Decision Time on Jobs Pledge
Last fall, most candidates for Connecticut’s General Assembly said 2011 was the year that jobs would be their No. 1 priority. Now they can fulfill that pledge by rejecting proposals in the state Senate that put more jobs at risk.
Mandatory paid sick leave (SB 913) and the ‘captive audience’ bill (HB 5460), both strike a blow to the perception that Connecticut is open for business growth and job creation. Instead, both will further drain business confidence and discourage employers from creating and keeping good jobs here.
Why? Because one significantly raises the cost of doing business (paid sick leave) and both seriously damage employers’ ability to successfully operate a business–and grow jobs–in Connecticut. Neither bill will do anything to improve the employment picture in the state.
Jobs in doubt
Connecticut’s 9.1% unemployment rate is higher than the national average, and the state’s business climate is seen as poor.
CNBC says the state has the third worst business-cost climate in the U.S., and other national rankings put us no higher than sixth worst.
Worse, according to a recent projection by IHS Global Insight, Connecticut will have the worst job growth in the U.S. for the next five years
And that analysis came before these anti-jobs bills gained serious attention in the legislature.
Already struggling to survive the recession and hold onto as many jobs as possible, employers in Connecticut now face $70 million in higher unemployment compensation taxes, as well as the tax increases contained in the new state budget.
Squeezed on costs and pressed by new mandates, many employers won’t be able to create jobs or increase their investment in their operations and workforces — exactly the kind of consequences lawmakers should be taking great pains to avoid.
Help, don’t hurt
Legislators ran for office last year on the promise that the economy and jobs would be their top priorities.
People in Connecticut want state lawmakers to take actions that will help, not hurt, job growth and will get the more than 100,000 people who lost jobs during the recession back to work.
As Governor Malloy continues to say, we need to do things that will get us out of the jobs trench and back into an era of job growth.
Lawmakers can help turn things around by sticking to to their campaign pledges and rejecting these measures and any others that would work against jobs and economic recovery.
CBIA urges its members to contact their State Senators and ask them to reject both of these job-killing bills.
For more information, contact CBIA’s Bonnie Stewart at 860.244.1925 or bonnie.stewart@cbia.com.
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