LEGISLATIVE MISSION
The Chamber of Commerce is committed to building and sustaining viable partnerships with federal, state and local governmental entities in order to continue to grow a vibrant regional economy with an excellent quality of life.
LEGISLATIVE GOALS
Budget:
- Move towards a balanced budget to improve business confidence.
- Avoid additional costs to businesses and residents.
Healthcare:
- Equitable allocation of funding to our region.
- Support value-based health care initiatives.
- Oppose any new taxes, fees and mandates that fail the cost-benefit test.
Labor:
- Support job creation programs.
- Reject new mandates and other proposals that increase costs, stifle job creation or hurt the State’scompetitiveness.
- Paid family medical leave
- State sponsored mandatory retirement plans
- Reform unemployment compensation to ensure long term solvency of the trust fund.
Lean government:
- Promote lean management techniques to decrease cost and increase value to state.
- Promote tax policy that encourages business investments, jobs, innovation and productivity.
- Focus on delivering the core functions of state government.
- Transfer social service direct programming to qualified nonprofit organizations.
Energy:
- Drive economic growth by making energy costs more competitive, increasing reliability and fostering efficiency, conservation and technological innovation.
- Evaluate all energy recommendations and proposals for potential impact on cost reliability and CT’s competitiveness.
Transportation:
- Pass constitutional amendment to clarify which dollars belong in the Special Transportation Fund and restrict their use to transportation projects.
- Support CT Airport Authority’s efforts to improve and increase traffic to Windham Airport.
- Support freight rail infrastructure improvements.
- Support passenger bus transportation from region to Hartford.
Regulatory Reform:
1. Keep regulations consistent with federal requirements and those of competing states.
2. Adopt procedures that promote consistent interpretation of regulations and address business concerns when they are negatively impacted by inconsistent regulatory interpretations.
Download Our 2018 Legislative Policy Statement Here