Editorial: CBIA and the cost of doing business
The Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) continued its financial watchdog role after the General Assembly and Gov. Dannel Malloy raised the state”™s minimum wage. One of CBIA”™s big issues is the cost of doing business in the state and the upped minimum wage is the latest topic du jour in that thorny battle.
“The nationwide attention the state is receiving for passage of the minimum wage increase will further contribute to rankings, evidenced in several nationwide surveys released this past year, showing Connecticut as one of the costliest states in which to do business,” the CBIA said in a statement.
The CBIA has embraced the fight against rising business costs and their associated roadblocks to growth. Its efforts include legislation, as you”™d expect, but also multiple business surveys, panel discussions, reports of all economic stripes and recently a detailed study and panel presentation on the state”™s transportation deficiencies as impediments to growth.
The CBIA looks after pocketbook issues as well as Hartford”™s activities and, just as importantly, offers its data at the click of a button. A recent attention-getter from the CBIA”™s Business Connections newspaper column noted, “Connecticut residents pay an average $9,099 in state and local taxes, or 31 percent more than the national average, according to a new report.”
The CBIA take on the minimum wage featured a forward focus:
“SB 32 increases Connecticut”™s current minimum wage of $8.70 to $9.15 in Jan. 2015; to $9.60 in January 2016; and finally to $10.10 in January 2017. The legislation will give (Connecticut) the highest minimum wage in the U.S.
“State lawmakers can still reject other bills that will increase the cost of doing business in the state and harm our business climate.
“Among those negative proposals is SB 249, which creates a mandate on many employers to facilitate a government-run retirement plan in their workplace.
“On the other hand, legislators have the opportunity to pass some measures that will help businesses compete and create jobs in Connecticut.
“These include HB 5314, which would apply about $60 million of the state”™s expected budget surplus to pay down a portion of the interest on debt owed to keep the state”™s unemployment compensation system afloat.
“Connecticut”™s business climate took a hit with passage of the minimum wage increase. CBIA urges legislators who support these and other business cost-raising bills to consider carefully the barrier to job creation created by our reputation as a high-cost, business-unfriendly state and reject bills that will increase that perception.”
Said the CBIA, “We need to change these rankings for the better in order to attract more businesses, help Connecticut companies succeed, and create more opportunities for our citizens.”
For more information, contact CBIA”™s Eric Gjede at 860-244-1931 or by email at eric.gjede@cbia.com.