Legislative Democrats Release Jobs Plan

Democratic caucus leaders Sen. President Pro Tem Don Williams, House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, and their respective chambers’ majority leaders this week released a jobs plan for the 2014 session of the General Assembly.
It focuses on “employment and job training, cutting red tape, growing new markets by expanding state ports, and helping businesses grow near university campuses and fight baseless patent lawsuits.”
Here’s the whole plan, and some of the highlights:

• Cutting red tape—streamlining the process for new development and construction projects, based on New York State’s successful “Empire State Development’s Build Now” program
• STEPping back up—Recommitting to the popular Subsidized Training and Employment Training Program (STEP Up) that has helped businesses hire and train 2,000 previously unemployed people

It’s good to hear that majority lawmakers will focus on jobs and growing our economy. But it’s also important that the legislature reject out of hand any proposals that would set us back.
It’s critically important to make Connecticut more competitive. Our national competitiveness rankings are not as good as we’d like them to be and turning that around is important.
Reacting to the Democrats’ plan, Senate Minority Leader John McKinney said that a successful jobs agenda requires “creating a tax and regulatory environment that encourages economic growth”–something the national economic rankings also have pointed out.
And House Republican Leader Larry Cafero said that businesses often hear about lawmakers’ focus on jobs, but the message is short-circuited by legislative actions that make it harder for employers to compete and grow jobs in Connecticut.
CBIA soon will unveil its agenda for not only the legislative session but also to establish a more competitive Connecticut with greater opportunities for the people of the state.