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Facts - Archives -
Month of May 2007Current
Week
May 25, 2007
Clothing Allowance Exemption in Serious Jeopardy as Budget
Negotiations Begin
CRMA Urges Members to Contact Key Legislators
Banker’s Security Breach Bill Dead for the Year
Other News and Notes from the Capitol
Golf Classic Update
Retail News and Notes
• Negotiations are ongoing by legislative leaders to adopt a
new 2 year state budget and CRMA is watching those discussions
very closely because they included a serious consideration to
eliminate the sales tax clothing exemption allowance.
• CRMA has learned that there are key legislators that favor
eliminating the clothing exemption allowance and are pushing
very hard for that during these negotiations.
• The General Assembly has until June 6th to adopt a state
budget.
• CRMA has gone on record as strongly opposing this repeal and
will continue to work had at keeping the exemption in place.
• Later today we will be sending an alert to members urging
them to contact key legislators expressing their opposition.
Banker’s Security Breach Bill Dead for
the Year
• We have some good news to report.
• Last week we were successful in persuading the Senate
Chairman of the Banks Committee, Sen. Bob Duff, not to take up
SB 1089 “An Act Encouraging the Safekeeping of Consumer
Information in Retail Establishments”.
• This bill would have forced retailers to pay banks and other
financial institutions for the cost of canceling and reissuing
credit and debit cards due to a security breach.
• We are very pleased and gratified that Sen. Duff listened to
our arguments because this is a very hot issue that is now
hitting a number of state legislatures around the country.
• We also need to publicly thank 2 key State Senators: Sen.
Andrea Stillman, (D- Waterford) and Sen. Edith Prague
(D-Columbia) for their strong support of our position.
• Senator’s Stillman and Prague followed up on our arguments
with Sen. Duff in caucus and were key in getting him to agree
not to call the bill.
• Also, thank you to all our members who made calls or emailed
their legislators on this issue.
Other News and Notes from the State
Capitol
• With two weeks to go in the regular session there are still
a number of issues on the table that we are following.
• First one to report however is one that we don’t think is
going anywhere anymore this session.
• The bill to expand the bottle bill to water and sports
drinks appears to be dead for the year. Last week the bill was
sent to the General Law Committee where it did not receive the
necessary votes to advance any further.
• Congratulations to our friends at the Connecticut Food
Association for their work on killing this bill.
• Proponents think they may have a shot at amending it but
that appears to be a long shot and after House Speaker Jim
Amann (D-Milford) announced in a press conference yesterday
that the bill was “dead” for the year.
• No movement on the menu labeling or trans fats bills – which
is just the way we want it.
• Action is picking up on a bill that would create a recycling
program for electronic waste.
• There have been many discussions on that bill, which CRMA
has been involved and active in and it appears that the bill
we favor HB 7249 “ACC The Collection and Recycling of Covered
Electronic Devices” a producer responsibility bill will be
ready for a vote before the session adjourns.
• Our LP bill –SB 1306 “AAC Organized Retail Theft” – is still
sitting on the Senate calendar awaiting action.
• The Sen. Chair of the General Law committee has been
reluctant to move any of his bills after a heated debate on
another issue earlier this session.
• We will keep working with him and hopefully he will move our
bill before the session adjourns.
• This week the Appropriations Committee sent out a very
harmful bill to employers including all retailers when SB 601
“An Act Mandating Employers to Provide Paid Sick Leave to
Employees” received a favorable vote in committee.
• This bill would allow part time workers to become eligible
for paid SICK LEAVE.
• We are working with CBIA and other business groups to kill
this bill. Please call our office for more information on ways
you can help.
• One final note from the State Capitol.
• On Thursday of last week we held our annual legislative
reception and it was a huge success. We want to thank all
members who attended and let them know we appreciate them
taking time from their busy schedules to join us.
• It made a strong impression on the legislators in
attendance.
Golf Classic Update
• Amid all the craziness of what is going on at the State
Capitol, we are also fast approaching our Annual Golf Classic.
• Please consider helping us this year by buying a foursome,
purchasing a tee sign, or donating a raffle prize or all of
these things.
• The Golf Classic is an important fundraiser for CRMA and we
need your help.
• This year’s event is being held on June 26th at Blackledge
CC, in Hebron, CT.
• Please call Cathy in our office for more information,
860-527-1044.
Retail News and Notes
•
Study: IKEA ranks strong on reputation
Home furnishings company IKEA ranked among the top five
companies globally in five of the seven "dimensions" measured
by the Reputation Institute in a recent consumer study.
Participants rated 200 companies that were grouped in seven
areas: products/services, governance, citizenship, innovation,
leadership, workplace and performance.
Forbes (5/21)
•
Gift-card market heats up, prompts innovation,
the gift card market in the U.S. reportedly was worth more
than $80 billion in 2006, and companies are responding to
increased competition by developing new types of cards. Lands'
End offered Mother's Day gift cards with the option to record
a 10-second audio message, and Target, which sold about $338
million in gift cards that had not been redeemed yet in
February, is selling a Karaoke Chipmunk card that transforms a
recorded message into a high-pitched song.
