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May 2007 — Vol. 85, No. 4
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Board sets CBIA policy
on education, energy
By John R. Rathgeber
CBIA President and CEO
Education reforms — and how to pay for them — as well as energy costs and availability received a lot of attention from the board of directors at its annual March meeting. The board approved resolutions on these issues that are now guiding our lobbying work at the State Capitol.
The board believes that education reforms and affordable, reliable energy are essential to the future vitality of our state’s economy.
Education reforms should be paid for by better use of existing funding as much as possible. The state should increase aid to municipalities to provide property tax relief only after meaningful and sustainable spending reforms and municipal spending controls are adopted. All effort should be made to adhere to the state spending cap, and the cap should only be exceeded after exhausting all other cost reduction alternatives.
As for energy, the state needs to develop a comprehensive, long-term plan that includes strategies to educate consumers and give them the tools to make rational decisions about energy conservation and demand-response initiatives. It should explore creating new incentives for the development and deployment of energy-efficient technologies. The state must identify its future energy needs and the barriers to accessing more affordable energy resources. And the state’s plan should outline a strategy for implementing needed policy changes.
At their meeting, board members also discussed an issue that’s beginning to interest more and more businesses: sustainability. We are now looking into ways CBIA can help members reduce their environmental impacts while also growing their businesses and improving their profitability. You’ll hear more about this in the coming months.
On behalf of our members, I want to thank all of the directors who took time from their own businesses to help CBIA’s staff address these issues in an effort to improve Connecticut’s business climate.
Besides working on these critical issues, CBIA is continuing to work with state policy-makers to make health care more affordable and accessible.
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