CBIA chief: Lack of state budget dilutes confidence in Connecticut

The Connecticut legislature”™s inability to pass a two-year budget will have a negative impact on the state”™s business viability, according to CBIA President and CEO Joe Brennan.

“We started this year with Governor Malloy calling on legislators to provide Connecticut citizens and businesses with the stability and certainty they need to invest here,” said Brennan. “However, failure to adopt a new two-year state budget delays our ability to make the structural changes necessary to get Connecticut back on track and gain that stability and certainty. Employers are looking for a sense of urgency among policymakers to aggressively attack our short-term deficits and long-term unfunded liabilities by bringing state employee benefit packages in line with what most Connecticut taxpayers receive; streamlining state government; and limiting spending to the core priorities.”

Brennan noted that the legislature passed several bills designed to help local businesses ”“ including bills to streamline the workers compensation claims process and to create a small business hotline ”“ while rejecting bills to hike the minimum wage and mandate paid family leave, he noted the political rancor in Hartford was standing in the way of more progress.

“As we look towards the special session, it”™s now critical that lawmakers work in a bipartisan fashion,” Brennan said. “We need to adopt a state budget that encourages investment, creates jobs, and generates economic growth as well as provides business owners with confidence in the state”™s future.”