Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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News. I am here with Governor Ned Lamont of the great state of Connecticut in this October. Is that what Anne-Marie called it? In Connecticut, in the Del Mar Harbor. And Governor, thank you so much for being with us. I want to start with something that's an increasingly hot topic. We're here at a leader of businesses with the leaders of businesses who oversee huge portfolios of money.
How as governor do you keep attracting this type of business to a state while providing some of the social services and other expenses that cause taxes to go up?
Well, the folks here at the Greenwich Economic Forum are really important to the state and the fintech sector, the financial services sector, a big piece of our economy, a part of the New York City financial ecosystem. I think what they like here is a little bit of certainty and stability. They sort of know where the state's going to go, our taxes a little bit less, and it's not a bad lifestyle.
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Chapter 2: What role does Connecticut play in the business community?
Governors can't shut down a government. Governors are sort of the opposite of what you see going on in Washington. I think on both sides, but in our case, the Democrats have seized real leadership coming from the governors. But don't ask me to ask names.
But I'm wondering, though, how does a governor take that leadership when things are shut down in Washington, D.C., and when it seems like there's a real fissure right now in the party in tactics, in approach, in platform?
I can tell you the governors are incredibly frustrated. Democrats are louder about it than Republicans. You know, we balance our budget. We do it based upon some assumptions in terms of what our relationship is with the federal government. If they pull the rug out from under you, every week seems to be happening right now.
It makes it very difficult for that certainty and stability that the people in this room like.
How much have you seen actual ramifications from the government shutdown in the form of funding that isn't coming through?
It's not my first rodeo with these Trump shutdowns. So we went through all of our commissioners. We saw what's most at risk, where do you have reserves. WIC, which is Women, Infants, and Children, probably only had a week's worth of reserve there. So we figured out how we backstop that. SNAP, which is, you know, food benefits, that's the end of this month.
So we're watching very carefully where the risk is. And I can't make up all the shortfall, but I'm trying my best to help out the most vulnerable.
Well, how long do you have reserves to cover things? In other words, when does the funding run out should this shutdown continue for a long period of time?
End of this month.
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Chapter 3: How does Governor Lamont attract businesses to Connecticut?
You know, SNAP benefits is probably $75 million a month. I can't not make up that shortfall. So if the federal government walks away, that's tough. If we had assurance the federal government's going to backstop, if we had to help it out for a couple months, then we'll get paid back, that's something else. We have none of that assurance.
I guess I want to go back to the idea of leadership right now, because we are beginning the midterm election cycle. And I wonder, as a Democrat, in your second term as governor, How much do you feel allegiance to the Democratic Party versus something else amorphous that's coming that doesn't necessarily have a label?
Well, as governor, you feel strong allegiance to your state. I'm a homer for Connecticut. I'm team Connecticut. And, you know, Republican or Democrat, I try and get stuff done. Personally speaking, as I look at a lot of the Civil War down in Washington, D.C., and I look at L.A.
and I look at Chicago, you know, I do think it's important that the Democratic governors stand and stand and speak with one voice that, you know, what we need from the federal government in terms of a reliable partner.
How much are you concerned about some of the images that we're seeing with the National Guard going into places like Chicago and San Francisco and Portland and really raising a question about whether it's going to be the states versus the federal government?
Ray Dalio will be speaking again. Remember a year or two ago, he was talking about Civil War. We go, oh, Ray, come on. It's a little bit unnerving if you see those images right now. I talked to General Yvonne, the head of the Connecticut Guard. We're very careful. I said, any inquiries from the federal government? I don't know. We just sent our guard to Djibouti, not to Chicago.
I feel pretty good about that.
Going forward, what is your plan to try to keep businesses here and attract them to the Northeast, given the exodus that has gone to Florida, to other places that have lower taxes?
We are speeding up our rail system from, say, Greenwich to, you know, Grand Central. That'll be 10, 15 minutes faster. Working really hard to make sure you know you can get the workforce you need. And again, we haven't raised taxes in seven years. We've balanced the budget. I think that type of stability is pretty helpful.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of potential leadership changes in New York City?
Well... I'm a governor, so I can't overpromise. Everybody running against me is always saying they're going to eliminate the income tax in the state of Connecticut. I think what's more important to the folks I talk to is, what's this state going to look like one year and five years from now? Do I want to be here because I'm making a five-year bet? We haven't raised taxes at all.
I've cut them for middle-class folks. I think that's a good balance.
Going forward, what is your number one hope for the state? What is your number one sort of policy platform that you're hoping to get forward over the next one to five years?
I need housing. You know, for the first time in a long time, a lot of young people are moving out here, like the lifestyle. We're pretty good as a suburban lifestyle, rebuilding our cities. You know, these are cities were 50% bigger 50 years ago. Now they're growing again where young people want to be.
As I talk to the businesses and say, is this a place where young people, young employees want to be? I'm trying to say yes.
How much are you participating in the reindustrialization of the United States? I mean, that's been a big platform that we've seen overall. Is that something that you're trying to attract to the state as well?
Yeah, I'd like to think of us as the Silicon Valley of manufacturing. We do a lot of complicated stuff like submarines, jet engines and choppers, and they are growing fast. That's the sort of the heart of our economy in the northern part of the state. But, you know, that's changing, too. It's getting increasingly energy intensive.
So I'm going to bring down the price of electricity as best I can and make sure they have the workforce. It's all sort of an AI computerized workforce now.
I'm Carol Masser. And I'm Tim Stenevek, inviting you to join us for the Bloomberg Businessweek Daily Podcast.
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