Policymakers, Business Leaders Engage on Key Issues

05.16.2025
Issues & Policies
Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding, House Speaker Matt Ritter, and House GOP Leader Vincent Candelora talked with Crown Castle’s Megan Glander at Business Day.

From conversations around the budget debate and fiscal guardrails, to discussions on affordability, energy costs, environmental regulations, and labor mandates, state leaders and lawmakers shared their views on key issues facing the state during Connecticut Business Day 2025

The May 13 event drew a record crowd of more than 350 business leaders and policymakers to the Bushnell’s Belding Theater. 

“Your presence is a reflection of the surging engagement of our business community and the willingness to work with policy makers on building a future for Connecticut that benefits not only businesses, but everyone in our amazing state,” said CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima.

Front and center throughout the event was the state budget and the fate of the 2017 bipartisan fiscal reforms, critical to the state’s renewed financial health and economic resurgence. 

Gov. Ned Lamont said lawmakers are in “the beginning of the ninth inning” of the budget process. 

Budget Debate

He said there’s probably a $500 million to $600 million difference between his proposed budget and the recommendations from the legislature’s tax and spending committees.

“If we can reach some compromises in the next few weeks, I think we’re well positioned—depending on what we get from Washington, DC,” Lamont said.

DiPentima noted that the two-year, $55.7 billion budget plan approved by the Appropriations and Finance committees weaken the fiscal guardrails while raising taxes on businesses by nearly $1 billion. 

“It’s a potential self-inflicted wound with significant negative consequences,” he said. 

CBIA's Chris DiPentima speaking at Business Day
“The guardrails have worked as intended,” says CBIA’s Chris DiPentima.

“The guardrails have worked as intended, allowing investments to grow our economy in a sustainable fashion while affording tax cuts and much-needed reductions in the state’s long-term debt.”

Lamont stressed that he’s committed to holding the line on the state’s spending cap. 

“Everybody says the spending cap is like a straitjacket,” he said. “I just take real exception to that.

“The spending cap simply says you can’t spend more than what your income goes up as a state.”

Sticking Points

House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) acknowledged that the debate over the fiscal guardrails was a sticking point in budget negotiations.

During a discussion with Republican House Leader Vincent Candelora (R-North Brandford), Senate GOP Leader Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield), and Crown Castle’s Megan Glander, he warned of growing pressure within his House Democratic caucus to change the guardrails, which the legislature unanimously extended until 2028 two years ago. 

“I can assure you that if you’re too strident in your views and are completely uncompromising, [the guardrails] will go away. I worry about that,” he said.

“There’s a huge segment of my caucus that believes there needs to be a better recalibration of things. There are those who want nothing and those who say if you remove one dollar, the state will be broke.

“That’s just not a reasonable position for either side. People should be prepared to move a little bit or else we’ll find ourselves in a position where reauthorizing them may be difficult.”

Legislative leaders discuss session priorities with Crown Castle’s Megan Glander.

But Ritter warned that taking extreme positions against any changes in the guardrails could cause a political backlash among his Democratic caucus that wants to spend more money on early childhood programs and public education, among others.

He noted that the governor’s budget proposal increased the volatility threshold to fund an early childhood education fund, among the spending priorities for his caucus.

“We’ll be working through whether it makes sense to take the volatility threshold and raise it by $300 million to $400 million,” Ritter said.

“You do capture less money for the pension fund, I acknowledge that. 

“But at the same time, you have needs, and childcare, for example, might be a major priority for folks to invest in.”

Sustainability

Ritter also called for increasing the state’s rainy day fund to $5 billion to brace for potential federal funding cuts.

Harding said he appreciated trying to plan for cuts, but he said that’s not a reason to break the guardrails. 

“This is exactly the moment in which the guardrails are meaningful,” he said. “We can’t break them now.” 

“I think this would be an example in which we’ll back down from those guardrails, which is the reason we’re in fiscally good shape the minute things get a little more difficult in balancing that budget.”

“I think this next budget year is going to decide if we’re looking at tax increases two years from now.”

Rep. Vincent Candelora

Candelora said his focus is on a budget that’s sustainable. 

“We’re a very generous state, and at some point, you know, the bubble is going to burst,” he said.

“While we’re in decent financial shape right now, we really have to look at this from a sustainability standpoint.

“I think this next budget year is going to decide if we’re looking at tax increases two years from now, or if we’re going to look at a more sustainable budget.”

Energy

Another hot debate over the last year has been how to bring down energy costs for businesses and residents.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that provides relief for residents and businesses by restructuring energy purchasing while shifting the public benefits charges from ratepayers to state bonding.

“When we look at the public benefits charge, because it’s a percentage of your bill, the impact it has on the business community is quite daunting,” said Candelora.

“There is such a disproportionate impact to our businesses with these high electric costs. That is what limits our opportunity to grow in this state.”

