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 Friday
Facts - Archives -
Month
of May 2003
Current
Week
May 16,
2003
General Assembly passes budget that governor is expected to veto, setting stage for budget showdown. CRMA's Legislative Reception a success. CRMA golf classic gaining steam
· The Connecticut General Assembly this week adopted a state budget that governor Rowland has said he will veto the "minute it hits my desk".
· The first act in this budget play began Wednesday afternoon when the House of Representatives passed the budget after a long debate.
· The State Senate followed suit on Thursday setting the stage for the governor's veto
· We expect the governor will officially veto the bill sometime early next week.
· For retailers, there really is no good news in this budget. The best news is that with the Governor's veto, the General Assembly will be forced to go back and review the budget.
· Some highlights of the budget that was adopted include:
· Increase of the state sales tax from 6% to 6.5%
· Elimination of the sales tax free holiday
· Increase of income tax on high-income earners (over $500,000) until reaching a top rate of 5.9%
· Corporate surcharge of 20%.
· As we have mentioned in previous Friday Faxes, most legislators tell us that they oppose any increase in the state sales tax. The governor has also sent very strong signals to the legislature that he too opposes the increase in the sales tax
· We expected that issue to be among the top issues to be discussed if and when members of the General Assembly and the governor begin budget discussions.
· CRMA will continue to tell legislators that any changes in the sales tax as well as the elimination of the sales tax holiday will be very detrimental to business.
· With three weeks to go before the constitutional adjournment of the session (June 4th) it appears that we will go into extra innings before we resolve the budget. We will keep you informed with our weekly updates.
· If you would like more information on the state of the state budget, please feel free to email us at
www.crmaonline.com
· Also, a reminder to those members on our legislative committee, our next legislative committee conference call is scheduled for Thursday May 22, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. We will be sending reminder notices to all members with the number to call into.
CRMA legislative reception a success
· For the 3rd year in a row, CRMA held a legislative reception for all members of the General Assembly at the State Capitol. And for the 3rd year in a row it was a success.
· Although the House and the Senate adjourned earlier than we anticipated many members stopped by to say hello.
· Many thanks to those members that took the time to attend, especially CRMA Board Chair Jim McGinn and Legislative Committee Chair Tom Zapf. Your presence made a great impression on the legislators that were there and we greatly appreciate your show of support.
· If you could not attend, please look for notices on our reception for next session - we would love to pack the room with members.
CRMA golf classic
· We continue to receive golf registrations and sponsorships for our 2nd annual golf outing that will be held on June 10th. If you are interested in the golf outing please call or email us through our website at
www.crmaonline.com.
· As a reminder, the golf outing is scheduled for June 10th at Blackledge Country Club in Hebron, CT. More information on the golf outing can be found on our website.
· The golf classic is a great way to support CRMA and we would welcome any member or friend of the industry who would like to participate.
· Please give every consideration to attending this years golf outing.
May 9,
2003
CRMA Legislative Reception to be held Wednesday of this week. Legislative leaders report no progress in budget talks. CRMA golf classic only 4 weeks away. Retail news and notes. Workforce Development updates.
· On Wednesday, May 14th CRMA will be hosting our annual Legislative reception at the State Capitol. The event will be held in the State Capitol's Old Judiciary Room from 6:00 p. m to 8:00 p.m. The old judiciary is on the 3rd floor on East Side of the State Capitol.
· The event is open to all member of CRMA and there is no charge for attending. If you have the time, please stop by.
· We have invited all members of the General Assembly, and it appears that both the House and the Senate will be in session that evening debating the state budget. So, if you can make it you should have plenty of opportunity to meet with your local legislators as well as get an up to the minute report on the budget debate.
· Finally, we want to thank the ICSC for again agreeing to be our sponsor for this year's legislative reception. We appreciate their support in making the evening possible.
· Budget update:
· As we mentioned it appears the House and Senate are scheduled to go into session on Wednesday to debate the state budget. It also is pretty obvious that although both chambers will adopt the budget, the governor will quickly veto it.
· Anticipating the veto, leaders in both parties and the governor's office met this week to begin to try and find ways to resolve the budget fight.
· The meeting did not last long. Both camps came away within an hour or so of meeting saying that no progress was made, setting up an ugly budget fight.
· At a luncheon we attended on Thursday, Sen. Daily (D - Westbrook) who is the
co-chair of the Finance Committee would not predict how and when this budget fight would be resolved.
· It appears that the animosity between the Democrats and the Republicans in both chambers as well as between the Governor's office and the Democrats (and even some Republicans) is making negotiations pretty tough.
· We will take Sen. Daily's position and not offer any predications on how this will end, only to say that if you come to the Legislative Reception you may be able to listen in to some of the budget debate yourself.
· Golf Classic - June 10th - Blackledge CC, Hebron , CT.
· We have about a month to go before our 2nd annual golf outing takes place.
