For Immediate Release
Jan. 14, 2008

 

A BLUEPRINT FOR A HEALTHY CONNECTICUT ECONOMY
CBIA releases 2008 Government Affairs Program

 

People in Connecticut want the economy to grow, employers to succeed and young people to have better opportunities for the future. Addressing these key issues and providing a blueprint for economic growth are the goals of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association's “2008 Government Affairs Program.” It contains practical solutions to the challenges facing Connecticut and outlines what the legislature can do to improve our economy. The 2008 legislative session begins on Feb. 6.

"Residents and businesses need a vibrant economy to provide the wealth of benefits our people and companies need,” said John R. Rathgeber, CBIA president and CEO. “But a healthy economy depends on whether employers, employees and their families feel confident that Connecticut 's a place where they can succeed, grow and raise a family.”

State government can foster confidence by promoting conditions that allow more jobs to be created. Those conditions include:

• More-competitive business costs and lower taxes
  Why? Because Connecticut has the fifth-highest business costs in the United States.

• A top-notch education system to produce a skilled workforce
  Why? Because Connecticut doesn't have enough skilled workers to fill open positions now, nor will it in the future

• A dependable transportation infrastructure
  Why? Because Connecticut 's economy needs to be connected to the global marketplace

:The best way to solve Connecticut 's challenges is to help our economy grow, which will enable businesses to create more sustainable, quality jobs; provide greater financial security; and improve the quality of life for more and more people,” said Joseph F. Brennan, CBIA senior vice president of public policy.

Brennan added that state leaders should reject plans that will weaken business confidence and discourage economic investment. “Employers and their employees expect policymakers to focus on pro-jobs, pro-economy initiatives,” he said.

The business community's recommendations include:

Competitive Business Costs

Control health care costs and expand access to quality care.

• Expand access to quality, affordable health care in Connecticut by strengthening the market-based, employer-sponsored health care system and rejecting efforts to replace it with a tax-funded, government-run health care system.

Make Connecticut 's state budget an instrument of economic development and job growth.

• Use prudent fiscal policy to help drive economic development and control taxes, by adhering to the state spending cap and expanding the use of performance-based budgeting.

Reduce high energy costs and improve energy reliability.

• Develop a long-term energy plan that ensures affordable and reliable power. Focus on helping Connecticut consumers use energy more efficiently and providing access to adequate, stable and affordable energy resources.

Promote labor and employment laws and public polices that enable Connecticut businesses to control workplace and labor costs; facilitate economic growth; and make Connecticut more competitive in the regional, national and global economies.

Reject proposals that:

• Repeal or undermine the workers' compensation system or increase workers' compensation costs.
• Mandate paid sick leave or restrict employers' ability to communicate with employees about subjects that affect the company, its workers or community (for example, “captive audience” proposals), which would needlessly increase business costs and administrative burdens.

 

Skilled Workforce

Improve the academic skills and performance of Connecticut students.

• Raise high school academic standards, improve the overall performance of Connecticut students and increase their skills so they are better prepared to enter today's workforce and have successful careers.

Increase the availability of skilled manufacturing workers

• Strengthen the state's job training system and ensure an adequate supply of housing affordable by workers in the state.

 

Transportation

Improve the Connecticut Department of Transportation's ability to plan and execute high-priority transportation improvements.

• Adopt the recommendations of the governor's commission on the reform of the Connecticut Department of Transportation that will improve the department's operations and efficiency and continue focusing resources on fixing the highest priority transportation challenges.

"By addressing these top issues, state legislators can create a thriving, growing economy in which businesses can succeed, create jobs for our residents and offer young people better opportunities in the future,” said Rathgeber.

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CBIA is the state's largest business organization, with 10,000 members.

A complete copy of CBIA's 2008 Government Affairs Program “Blueprint for a Healthy Connecticut Economy,” is available at www.cbia.com/newsroom.

 

For more information contact Nancy Andrews, CBIA media relations manager, at 860-244-1957 or andrewsn@cbia.com.

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