“Utilities have given more to run these different programs than they have towards improving their infrastructure.”

Sen. Stephen Harding

Harding added that he supports “significant changes” to the public benefits charge including moving it to the state budget. 

“Utilities have given more to run these different programs than they have towards improving their infrastructure for all of us,” he said. “That’s also very troubling to me.”

Ritter said he doesn’t agree with putting the public benefits charge in the state’s General Fund, but said it’s worth looking at bonding some of the costs.

He said that if reforms are approved, it could bring down electric bills between 15% to 25% in one year. 

“It’d be a really good start,” he said. “It’s not going to go all the way—you need technology to arm people.”

Business Climate

Leaders on both sides of the aisle agreed that it’s important for Connecticut to be seen as a good place to do business.

“We were perceived as a place that was particularly unfriendly to business, and we were considered to have high labor rates and over regulation, a lot of taxes,” Lamont said while discussing the state’s business climate and legislation providing unemployment benefits for striking workers.

“I’ve tried to change that perception as best I could.

“I don’t want to do anything to send a signal to businesses that we’re not there for them. 

“I don’t want to do anything to send a signal to businesses that we’re not there for them,” says Lamont.

“That’s one of the reasons, the main reason, that I’m not interested in paying striking workers.”

Candelora added that another bill imposing new workplace mandates on warehouse businesses also sends the wrong signal.

“Employee-employer relationships are better than I think sometimes people in Hartford believe,” he said. 

“Ultimately, it just sends a bad message to the world when they’re looking to locate businesses here.”

Housing Crisis

Lawmakers also agreed that solving the housing crisis is critical to growing the state’s economy.

They said that it’s important to focus state resources to places where they are committed to developing new affordable housing.

Ritter pointed to communities like New Britain and West Hartford as examples. 

“I’m not going to waste my time with folks who don’t want it.”

House Speaker Matt Ritter

“I really think of the ring suburbs in Hartford and downtown as where I want to invest,” he said. “I’m not going to waste my time with folks who don’t want it.”

Candelora agreed, adding he supports changing the state’s affordable housing statute to “make it advantageous for communities to embrace it and actually put in affordable housing.”

Harding added that changing the permitting process is also critical to address the issue.

“There should be a focus on making it less burdensome for those that want to develop, and particularly for towns that want the development,” he said. 

Game Changer’

While there is plenty that lawmakers disagree about, they did highlight one important piece of bipartisan legislation.

The state recently approved new release-based cleanup regulations that will replace the outdated Transfer Act.

The regulations are the result of a years-long effort between state agencies, environmental professionals, industry stakeholders and legislators.

“We were archaic in our Transfer Act requirements and regulations,” added Harding.

“It doesn’t help anybody when a property just sits crept decrepit and uninvested and undeveloped.”

“This collaboration is truly a game changer for Connecticut.”

DiPentima

The change is expected to create thousands of jobs and drive significant revenue and GDP growth.

“The economic impact, the numbers are real,” said Ritter. 

“We’re going to make it easier to develop, but also not undermine environmental regulations that people care about. 

“This collaboration is truly a game changer for Connecticut,” said DiPentima.

Affordability

State Comptroller Sean Scanlon also addressed the Business Day audience.

Scanlon credited the guardrails for putting the state in a good fiscal situation.

But he said Connecticut now faces an affordability crisis. 

“We all have this really amazing responsibility and opportunity right now to reimagine Connecticut,” says Comptroller Sean Scanlon.

“Everything costs more than it needs to—housing, healthcare, energy—all these things are holding us back,” he said.

He added that the next 10 years must be about growing the state’s economy and ending the affordability crisis.

“We all have this really amazing responsibility and opportunity right now to reimagine Connecticut and redefine Connecticut,” he said. 

Voices Needed

The lasting message for the audience was that their voice matters at the state Capitol.

Lamont called on business leaders to get involved in the debate over state spending. 

“There’s a lot of people for the more [spending],” he said. “I need you guys coming into the building and talking about how we can do it better.”

“We need each and every one of you,” says CBIA’s Chris Davis.

CBIA vice president of public policy Chris Davis echoed that sentiment.

“We need each and every one of you to let not only our legislators, but also the executive branch know that creating higher burdens for our employers is not the answer to creating a better Connecticut,” he said. 

“Go see your representatives, go see your senators, and ask them to do what’s important to you as an employer here in the state, to make Connecticut more affordable, so we can have that economic growth to create more possibility and opportunity for our residents.”


Connecticut Business Day 2025 was made possible through the generous support of AT&T, with additional support from Amazon and Crown Castle.

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected with CBIA News Digests

The latest news and information delivered directly to your inbox.

CBIA IS FIGHTING TO MAKE CONNECTICUT A TOP STATE FOR BUSINESS, JOBS, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. A BETTER BUSINESS CLIMATE MEANS A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR EVERYONE.