Today we attended the CBIA Business Day Event at our State Capitol. It was held in the Legislative Office Building. The event was well attended, by business owners in Connecticut and by members of local chambers from all over the state. It was a great turn out considering the weather was uncooperative.
We were surprised when we were told that Governor Jodi Rell would also be speaking. In her speech she impressed upon us the importance of getting in touch with our state representatives and letting them know our feelings on issues that concern us and any bills up for vote that could adversely affect the business climate in Connecticut. I believe she wanted us to have the impression that the fox was watching the hen house, and no one was watching the fox.
Too late! The business climate in Connecticut is already very unfriendly. And every business owner present held that same opinion. I was surprised by how many of these same business owners, knew very well, how friendly the business climate is in other states. Some had even received what they called very generous offers to re-locate.
Re-locating a manufacturing business is no small task. There are so many things to consider. Relocation to a suitable facility, access to raw materials, access to reputable vendors, the availability of skilled labor, uprooting the lives of your current workforce, and the cost of moving everything. Yet one business owner present said he had moved his company to Indiana, and that his plant manager was hiring people this very day. This, he offered, is what he was forced to do, after fighting with the state for 15 years.
There were complaints about DEP regulations, Workers Compensation Regulations, and the prohibitive Business Entity Tax, that is due to the State each year whether your business had sales or not. But the hot topic of the day was Senate Bill 63 which will require that companies provide mandatory sick pay if they employ 50 or more workers.
Mandatory sick pay! What are they thinking? Add more burden on those of us who are managing stay afloat! State employees enjoy paid sick leave. Should we run our businesses, like the state is run? Our great State of Connecticut which currently holds a $500 Million deficit!
State Senator Edith Prague, representing Connecticut’s 19th district is a sponsor of this bill, and has tried to bring it to the floor for a vote a number of times. She was not well liked by most of the business owners we spoke to, so I was surprised when she showed up in the assembly room and took a chair. Here was the Senator everyone had been waiting for.
Business owners’ who had arranged in advance to make statements that morning, gave great detailed presentations on why this bill, if passed, would be a burden on their company. Facts and figures were given and it became obvious that these business owners were passionate about this bill. A restaurant owner stated how difficult it was to find replacements for wait staff when they call in sick and that having to pay his wait staff sick days would put him out of business. Senator Prague followed with a statement that claimed that as a restaurant owner he was jeopardizing the health of the public by making sick people work and serve the public. Of course, he said nothing of the kind. Soon statements got heated, and some business owners started voicing their opinions out loud, and not in order. Voices were raised, people started shouting. Well I guess this is not proper behavior at our State Capitol.
Senator Prague, rose to leave but reminded everyone that there will be a public hearing on this issue, Thursday, February 24th, at 2PM and they were welcome to attend and give their opinions. She said everyone’s statements would be taken into consideration. That hearing should be very interesting.
One of the proposals in this bill, would require employers to give one hour of sick pay for every 40 hours worked. Full and part-time employees alike. Now we have a very generous vacation policy here that employees can use in a pinch if they are sick and don’t want to loose a days pay. So I sat down and did the math and figured what it would cost us to also provide sick days to our hourly employees, at the rate of 1 hour per 40, annually. It would cost us an additional $22,000 per year! This would pay the salary of a new entry level worker at our plant. It does not make sense to pay out more for unproductive time. Shouldn’t the State be helping companies to increase their workforce, and not increase the expenses that affect our bottom line? If you are located in Connecticut, it is not too late to voice your opinion on this bill. Contact your own representative and/or the members of the Labor Committee who will vote on this bill.
Here is a link to the Labor Committee’s page on the State’s legislative website,
http://www.cga.ct.gov/LAB/
