Legislature does no harm but leaves much on the table
Last call for CRN Golf Outing
News and notes from around the State Capitol
News and notes from around the State
Note to our Readers: The closing weeks of the legislative session took an enormous amount of our time and we are sorry for the absence of our weekly FF in recent weeks. We appreciate all your time and loyal reading of our weekly e-newsletter throughout the session and promise to do our best to keep all of you up-to-date on the important issues facing the retail community moving forward.
- The Connecticut General Assembly concluded its regular long session on time and with all the necessary work they are required to do and now enter into the interim period before they are scheduled to go back into session in February of 2024.
- The necessary work that the General Assembly is required to accomplish includes passing a two year state budget that funds the government and adopting revenue items that raise the money to pay for it.
- They also passed a bond act, which allows them to borrow money to pay for other projects.
- All of this was done prior to the adjournment of the regular session and was done in a bi-partisan manner.
- Mark Pazniokas provides a good look at how the legislature ended the session, plus highlights, here.
Not everyone was happy with outcome – including CRN
- While we are all happy that the session is over, we did come away from the work with mixed feelings.
- We are very pleased to report that a number of bills that would have impacted retailers with regard to labor issues were NOT ACTED ON.
- Bills that would have mandated new scheduling requirements did not pass; a bill that would have lowered the threshold for employers to provide paid sick leave died in the House, as did a bill that would have placed new requirements on retailers who have distribution centers.
- In addition, the Legislature adopted changes to last session’s Consumer Privacy law, this year dealing with health care related issues. We are pleased to report that we were successful in making sure retailers’ interests were protected in that bill.
- We were disappointed though, that no consumer or business tax breaks were included in the new two-year budget that was adopted.
- CRN had pushed for some consumer relief, given the large surpluses that the state has – and is expected to have for the next several years.
- In addition, the pass thru entity tax that Governor Lamont proposed at the start of the session that would have benefited many in the business community was also not included in the final tax and spending package that was adopted.
- So, in summary, the session was a mixed bag for CRN but overall, a good one in that we were successful in stopping some harmful legislation.
- You can also visit our website for more detail and other key issues that CRN was working on during the 2023 session.
Last call for the CRN Golf Outing
- Our annual Golf Outing will take place Tuesday, June 27th at Wampanoag CC in West Hartford.
- You can go here to register for the outing, or to be one of our sponsors.
- While the event is just days away, we would still welcome any support that folks can provide and would encourage all members – even if they aren’t golfers – to come join us for lunch and drinks on the 27th.
News and notes from around the State Capitol
- With the session now done, all eyes will be on the Governor’s office to see what, if any, bills the Governor will veto.
- The Office of Legislative Research has done a summary of ALL the Public Acts; you can go here to review that report.
- Every legislative session there are bills or small changes to statues that are tucked away in budget bills and lost in the details but raise eyebrows on how and why those so called “rats” got there.
- Our friends at the CT Mirror found one of those types of changes that were included in this year’s budget implementor bill that would benefit one member of the General Assembly.
- You can go here to read more about that issue.
- Things at the State Capitol will slow down significantly over the summer months and most likely into the fall, but we will continue to keep an eye out for interim reports, task forces that might be meeting, special meetings that committees may have, and will keep you posted.
- Also, we will keep you posted on any interesting reports that the Office of Legislative Research and the Office of Fiscal Analysis produce.
New and notes from Around the State
- Access Health CT is raising its charge next year for policies sold on the state’s health insurance exchange, the first increase in eight years. CTNewsJunkie has the details here.
- A recent study by research firm Tourism Economics shows that Connecticut tourism in 2022 drove an estimated $17 billion in sales, Gov. Ned Lamont has announced. The numbers are reported by New Haven BIZ, here.
- Connecticut’s 12 community colleges will formally merge into one on July 1— becoming the biggest institution of higher education in the state. The university system began discussing a merger of its community colleges more than six years ago. CT Mirror reports on what’s ahead, here.
- Hartford HealthCare has announced the election of Dr. Joanne Berger-Sweeney as chairwoman of its board of directors. Berger-Sweeney is a neuroscientist and president of Hartford-based Trinity College. Details here reported by the Fairfield County Business Journal.
- The University of New Haven will begin a nationwide search this summer for a new president to replace Steven H. Kaplan, who is retiring at the end of June. Hartford Business Journal has the details here.
- As the Travelers Championship gets underway with one of the best fields of competitors in many years, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has asked golf executives to appear before a Senate subcommittee next month to answer questions on a proposed merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Details reported by CTNewsJunkie here.