At 'halftime' of 2006 session:
Assembly has opportunity to improve state’s economy, if …

(March 17, 2006) Heading into the second half of this year’s General Assembly, lawmakers have several opportunities to improve the state’s business climate, promote job growth, and enable Connecticut’s employers to continue adding great value to the state’s quality of life.

Just about everybody in Connecticut — including Gov. M. Jodi Rell, legislative leadership, the business community and taxpayers alike — have called for action to improve the state’s economy and prospects for jobs.

New jobs will mean more dollars in the state’s economy, more state and local tax revenue, greater access to health care, and better future prospects for more people in Connecticut.

Jobs still lagging

The need is critical — new national figures show that while job growth in most of the United States is picking up steam this year, Connecticut is still lagging. And adjusted figures now show that job growth in the state last year was 0.75%, half the national pace.

With that kind of urgency and consensus, the administration and legislative caucuses quickly introduced major proposals to boost the business climate and recharge the economy.

This week, the Commerce Committee approved a major package including the elimination of the property tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment and a reworking of state economic outreach programs to better meet the needs of their customers. And the committee rejected a major anti-business bill.

Other economy-boosting proposals in the legislature this year include those that would bring significant improvements to the state’s transportation infrastructure, eliminate the corporate tax surcharge in 2007 and boost job-training programs.

Labor Committee misses message

But one faction of the legislature has missed the overriding message and instead is conveying the impression that Connecticut doesn’t fully understand the profound value employers in the state bring to the economy and the quality of life here.

This year, the Labor Committee approved proposals that harm employers in the state and make it harder for them to operate and remain competitive in Connecticut.

Chief among these are efforts to impose a “play or pay” health care tax on certain employers, proposals to block employers from talking with their own employees about key workplace issues, and bills that would roll back the state’s successful workers’ compensation reforms.

Organized labor groups are pushing the “play or pay” health care tax and the “captive audience” bill. “Pay or play” will affect far more businesses than it currently applies to.

The “captive audience” bill, already superseded by federal law, is a maneuver to prevent employers from communicating with their employees.

Frustrated businesses

When the public hearing for “play or pay” was televised, CBIA heard from many of its members about their deep frustrations over the committee’s lack of understanding of how business decisions are made.

Two representatives of major Connecticut employers — which are not directly affected by the bill — testified to the committee about how harmful the bill still would be to their companies, and yet the committee ignored them.

Businesses’ confidence in Connecticut as a place to locate or expand operations has declined sharply from just a few years ago.

The question is, now that the Labor Committee proposals have left that body, will the rest of the legislature stand against the initiatives that are clearly anti-business?

The second half of the 2006 session is an opportunity for lawmakers to do the right thing — approve legislation that will promote economic growth and job creation in the state and reject the anti-business measures.