Gov. Rell has vetoed a bill that would have opened up the state’s health insurance plan for state employees to municipalities, small businesses and not-for-profits. The Governor said that “the current version of the legislation would not achieve the intended cost savings or increase the number of people with insurance and could lead to substantial costs to taxpayers.” 

The Governor’s press release also said that most of the employers it seeks to benefit already offer health insurance to their employees. “It seems unlikely that a large number of the employers who do not currently offer insurance would be able to afford to do so under the bill given that the current average annual cost of the state employee plan is approximately $12,300.”

CBIA had encouraged the Governor to veto the bill and is pleased that she did so. The bill would not have improved quality, reduced costs or increased access to health insurance, the three tenets of CBIA’s health care reform agenda.

One of the more special events put on by CBIA is the Manufacture Your Future Expo, produced in partnership with the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing. The Expo was held this week and attracted about 3,000 high school and middle school students from across the state of Connecticut. Here’s a Hartford Courant story on the event.

The Expo exposes students to a simulated factory floor created by manufacturers who ship machinery to the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford. Students tour manufacturing “pods” and learn about many manufacturing processes, including CAD/CAM, CNC machining, stamping, plating and finishing.

Exposure to modern manufacturing is important because we have an aging industrial workforce and an inadequate supply of entry workers. Students, teachers, guidance counselors and parents need to understand that manufacturing has changed and that there are plenty of good, high-paying jobs available for people with good math, science, engineering and technical skills.

There are many ongoing efforts statewide among manufacturing groups, the technical high school system and others to better prepare students for careers in manufacturing. The Manufacture Your Future Expo is an important component of that effort.

We keep reading and hearing that so-called “special interests” are calling upon Gov. Rell to veto the health care pooling bill. But what about those who are asking her to sign it?

There certainly doesn’t seem to be an avalanche of municipalities and small businesses clamoring for her signature. Although there might be a few towns and businesses who think they can save money by going into the state plan (until they find out the cost), this issue is not being driven by them. It is really being driven by the state unions, with support from the Universal Health Care Foundation, whose Board of Directors includes several current and past labor officials. Curiously, there seems to be very little, if anything, said about these special interests and why they are pushing this bill.

It might have something to do with state unions wanting some municipalities and small businesses to have the same benefits they do so they can justify those benefits during the next round of contract negotiations. The reality is that their benefits are much richer, and therefore more expensive, than those in the private sector.

As if Gov. Rell didn’t already have enough reasons to veto the bill, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal gave her another one the other day. In somewhat of a tortured reading of the bill, the AG said that the state employee pool cannot be opened up and that a separate pool would have to be created, even though proponents of the bill have said repeatedly that its value lies in having one large pool. Although the AG cites one passage from the transcript as supporting his position (which it really doesn’t), a review of the entire transcript shows abundant references to one pool. The confusion over this bill alone should be enough to result in a veto.

The Hartford Courant lead editorial in today’s paper calls on Gov. Rell to veto the health care pooling bill and commission an independent actuarial study to see if the idea makes sense. It is a thoughtful piece with good points regarding the supposed “savings” for municipalities.

There’s been some comment in the media lately about CBIA opposing the health care pooling bill because we market and administer a health care plan for small businesses and don’t want the competition. Uninformed opinions in politics are not unusual, so some facts are in order.

First, CBIA is an organization whose primary mission is to advocate for the general business and industry community in Connecticut and to promote a competitive state business climate. We have a for-profit subsidiary that supports our public policy efforts and provides a wide range of products and services that benefit member companies. Putting the interests of our insurance business before the interests of our members would be like the tail wagging the dog, and is something we simply do not do. The policy implications of legislation are always paramount.

Second, we are faced with competition from state government every day. The state Comptroller already can sell the Municipal Employee Health Insurance Plan to small businesses. CBIA did not oppose the legislation allowing her to sell to business, as long it was subject to the small business health reform laws passed in the early 1990s. The need to conform to these laws was not for competitive purposes for CBIA, but rather to protect small businesses from the dramatic premium fluctuations that took place prior to these laws’ passage.

Third, CBIA supported the passage of the small business health reform laws even though it essentially shut down the health plan we sold at the time. After the reform laws passed, we developed a new plan to conform to the new laws. Policy trumped business considerations.

Fourth, there are many reasons why CBIA and others have requested Gov. Rell to veto the health care pooling bill, and they have nothing to do with our selling a health plan. Our reasons, too many to list here, are based on the numerous flaws with the legislation, not on any fear of competition. As we have said often at the Capitol and elsewhere, if we can’t compete with the state, we shouldn’t be in the business in the first place.

We heard the age-old stricture “do no harm” over and over again during the session that ended last night. For the most part lawmakers were able to avoid harm, but they sure came close.

First the harm. Both chambers adopted a not-well-thought-out bill to open up the state health plan to municipalities and small businesses. We put out a news release listing ten reasons why it’s a bad idea. We hope the Governor vetoes the bill, if for no other reason than because it will likely increase costs for the state.

The timing of the bill to raise the state minimum wage in each of the next two years is inopportune given the current problems with our economy. At last report the Governor is unsure whether or not she will sign it into law.

As far as not doing harm, the legislature ultimately rejected virtually all other harmful business bills. The bill that would have made Connecticut the first state in the nation to adopt a mandated paid sick leave policy on employers probably got more attention from CBIA members than any other bill. Although it passed the state Senate, the bill died in the House. The rest of the Labor and Public Employees Committee agenda targeted at business also went down to defeat.

