No Summer Vacation for Many Top Business Issues

State lawmakers may have finished the 2014 session of the General Assembly earlier this month, but lots of work is just starting now on some of the most important issues they considered.

Task forces, committees, boards and other groups will be meeting throughout the summer and into the fall to study issues and in many cases, prepare recommendations for potential legislation in upcoming legislative sessions. Others are working on the regulatory angle of critical issues.

Membership in these groups depends on the specific issues and what they’re asked to accomplish, but myriad interests are often represented: including state policymakers, legislators, advocates, professionals, business representatives, and others.

Among the initiatives being explored this summer are those:

• Improving Connecticut’s state and local tax system
• Making Connecticut’s unemployment compensation system more fiscally stable
• Creating a Connecticut Retirement Security Board and mandating a feasibility study on the creation and implementation of a public retirement plan
• Investigating a plan to compensate employees who are out of work on family and medical leave
• Expanding the state’s shared work program to more small businesses
• Adopting a medical fee schedule for certain workers’ compensation-related services

This week, we report on these and more efforts, looking at what the groups are charged to do, and when they are expected to deliver reports, recommendations or other deliverables.

Obviously, these are very important issues to Connecticut employers who could be impacted by recommendations and, ultimately, decisions made.  These groups are just another step in the process of potential legislation or regulation.

There is much work to do to improve Connecticut’s economy, business climate and competitiveness.

That’s why we will continue to report on the progress of these groups and issues as summer continues.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Bonnie Stewart at 860.244.1925 | bonnie.stewart@cbia.com | @CBIAbonnie