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December 2008 — Vol. 86, No. 10

 

Why you need to

Contact legislators now

And stay in touch with them during the upcoming session

By Diane Friend Edwards

Could your company handle higher taxes and health insurance rates? What about mandated paid sick leave? Those are very possible outcomes of the upcoming legislative session—unless you, your employees, and people from other businesses across Connecticut start contacting legislators now.

Several bills that would have made doing business in our state a lot tougher nearly became law earlier this year. Since then, the political and economic climates have changed in ways that will pose even greater challenges for business.

“The stakes have really changed dramatically,” says CBIA Senior Vice President Joe Brennan. “That’s why it’s more important than ever for employers to contact legislators and encourage them not to raise business costs during an economic downturn, as they did during the ‘great recession’ of the late 1980s and early ’90s.”

Here are other important reasons for increased business involvement:
• The state faces potentially huge budget gaps that will require legislators to consider significant spending cuts, tax increases, or both. State tax revenues have been coming in at lower levels than anticipated when the budget was adopted. In October, before the full impact of the Wall Street crisis was felt in Connecticut, the state estimated the 2009 fiscal year would end with a $300 million to $800 million deficit. Even though the governor has twice ordered agencies to cut spending, the estimated 2009 deficit will worsen in the coming months. For one thing, many Fairfield County residents—who account for 45% of Connecticut’s personal income tax collections—work in the financial services industry and may soon lose their bonuses or their jobs. In addition, the legislature’s bipartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis has projected a deficit of nearly $6 billion for fiscal years 2010 and 2011.
• Special interest groups are extremely aggressive in promoting initiatives that are detrimental to business—such as mandatory paid sick leave. “Businesspeople need to be as aggressive and vocal as these other groups if we are going to stop harmful legislation and adopt more pro-growth policies,” says Brennan.
• The legislature has become increasingly less business-friendly—and less business-savvy—in recent years. Moreover, several key legislators who did support business, such as outgoing Speaker of the House Jim Amann and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Bill Nickerson, did not run for re-election. “The retiring speaker was instrumental in stopping bad bills,” Brennan notes. “And Sen. Nickerson was a proven leader on fiscal issues.”
• The financial crisis has deepened distrust of businesses among some lawmakers. “There is going to be some spillover in Connecticut from the troubles on Wall Street,” Brennan says. “In meetings at the Capitol, we’re already hearing questions about whether businesses can be trusted—even from legislators who are typically pro-business.”

Legislators want to hear from you

“It’s not just that some legislators aren’t business-friendly,” says Bonnie Stewart, CBIA vice president for legislative affairs. “Many simply don’t know enough about business issues to fully understand the impact of certain legislative proposals. Our members need to educate them.”

Most legislators actually want to hear from you. Some, in fact, rely on businesspeople in their districts as their own economic advisors. “A lot of legislators say they’re glad to hear from businesspeople, but they hear more often from business opponents,” says Lisa McGuire, CBIA’s director of public affairs.

“Many issues we deal with have a ripple effect on the economy—even issues that aren’t obviously business issues,” says Sen. Jonathan Harris (D-West Hartford). “Hearing from people on the ground is invaluable. It helps us do our job better.”

At a Yale conference on business and climate change in October, Sen. John McKinney (R-Southport) said, “Legislators deal with hundreds of issues each session. There’s no way we can be fluent in all of them. We need to rely on advocates for information.”

There’s no need to feel intimidated about contacting a legislator. “We’re just regular people, doing a job,” says Sen. Harris. “Most legislators are ‘people people.’ They like talking with folks.”

Yes, legislators are often very busy, especially toward the end of the session. (This year’s session runs from Jan. 7 through June 3.) For that reason, Harris advises that you start building a relationship with your legislators “when we’re not in the heat of the session.” That way, not only will they have more time to talk with you or visit your company, they’ll be more apt to think of you when business issues come up during the session. If I’ve had contact with someone, I might remember that person and call him or her for advice when I have a question about something,” Harris says. “It’s very important that we have a human face to associate with every challenge we’re dealing with.”

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