Make Sure Jobs-Impact Bill Covers Wider Scope

In the drive to Connecticut’s economic recovery, close attention has to be given legislative proposals that seek to examine how new laws could affect jobs in the state.
CBIA supports the goal of SB-842 which requires an analysis of how any new legislative proposal could impact employment, but there is still need for caution. Even a good modeling tool, for example, can provide a less-than-complete understanding of a particular law’s effect by actually missing critical economic factors.
Lawmakers should make sure to expand the scope of any jobs impact statement beyond a job- growth tally. Analysis should also include the proposal’s impact on job retention, employability skills and other factors such as capital investment, the multiplier effect of jobs to be created, and Connecticut’s overall competitiveness.
SB-842 should also ensure the use of the best possible economic modeling and data analysis. The REMI (Regional Economic Models Inc.) forecasting tool that the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) wants to use is both well respected and very sophisticated. Using REMI requires seasoned economists who have a thorough command of the tool and a deep understanding of businesses, how jobs are created and how public policy decisions can impact employers.
If this model is chosen, lawmakers need to make sure that OFA has adequate resources to make it work best. In an effort to control the bill’s potential financial impact, CBIA suggest saving costs by limiting jobs impact analysis to certain bills dealing with core business issues and originating in the Labor, Commerce, Finance, Environment, Energy and Insurance Committees.