Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly are earning high marks from the Connecticut Business & Industry Association this year, with the business lobby applauding elected officials for passing a state budget with no new taxes, reforming unemployment benefits and upping investments in cities.
CBIA President and CEO Chris DePentima said lawmakers addressed most of the association’s 2021 policy priorities, which were mainly centered around jump-starting the economy after more than a year of COVID-19-related restrictions on business and travel. The work of the now-closed legislative session, DePentima said, “sets the course for the state’s recovery.”
“Overall, there are numerous reasons to be optimistic about the state’s future based on the actions the legislature and the Lamont administration took over the last five-plus months and the broad range of favorable economic news that is shifting the wind to our backs,” he added.
The state legislature finished its 2021 legislative session Thursday night, with the Senate overwhelmingly approving a new, $46.4 billion, two-year state budget that makes major new investments in municipal aid, education and human services, avoids major tax hikes and delivers tax relief to working poor families.
However, House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) did say he plans to call lawmakers back by the end of this month for a special session to debate and vote on the legalization of recreational marijuana, a hot-button issue that ultimately didn’t pass by the end of the day Wednesday.
CBIA officials said the governor and lawmakers from both parties deserve credit for blocking a series of proposed tax increases and workplace mandates that would have saddled employers with higher expenses.
Eric Gjede, CBIA’s vice president of government affairs, said a lack of support for those costly measures signals that elected officials recognize the importance of the private sector, and particularly small businesses, in helping the state get back on solid footing after the last 15 months.
“That was apparent in the debate over expanding state-run healthcare through the proposed public option,” Gjede said. “That proposal failed as lawmakers were not willing to put taxpayers and small businesses at risk.”
Particularly notable in the eyes of the CBIA was the agreement to reform and refund the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund. The deal, which gained the support of Democrats, Republicans, labor unions and business groups, will reduce unemployment taxes on about three-fourths of Connecticut businesses by broadening the taxable wage base and reducing and restructuring some benefits.
DePentima called the bill the most significant set of reforms in the history of the state’s unemployment system.
Still, the legislative session came with some disappointments for the state’s business community, including lawmakers’ decisions to maintain the temporary 10% corporate tax surcharge, delay repeal of the capital base tax, retain the sales tax on personal protective equipment and training and not restore the pass-through entity tax credit.
