Stimulating Economic Growth and Prosperity in Connecticut

Addressing Commercial Real Estate Market Concerns - Vote August 13th

(Dr. Goldstein presenting to FCCBN - June 24, 2024)

I recently spoke to the Fairfield County Commercial Brokers Network. It is a networking organization that connects commercial real estate brokers and affiliated businesses in the commercial real estate space. This is a group that has been around for over 25 years that was started by Winthrop E. Baum. FCCBN has been incredible at making commercial deals happen while serving clients and the community at large. 

The commercial market clearly has seen some challenges. Connecticut is no longer a manufacturing state and it could become one once again. This, after all, was the state that put man on the moon. With the right political leadership at the state and federal level, Connecticut can return to its roots as a manufacturing and high technology manufacturing state.

Unlike the residential market, the commercial real estate market is largely dependent on local business activity. In Fairfield County, the residential market is still hot as people are leaving New York City for a host of quality of life reasons, including personal safety, quality public schools, lower taxes, open space, increased anti-Semitism and the ability to telecommute full or part time. People who come here share their positive experience with their friends and colleagues and that attracts even more New Yorkers.

Despite the fact that Connecticut has one of the best educated and healthiest workforce, the commercial real estate market depends on office buildings being filled with workers and growth in the manufacturing sector. Demand is reduced by telecommuting, high energy costs and the anticompetitive actions of the Connecticut state and local governments. 

Bringing more jobs to Connecticut requires a new and pro-business strategy including: reduced regulatory burdens, expedited zoning and permit approvals, improving the infrastructure with less congested highways and improved commuter rail service. Tax incentives and opportunity zones are tools that can be used to attract new businesses to our beautiful state. These are techniques being used by other states to lure away Connecticut businesses. We need to be more aggressive in both attracting and keeping businesses here.

My Congressional candidacy is focused on a collaboration between the federal and local governments to solve these problems. 

Transportation 

In my understanding, the federal government can fund up to 80% of the cost of expanding I-95.  For the many of us who drive this road during rush hour, the traffic congestion has only gotten worse since Jim Himes became our congressman in 2009. Yet, he has not taken any substantial action to solve the problem.  

I plan to make every effort to secure the funds necessary to expand I-95 and improve the quality of life for every driver who uses that road. In the short run to alleviate the immediate need of congestion in the I-95 corridor, I would seek funding to put in movable barriers like they have in every other state. This is an inexpensive and standard practice to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow. 

As for rail transportation, our Metro North system is plagued with many areas where the trains do not move at high speeds due to aging track, and antiquated rail bridges. Currently, rail service is designed to commute to New York City. Smaller trains could be used on the same tracks for  commuting between towns in Connecticut such as the expansion of the New Canaan and other spur lines.

We should be attracting the businesses who employ the former New Yorkers who have moved to Connecticut to either relocate or create satellite offices here. This would reduce commuting, bring income and corporate tax revenue into Connecticut and allow those businesses to reduce the costs.

In addition, as a Congressman, I would also work on expanding regional airports which makes traveling easier for Connecticut residents and  would benefit the industries that rely on air shipping. They might be able to avoid clogging our roads as they transport air freight to New York City, Hartford and Boston airports.

Energy Costs and Energy Availability

Manufacturing, depending on the specific industry, depends on varying degrees of energy costs. Connecticut has some of the highest energy  generation, transmission and green energy costs of any state in the continental United States. Senator Ryan Fazio has been a champion to challenge energy issues in Connecticut. He is one of the few lone soldiers in this fight.

The main reason for high energy costs in Connecticut is that we natural gas and nuclear power to generate our electricity. Thanks to federal laws that deny us access to inexpensive U.S. natural gas forces Connecticut to import more expensive natural gas. We are also dependent on antiquated and aging out nuclear power generation plants. This is a crisis in the making. 

If elected, I would fight to repeal the laws to make natural gas transmission to Connecticut easier through additional pipelines while facilitating the transportation of natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico to the northeast (which is cheaper from overseas). With respect to nuclear, we here in Connecticut are living in a 1960s nuclear world. In the meantime, the rest of the world has witnessed and experienced incredible developments in mini nuclear power plants. 

Our current regulations need to revised to facilitate the rapid and cost-effective construction of these plants. Instead, our government believes in windmills and solar power. Windmills have been problematic both from a technical and environmental standpoint and  solar panels are mostly being produced in China. Neither one provides electricity on a consistent basis. Considering our adversarial relationship with China, it is foolish for us to be dependent upon them for solar panels and battery storage.  

Unlike the US, France produces cost effective nuclear power that makes electric heat pumps less expensive than the burning of fossil fuels for heat. The only way this country can go “green” is if we have enough cheap green electricity.  That is currently not a reality here in Connecticut even though fossil fuel prices for diesel, gas and natural gas are still very high.

Tax Incentives

The third area to combat the decline in manufacturing and commercial buildings is the lack of tax incentives.  Given the work from home experience that many of us enjoyed, the modern employee has been successful at working from home for some period of time. This does not necessarily replace the Modern office, however, a hybrid  work situation seems to becoming the norm for non-manufacturing industries. 

Unlike independent contractors, W-2 employees are not able to deduct their home office under current tax guidelines. I would propose to embrace and incentivize the work from home lifestyle.  Such incentives would also reduce some of the strain to our infrastructure by reducing  some commuters off the roads. This freed-up capacity could be utilized by manufacturing, logistics and deliveries from a robust manufacturing boom without causing additional issues to our highways.

As you can see, my campaign is focused at looking at federal assistance to local solutions in this federal state and local partnership. This is critical to transform Connecticut. We must retain our skilled workforce that comes out of our universities and trade schools with high paying and meaningful jobs that we would otherwise lose to other states when these graduates complete their university and or vocational training. 

Now is the time for Connecticut to stop losing a vibrant workforce that could contribute to the Connecticut economy in meaningful ways and catapult us into a new economic boom. This revitalization would attract outside business to start looking at Connecticut again. It would also stop the hemorrhaging of the exodus of industry to states like Massachusetts, which was once compared to Connecticut as Taxachussets.

I am running for a host of issues, but this is one that I have witnessed over the past several years. I  believe that we can bring federal dollars into Connecticut and make Connecticut an attractive place for new investment into our manufacturing and other sectors that utilize our commercial real estate assets, which are incredible in Fairfield county and throughout Connecticut.

This is why I need you to get out and vote on the Republican Primary on August 13 with early voting starting August 5-11.

I need your support to pass on these ideas to your friends and colleagues as we have a country to save. The only way we can do it is through the grassroots efforts of being inspired by solutions and passing them onto others and informing them of how candidates like me and others are out there.

I am looking out for your best interest and not the interests of Special interests.  Please join us at www.goldsteinforcongress.com