EDITORIAL: Time To Make A Plan

June 01--Once again, the siren sounded across Connecticut with news late Tuesday that insurance giant Aetna -- a cornerstone of Hartford's economy and identity for more than 150 years -- is considering moving its corporate headquarters and hundreds of high-paying jobs out of state.

Leaders who claim they were deaf to the many warnings that came before this need to drop the façade. The state's persistent financial woes and refusal to recalibrate to 21st-century realities have been pushing out people and businesses for years. If anyone is still dreaming that all of the state's problems will be solved with a drive-by casino, legalized marijuana and a few highway toll cameras, they need to wake up.

It's time for civic leaders to focus on what the state desperately needs: a visionary plan for a thriving future.

The prospect of iconic Aetna moving its headquarters out, like General Electric did more than a year ago, would be a blow to the region's reputation even if most of Aetna's nearly 6,000 Connecticut employees remain. It sends a message that Greater Hartford is not a desirable place to work or live.

That message is wrong. Connecticut is still a great place to live. The schools and universities are top-notch, the towns are quaint and quiet, the leaves still change in the fall and the rolling hills are no less lovely. Boston and New York are still just two hours away.

But at the moment, the city of Hartford, a once-proud hub of art, culture and urban amenities, is staring down bankruptcy and struggling to become a destination for young, bright minds.

Hartford can't compete with major metropolitan centers like Boston or New York in many ways, and nobody is pretending it can. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said as much in separate statements on Wednesday. But many mid-sized cities are thriving, and Hartford must be a leader among them again.

Before that happens, the state needs to realize the importance of investing in Hartford and ensuring that its financial footing is solid. Hartford needs to be a destination, not a point of departure, for young and old alike.

Mr. Bronin put it well: "We have to recognize that strong, fiscally sound, culturally vibrant metropolitan areas are key to economic growth."

The seeds of growth are planted. New apartments downtown are filling up, stores are opening, and the University of Connecticut's Hartford branch is set to open in the fall. Now, legislators have to stop dickering over relatively minor matters and focus on making a real investment in the future. That means not just saving Hartford from bankruptcy but giving it the tools it needs to become a destination, including tax abatements for young workers, incentives for businesses, investment in infrastructure including the XL Center and more.

Creating a path to the future also means solving a problem that has us stuck in the past. For decades, elected officials jeopardized the region's future by spending too much money on things that haven't translated into growth, then delaying payments. The tidal wave of bills now rolling in -- particularly underfunded pension obligations -- is making the state an inhospitable swamp of debt. Mr. Malloy has lately worked to make the burden more manageable, but a proposed deal with state unions that extends their contracts for years is just more of the same. The money simply isn't there, and the state has greater priorities than providing overly generous benefits for a lucky few.

It's hard to blame any company, including Aetna, for wanting to be part of a humming metropolis. So it's time to make one here. The problems of Greater Hartford need to be solved and a clear direction forward identified before other companies decide to move out.

Instead of giving companies reasons to go, let's give them reasons to stay.

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