plant in Cheshire.

Governor Rell has offered Pratt and Whitney a $100 million tax incentive to keep its engine repair plant open in Cheshire.

The deal would be good for $20 million per year for five years. She presented the proposal to parent United Technologies this morning and reports are that initial reaction is positive.

Really? $100 million and the reaction is positive. Shocker!

I am not involved in news gathering. I am only speaking on behalf of myself.

How is this not extortion? Pratt and Whitney threatens to leave… sorry, a profitable Pratt and Whitney threatens to leave and is, in essence, granted $100 million from the taxes and fees the rest of us pay.

I have always been against pitting states or municipalities against each other seeing who can give the better deal to a big business. It’s a foolish race to the bottom.

I’m against this too.

A tax break or any other giveback to a single entity is awful. When done following a threat to move it’s awful and distasteful.

Isn’t the state already broke? Is there no shame?

2 thoughts on “The State Makes A Bad Deal”

  1. Perhaps the thought process is that it would be more painful for the state to have those workers laid off collecting unemployment and the smaller companies that supply P&W with parts hurting or failing and having to lay off their workers. There aren’t that many manufacturing jobs left in the state so these type of workers won’t have a lot of opportunities to find work in that field if they suddenly find themselves unemployed.

  2. Jim –

    I agree. My concern is akin to paying ransom to kidnappers–it only encourages more kidnappings.

    When other businesses see this they will also want to shake the money tree.

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