Not much progress made this session on the economy

CROMWELL, Conn. – The Connecticut Business and Industry Association’s vice president of government affairs told a group of business executives Friday that the business community had one win, one loss, and blocked a lot of “bad” bills during the 2014 legislative session.

Bonnie Stewart, CBIA’s vice president of government affairs, said they were successful getting the legislature to approve an apprenticeship tax credit for manufacturing companies. There are only about 150 individuals in apprenticeship programs outside of the ones run by the utilities or other trades. The measure was approved as part of the language implementing the budget.

While she only cited that one victory during her prepared remarks, Stewart said afterward that another victory was the workers’ compensation legislation, which changes how the default rates for workers’ compensation-related services are set.

But she admits that neither of those victories increases the state’s economic competitiveness. CBIA and its partners have created a campaign to move the state up in the national rankings. The goal is to reach 20th by 2017. Connecticut ranked 45th in the 2013 CNBC rankings.

See the complete story at CT News Junkie.