· Again, the golf outing is scheduled for June 10, 2003 at Blackledge CC in Hebron, CT
· If you have not registered to play you still have some time, but we would encourage you to register today. You can register online by visiting our website,
www.crmaonline.com. (in the upper right hand corner is information on the golf outing) or by calling our office at 860-527-1044.
· Retail news and notes
· We are very proud to report on a new book written by a long time member of the CRMA family, Jack Mitchell of Mitchells of Westport and Richards of Greenwich, that is about to hit the market.
· Earlier this week we received an advance copy of HUG your Customers, The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results and it looks great.
· Congratulations to Jack and best of luck on the book. Also, we will keep members up to date on ways for them to get copies of the book that should go on sale sometime in June. For more information you can also visit
www.hugyourcustomer.com
· Workforce Development update:
· Students in Waterbury will be attending the COR program early next week. Waterbury retailers will receive applications by the end of the week.
· The date for students to attend the Opportunities in Customer Services and Sales Program
(OCSS) at Capital Community College has been pushed up from May 9th to June 6th .
· These students will conclude the program on June 27th.
· For more information about CRMA's workforce development initiatives, you can email Michele Mesek at
michele@crmaonline.com
May 2,
2003
Finance Committee approves tax package that increases sales tax and eliminates sales tax holiday. Judiciary committee to vote two bills out of committee that effect retailers. Legislative reception two weeks away. CRMA golf classic update.
· The General Assembly's tax writing committee on Thursday voted along party lines, to increase taxes, including the state's sales tax, to match the spending plan that the Appropriations Committee approved a day earlier.
· The Finance Committee tax package also eliminates the sales tax free week that we have fought so hard for.
· Despite the bad news coming out of the committee, it was not totally unexpected.It is also expected to be the first act in the budget play.
· The governor has already told anybody who will listen that he is going to veto this budget. After the action by the Finance Committee the governor said, "I don't think there is a person in the Legislature who thinks I'm going to sign this bill. We just had a huge tax increase.
· Democrats on the Finance Committee also sent word to their leadership that even though they voted for this package they do not like the idea of raising taxes again - particularly the sales tax.
· One Democrat on the Finance Committee went out of her way to tell us that she was voting for the bill to support her leadership, but that the she would be looking for any opportunity to lower the sales tax.
· That seems to be the general feeling among most Democrats. However, the amount of money that will be raised by increasing the sales tax, estimated at $250 million in 2004 and $270 million in 2005, is going to be hard to ignore.
· We will continue to work with Leadership in the General Assembly and with the rank and file to fight for no increase in the sales tax and the return of the sales tax holiday.
· As always we encourage all members to call, write or email your legislator and let them know your thoughts on this tax package, which also includes a hefty increase in the personal income tax and a 10% surcharge in the corporation tax.
· If you are unsure who your legislator is, please call us at 860-527-1044 or email us through our website www.crmaonline.com
· One last note on the tax package, there was some good news for retailers who sell cigars. The proposed increase in the OTP tax of 20% was not included in the tax package. We will keep an eye out to see if that resurfaces as the budget debate moves on.
Judiciary Committee update:
· On Friday the Judiciary Committee will consider two bills that have been referred to them by the General Law committee that impact retailers.
· One bill, HB 5812, "AA Prohibiting Expiration Dates on Gift Certificates", deals with gift certificates and gift cards. That bill would eliminate expiration dates on gift certificates as well as eliminate the requirement that retailers escheat the money back to the state.
· The other bill is HB 5812, "AAC Consumer Financial Information. This bill, which we strongly oppose, would require that prior to sending any information to customers a special notice would first have to be sent informing customers that the information gathered may be shared with a third party.
· We continue to object to this bill, but we expect the Judiciary Committee to report it out of their committee. General Law Committee chair Rep. Fox (D - Stamford) has promised CRMA that he will continue to keep an open mind of the bill, which is one of the Attorney General's favorites.
Legislative Reception only two weeks away:
· Our annual Legislative Reception is only two weeks away. It is scheduled for May 14, 2002 at the State Capitol's Old Judiciary Room. The reception is no cost to members and will be held from 6:00pm too 8:00pm.
· With all the issues facing retailers this year, it is a great time for members to come to the capitol and speak with legislators face to face about our concerns. If you would like to attend please RSVP to our office by calling 860-527-1044 or by email through our website, www.crmaonline.com
· If your schedule permits, I would encourage all members to attend, it is a great way for you to meet members of the General Assembly in a causal setting.
CRMA Golf Classic June 10th Blacklege CC Hebron, CT - BE THERE!:
· Registrations for the golf tournament are starting to come in and we would encourage all members to send theirs in today.
· The golf classic is a fundraiser for the CRMA and is being held on June 10th. Please make every effort to be there. For more information or to register online, please visit our website, www.crmaonline.com
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