CRMA previews the upcoming legislative session with Speaker of the House Matt Ritter
News and notes from around the State Capitol
News and notes from around the state
2022 Legislative Preview
- This week, CRMA President Tim Phelan sat down exclusively, via Zoom, with Speaker of the House Matt Ritter to discuss the upcoming legislative session, which begins on February 9.
- Phelan and Speaker Ritter covered several important topics in their brief conversation, which you can watch by going here.
- This is the third in a series of exclusive visits with the Legislative Leaders of the four caucuses of the General Assembly, leading up the start of the 2022 legislative session.
- We encourage you to watch these recorded conversations and send us any thoughts you have about issues that retailers may be facing in the General Assembly.
- Previous conversations with Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly and House Republican Leader Vin Candelora can be seen on the CRMA website here.
News and notes from around the State Capitol
- The Connecticut legislature appears likely to open its 2022 session with an in-person address by the Governor before lawmakers begin a hybrid of traditional and remote work as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. CTNewsJunkie has the update here.
- Democrat Hubert Delany won the special election for the state House’s 144th District seat representing Stamford, which opened up after Caroline Simmons was elected the city’s mayor in November. The Stamford Advocate reports results of the Special Election voting here.
- Another friend of the CRMA and the retail industry announced this week that he won’t seek re-election.
- Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, became the second Republican State Senator to announce he won’t be running for re-election this fall.
- Connecticut municipal leaders are looking to the state legislature for help in balancing their budgets. CTNewsJunkie has the details here.
- 2022 politics is becoming more visible, with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski getting his campaign underway with a self-funded $1 million ad buy. CT Mirror reports on the candidate’s advertising here.
- There may be a third party candidate for Governor – and perhaps other offices – this year, as there was four years ago. CTNewsJunkie reports on a candidate search now underway, here.
- Published reports are suggesting that there will be a change this weekend in the Republican party’s prospective line-up of challengers for federal offices in Connecticut, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes seeing new opponents announce candidacies. The Courant’s Kevin Rennie has the story here.
News from around the state
- A newly-identified sub-variant of omicron, BA.2, was first reported in Connecticut earlier this week. BA.2 is still somewhat unknown to scientists. The Hartford Courant reports on the latest, here.
- Connecticut’s weekly COVID-19 test positivity rate and number of hospitalizations dropped once again on Thursday, reflecting rapid declines in omicron cases nationwide.
- According to a new survey published by Business.org, 89% of small business owners identified as the victims of shoplifting during 2021. CRMA’s Tim Phelan discuss the issue with Fairfield County Business Journal reporter Phil Hall, here.
- Connecticut added 600 jobs in December 2021, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor. This is the 12th month of job growth but the lowest in the past few months. CTNewsJunkie’s Christine Stuart reports on the data here.
- Breeze Airways is debuting the Airbus A220 aircraft on 17 routes this year, including several from Bradley International Airport.
- Fairfield County’s 2021 office market recorded 23% increase in leasing activity. Fairfield County Business Journal has the year-end numbers here.
- A Connecticut nonprofit, dedicated to helping women build their Connecticut businesses, just received a $300,000 investment from JPMorgan Chase to support its Equity Match Grant (EMG) Program. CTNewsJunkie has the details here.