Lawmakers and the Governor also did no harm on fiscal matters. They made no adjustments to the second year of the two-year budget (which already includes a 4.4% increase) and raised no taxes. A $67 million deficit is projected for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, but that can be managed by the Governor through her executive authority. The legislature may come back if the problem gets significantly worse.

What was really lacking was any clear focus on economic issues. There was recognition that times are tough and spending had to be controlled, but little or no attention to making sure that Connecticut’s economic recovery is robust and sustained. Certain Democratic leaders were more intent on moving union-backed agendas that ostensibly helped business but did little or nothing to actually grow our economy or make our businesses more competitive. We will continue to press legislators to make the economy their top priority.

Finally, thanks to Gov. Rell and all the legislators on both sides of the aisle who worked to strengthen rather than weaken our economic competitiveness. Thanks also to all CBIA members who took the time to communicate with their elected representatives on these important bills. Keep up the good work.

I try hard not to be redundant in these posts, but that has been difficult in the last few weeks of the legislative session. The recurring themes of the economy, the business climate and negative bills like paid sick leave and health care pooling won’t let go.

But here we go again. The health care pooling bill passed the Senate in the early hours this morning and is now on its way to the Governor. And the paid sick leave bill is scheduled to go in the House today, and if passed will also move to the Governor. These two actions should be a wake up call for the Connecticut business community.

Instead of rehashing the problems with these bills, you can read about them here, here, here and here. The bottom line is that things have changed at the Capitol in Hartford, and bills that used to die on the calendar are now passing. The voices of advocates for bills that would raise business costs, add new employer mandates and move state government in directions it need not go simply are louder than business voices right now.

The economic competitiveness of the state and of individual businesses is going to be severely tested if those business voices do not increase dramatically. Legislators need some economic education from employers in their districts, and they need it soon. CBIA members will be contacted regarding this over the next few months. We have to make sure that legislators are listening to business on business issues, rather than state employee unions and other interest groups. With the session ending, fortunately, at midnight tonight, we can hopefully get out with no further damage. But the next session is only nine months away, and the business community better be prepared.

Two days left in the General Assembly session, with adjournment coming at midnight tomorrow.

Things are moving slowly, with the decision by Gov. Rell and Democratic leaders to make no changes to the second year of the biennial budget putting many pieces of legislation off the table. The Governor has been strong in saying that she will not approve bills that have a fiscal impact and have not been accounted for in the budget.

We hope that the legislature heeds the Governor’s message and does not act on several bills that would not only have a fiscal impact but would also harm the state’s business climate, something that should also be off the table in these tough economic times. These include the paid sick leave bill, the health care pooling bill, the 401k bill and several harmful workers’ compensation bills.

The health care pooling bill may go in the Senate today. It has already passed the House and could be on its way to the Governor. Here’s our radio ad concerning the bill.

For some reason many legislators are listening to the state-employee unions and other non-business parties on business issues. One is the paid sick leave bill. Unions and their allies are saying that this bill is needed to increase productivity because too many sick people are showing up for work and not being productive. In the twenty years I have been at CBIA I have never had one business person raise that as an issue. Should legislators actually investigate this great productivity gain with the state’s employers, or just listen to the advocates of the bill?

Another is the so-called health care pooling bill. The state employee unions are the main advocates of a bill to open up the state health care plan to small businesses and municipalities. The small businesses I talk to are alarmed about the health care costs of government and are clearly not clamoring to spend a like amount for their health insurance. But the state employee unions want to move this forward for their own reasons. Again, where is the study of whether or not this is a good idea?

Many of the same people are supporting the bill to allow the state to sell 401k retirement plans to small businesses. Again, the vast majority of businesses are not asking for this. But some interest groups and legislators think the state can do a better job than business in selling and administering these products. That really sends a great message to the business community in Connecticut.

The business community clearly isn’t of one mind on everything, and there are divergent opinions on a variety of issues. And I’m sure there are some businesses who think it’s a good idea to buy into the state health plan, at least until they see the cost. But on some fundamental issues, such as a belief in the ability of the private sector to do its job well, I think employers are pretty united. They believe that state government can help facilitate their success through policies that allow them to be competitive, but it shouldn’t become their competition. We hope the legislature listens to businesspeople on business issues in the waning days of the session rather than those who truly do not have the best interest of business at heart.

After having survived the Appropriations Committee on a close vote, the paid sick leave bill passed the state Senate last night on a 20-16 vote. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives.

We are hearing more from our members about this bill than just about any other one this session. They see it as yet another attempt by state government to micromanage their businesses and to act as a collective bargaining agent for nonunionized employees. Although this type of intervention into employer-employee relations is not a good idea at any time, it is particularly troubling as our economy slows and more and more businesses struggle to survive.

As we have said often in the past, Connecticut employers are among the best in the nation at providing good wages and benefits. Listening to some of the debate in the Senate, however, would make you think that all employees are oppressed and work in sweat shops. It is part of a continuing and disturbing trend at the state legislature, fueled largely by organized labor (particularly public sector unions), to paint employers as the enemy, people who do not care about employees and do not treat them well.

We remain hopeful that more reasoned minds in the House will stop this bill and not send yet another negative message to business in Connecticut.