Accentuating the positive

From CBIA's Online commentary, "Inside the Capitol," by Joe Brennan, CBIA Senior Vice President, Public Policy

(June 26, 2007) We sometimes talk in less than glowing terms about the Connecticut legislature, largely due to the number of harmful bills the body considers each year. But the business community should know that there are people who are dedicated to making Connecticut a better place to locate a business working on their behalf.

Certainly the efforts of Gov. Rell, Lt. Gov. Fedele and Office of Policy and Management Secretary Genuario during the budget negotiations helped keep off the table new and higher taxes that would hurt our economy.

The legislature had its share of heroes this year as well. Many lawmakers worked with CBIA and the business community to make this a pretty good session (although it’s not finished yet). Here are a few, just to give our members a sense of who helped them out, and how.

Republicans, particularly in the House, were instrumental in moving the legislature toward a no-tax-increase budget. Their budget included more funding for education and health care and did so without raising taxes, because it relied on higher revenue estimates. Public opinion polling supported their plan, and the higher revenue estimates became a reality when income tax receipts were counted in April. Under House Minority Leader Larry Cafero’s leadership, the Republicans were able to turn the budget debate around.

House Speaker Jim Amann was able to use the power of his office to stop a number of anti-business bills from moving forward. Ultimately, the workers’ compensation discretionary benefits bill, the mandated sick leave bill and the captive audience bill, among others, died on the House calendar. We don’t know what the outcome might have been if these bills were voted on, but we do know that the Speaker reached out to our manufacturing and small-business groups and listened to their concerns.

The Senate did take up many harmful business bills, and if their outcome could have been determined solely by the oratory on each side, we would have prevailed every time. The debate was often led by Senate Republicans, particularly Sens. John McKinney, David Cappiello and Bill Nickerson. They were joined by others, and although they weren’t always successful, these three brought knowledge and clarity to the issues that was both reassuring and appreciated.
CBIA’s success over the years has always been tied directly to our ability to forge coalitions of Republicans and moderate Democrats to form a working majority.

Both Republican caucuses were nearly uniform in their support of business, and this year we saw Democrats who care about the state’s economy come together more than they have in several years. For a few examples, check out the “nay” votes on the workers’ compensation discretionary benefits bill, the workers’ comp scarring bill and the bill to raise the personal income tax to see who stepped up on some key issues.

The freshmen in both the House and the Senate showed great promise and served with distinction during their first session. Many worked closely with CBIA staff on issues such as health care and fiscal policy and demonstrated a good grasp of the impact these issues have on the state’s economy. We hope these legislators will continue to make economic competitiveness a priority.

Businesspeople should thank these and other legislators who helped out this session.
E-mail CBIA’s Bonnie Stewart (stewartb@cbia.com) if you would like to find out more about any particular legislator and how they voted on business issues.

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