|
Sponsors
|
 Friday
Facts - Archives -
Month of
February 2009
Current
Week
February 20, 2009
Budget Battle Emerges between the Executive and Legislative
Branches
Other News and Notes from the State Capitol
Legislative Committee Conference Call
Member Services Update
Retail News and Notes
• So, what’s two billion dollars between friends?
• That seems to be the big sticking point as the issue of the
ever growing State budget gap is really picking up steam.
• What is at issue here is that the Governor presented a
budget to the General Assembly two weeks ago that closes, what
her administration says is, a $6 billion gap, but the
Legislative Fiscal Office is claiming that the budget gap is
closer to $8 billion dollars.
• And the Democratic Majority has dug up some press reports
and quotes from the Administration showing that they too
thought the budget gap was $8 billion.
• So, why the $6 billion number?
• Good question say Senate and House Democrats and on Monday
of this week the General Assembly’s Finance Committee will
hold a public hearing on a number of bills and will set aside
an extra hour to have a little public chat with some
administration officials about that little extra $2 billion.
• Stay tuned!
Other News and Notes from the State
Capitol
• Monday and Tuesday are expected to be busy days for us, as a
number of Committees hold hearings on bills that directly
impact retailers.
• On Monday. as we mentioned, the Finance Committee is holding
a public hearing on a number of bills.
• Two will impact retailers.
• One, SB 933 “ACC The Governor’s Recommendations On Revenue”
implements the Governor’s revenue plan and includes a section
that would eliminate the Sales Tax Holiday on clothing and
footwear.
• They will also be hearing a bill that INCREASES the sales
tax one percent, moving it from its current 6% level to 7%.
• On Tuesday we will be bouncing between three Committees.
• Both the General Law Committee and the Banks Committee will
be holding public hearings on identity theft bills while later
in the day the Labor Committee will be holding a public
hearing on paid sick leave bill.
• We will strongly oppose that bill and will testify before
the Labor Committee.
• Finally, Labor is also hearing testimony on SB 733 “AC
Creating A Consumer Reporting Agency Reporting A Prospective
Employee’s Erased Criminal History” which deals with the
erasure of criminal history after pardons and how that
information is used on background reports that many employers
review.
• On Wednesday the House and Senate will both be in session,
where they will be taking up the Governor’s plan to close this
current year budget gap that is close to $1 billion dollars.
• Finally, on Thursday on this week, the General Law Committee
will be holding a public hearing on two bills that are
important to us.
• SB 974 “ACC Organized Retail Theft” is one that we have
asked the Committee to raise.
• ORC legislation is a very important one for CRMA members and
we are pleased to see the Committee hold a public hearing on
this bill.
• Also, the General Law Committee will be holding a hearing on
HB 6516 “AAC Establishing Minimum Retail Refund and Exchange
Policies”. This bill is a favorite of the Chair of the
Committee, Rep. Jim Shapiro (D-Stamford). We encourage all
members to review this bill closely and send us your comments.
• One final note from the Capitol.
• It appears that there will be some vote, most likely over
our objections, by the Environment Committee on legislation to
place a 5 cent fee on the purchase of plastic or paper bags.
• CRMA attended a meeting with a key legislator on the issue,
Rep. Kim Fawcett (D- Fairfield) who is strongly in favor of
forcing retailers to collect this fee at the point of sale.
• Despite our arguments to the contrary, it appears that Rep,
Fawcett is going to ram her bill thru the Environment
Committee.
• We will continue to raise our concerns to that Committee as
well as the other Committees that are expected to review this
bill before it comes for a full vote of the General Assembly.
Legislative Committee Conference Call
• In between all of these hearings, our next Legislative
Committee conference call will take place.
• This week’s call will once again take place on it usually
day and time, Wednesday at 11:00 EST. All members are welcome
to participate. Please call our office at 860-527-1044 for
more information.
Member Services Update
• CRMA member service report for this week is that we are
cautiously moving forward with our planed group workers
compensation program.
• We hope to have something to report back to members very
shortly in this area, including plan details and kick off
date.
• Also, please remember that we are your source for ways to
control your costs in key areas of your budget.
• We can help with savings in bankcard processing, energy
supply, group health insurance and all you telecom needs.
• Please call our office today at 860-527-1044 for more
information on any of these programs.
Retail News and Notes
•
Kmart launches in-house shoe lines
Since taking its shoe business in-house, Kmart has introduced
1,000 styles, focusing on inexpensive shoes with style and
comfort. Among the offerings is the Protégé for men and boys,
co-designed by the NBA's Al Harrington.
Chicago Sun-Times (2/19)
•
Study: Dollar stores to benefit from value-oriented customers
Customers are shopping less frequently in all retail channels
except for supercenters, a study found. However, dollar stores
and small-format retailers might see increased traffic this
year.
Drug Store News (free registration) (2/19)
•
How can department stores retain customers?
Department stores might not rebound from the recession along
with the economy, analysts say. However, analysts say stores
can increase their chances by improving some things, such as
reorganizing stores so items are easier to find, addressing
customers' questions about the cost of goods, and helping
suppliers establish relationships with customers.
The Dallas Morning News (2/19)
|
