Friday Facts – November 12th

• On Wednesday of this week CRMA concluded its final Live! Broadcast of the Year. This Live Broadcast focused on legislative issues, including the naming of Rep. Kerry Wood (D-Rocky Hill) as the CRMA Legislator of the Year.

• Our Live! Broadcast series was in lieu of an in-person annual award luncheon, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

• We held three Live! events with each having specific themes and special guests – a Connecticut Economic Development Update, an update on Supply Chain Challenges and Federal Labor Market Plans, and this week’s legislative preview. Each event was recorded so that members who could not watch Live can go back and watch each event on demand.

• You can do that by going to the CRMA website, here.

Thanks to our sponsors. We need your feedback

• We want to thank all of our sponsors who made these events possible. In addition to providing valuable information to members, the Live! series was also a very important fundraiser for CRMA.

• Thanks to the very generous support of our sponsors we were able to reach our fundraising goals for this series.

• Thank you again to all those companies that supported CRMA and this event series this year.

We want your feedback

• This was our first attempt in delivering important information on issues impacting the retail and general business community using this method and we hope that we were successful in doing that.

• The best way for us to determine that is to get feedback directly from you.

• In the upcoming weeks, we will be reaching out and asking you for your feedback on how you thought the series went and how we can improve it – and whether it is something you would like us to do more of. We look forward to your response.

Hartford removes masks mandate

• Earlier this week, Hartford became the largest municipality in the state REMOVE a mask mandate they put in place for all in door use. NBC Connecticut has the story here.

• With the overall COVID 19 situation in CT improving, including continued increase in vaccinations and booster shots, more and more municipalities are removing mask mandates that were put in place just a few months ago.

• We expect that more municipalities will follow the lead of Hartford and other communities in removing masks mandates and we will keep you posted as that takes place. FOX61 reports on the first few to do so, here.

• Among other municipalities that have removed mask mandates in recent weeks, according to news media reports, are Bloomfield, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Manchester, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Danbury, Fairfield, Norwalk, Groton, New London and East Hartford.

Capitol news and notes

• During our conversation with Rep. Kerry Wood, we talked about what she expected we might see when the Legislature goes back into session in February.

• While we covered a host of issues, we asked her if she thought that the time might be right for some relief for consumers and business in the form of tax cuts.

• While Rep. Wood was open to having that conversation, Governor Lamont seemed to hint that he was more interested cutting local property taxes. You can go here to hear the Governor’s comments.

• Another important person in any final decision the legislature makes regarding tax cuts is Rep. Sean Scanlon (D-Guilford), who is the House Co-Chair of the tax writing Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

• Scanlon’s comments along with others are due to the surging sales tax receipts which are helping to swell Connecticut’s already robust coffers by another $800 million across this fiscal year and next combined. CT Mirror has the details here.

• The Department of Revenue Services is once again holding a tax amnesty holiday. Households and businesses behind on their state taxes can take advantage of the latest tax amnesty program, launched by Gov. Lamont and the General Assembly, through Jan. 31. CT Mirror reports on the program here.

News and notes from around the State

• For seniors with the time, the patience and the budget, retail shopping – in bricks-and-mortar stores – can be really therapeutic. Fairfield County Business Journal’s WAG magazine has the explanation here.

• A $1.5 million federal relief fund investment will be given to schools across the state, and students will get to decide how those funds are spent, according to a new program announced by the Governor this week. CT Public Radio has the story here.

• Connecticut state officials and their counterparts in New York and New Jersey have reached an agreement over how to divide up billions in federal aid meant to help tri-state public transportation systems recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. After negotiations, the three states agreed that Connecticut will receive $474 million to shore up its public transit, while New York gets $10.8 billion and New Jersey claims roughly $2.6 billion.  Hartford Business Journal has the details here.

• New Haven Bank is planning to expand into Hamden and West Haven, with particular interest in small and medium sized businesses, New Haven BIZ reports here.

• Boston’s State Street Bank will provide master custodian services and accounting administration for the state pension fund and internally managed funds, which total $61 billion in current assets, State Treasurer Shawn Wooden announced this week. Fairfield County Business Journal has the news here.

• Reports of nationwide supply chain issues and price increases on Christmas trees are starting to circulate. The New Haven Register has the latest from Connecticut growers here.