Financial Times
(subscription required) (5/22)
•
Consumers to spend $50 on each graduation gift, according to
NRF Survey
Good things will come in small packages for millions of high
school and college graduates this year. According to the
National Retail Federation's inaugural Graduation survey,
conducted by BIGresearch, gift cards (31.3%) and cash (58.8%)
will be the most popular graduation gifts, while tangible
favorites like apparel (9.1%) and electronics (11.5%) will
take a backseat. In addition to gifts, many consumers also
plan to give a greeting card (35.7%).
Read more here..
May 11, 2007
CRMA Legislative Reception This Thursday, May 17th
Budget Battle Update/CRMA Fighting to Keep Sales Tax Emption
on Clothing & Footwear
Other Capitol News and Notes
CRMA Golf Classic
Retail News and Notes
• The Connecticut General Assembly is chugging toward the
finish line, with less than 21 session days to go before
adjournment.
• With the close of the session now within sight, as you will
see from this report, there are still lots of important bills
pending that impact retailers.
• Because of those bills our annual Legislative Reception will
become an important event.
• Our event, which is co-sponsored by the CT Chapter of the
ICSC, will be held on Thursday May 17th from 5:00pm to 7:30 pm
in the OLD APPROPRIATIONS ROOM OF THE STATE CAPITOL.
• The event is open to all retailers. Please try to stop by,
even if only for a few moments. This event is a very important
opportunity for members to speak to Legislators in a casual
setting about their business and about issues that are pending
at the State Capitol.
• If you are interested in attending, please call Cathy in our
office for more information, 860-527-1044.
• Your presence will make a big impression on your Legislator
and will go a long way towards helping CRMA on the many
legislative issues we are dealing with.
Budget Battle Update/CRMA Fighting to
Keep Sales Tax Emption on Clothing & Footwear
• It is what has become an almost predictable game of back and
forth, leaders of both Chambers of the General Assembly and
the Governor’s office have begun working on the adoption of a
state budget.
• This week their work may have gotten a little easier as the
Governor announced that State revenue’s have far exceeded what
both she and the General Assembly initially thought.
• With that additional revenue lots of disagreements can go
away.
• But for retailers, there is still a lot at stake with this
budget.
• The tax package that was approved by the Finance Committee
ELIMANATED the $50 exemption allowance for clothing and
footwear. We are fighting hard to get that exemption back!
• One reason for this was because the Finance Committee tax
package allows Connecticut to join the Multi State Streamlined
Sales Tax Compact which was set up to collect sales tax on
internet sales. (For more information on the Compact please
visit
www.streamlinedsalestax.org)
• Because sales tax will be collected on internet purchases,
the Committee felt tax exemption on clothing and footwear
under $50 could be eliminated.
• Although we are pleased to see that the Committee has heard
our plea on internet sales, CT joining The Compact does not
make online retailers pay sales tax into the state right away;
there is a lengthy and complicated process that must be
followed.
• And more importantly, by eliminating the $50 sales tax
exemption allowance CT retailers will be placed at a
competitive disadvantage with surrounding States that have
higher sales tax exemption allowances.
• The announcement that the state is anticipating more income
will go a long way to helping us make our case that there is
money to put the clothing exemption back.
• We have support from the Speaker of the House and the
Minority Leaders of both the House and the Senate, and the
Governor.
• But, we still have our work cut out for us and will keep
plugging away on the issue.
Other Capitol News and Notes
• There are lots of issues that we are working on so lets get
right to them:
• SB 1089 – “An Act Encouraging the Safekeeping of Consumer
Information” remains high on our priority list to STOP.
• This bill was introduced by the Banking community and would
force retailers to pay banks for the cost of canceling and
reissuing credit and debit cards in the case of a security
breach.
• The bill is pending in the State Senate, where we were
successful last week in delaying the vote.
• This is a bad bill for retailers and we encourage retailers
to call their State Senator today to tell them to vote no on
this bill.
• Also, we are hopeful the Senate will soon consider our
Organized Retail Theft bill, SB 1306.
• The bill was favorably reported out of the General Law and
Judiciary Committees and should be ready for action this week.
• On Wednesday of this week the GAE Committee gave unanimous
support to HB 7249, “ACC the Collection and Recycling of
Covered Electronic Devices”.
• CRMA has taken a leadership role on this issue and we
continue to work with proponents of the bill to fine tune the
final product. We hope that the full House will take up this
bill within the next 2 weeks.
• The Health Care debate continues to move slowly beneath the
surface at the General Assembly and in many ways is entangled
with the budget debate.
• There remains any number of different proposals pending,
including a single payer system that is being strongly
advocated by the Senate President.
• The key element to any health care bill remains a funding
mechanism, which remains the biggest wildcard.
• Finally, the Senate gave passage to 2 bills we opposed last
week. One is SB 686 “ACC Access to Health and Nutritional
Information in Restaurants” which was supported by the Sen.
President.
• CRMA will fight this bill in the House. The requirement that
retailers include calorie information on menu boards is simply
unworkable for many of our QSR members.
• We would encourage members to call our office today for more
information on how to help on this bill.
• The other bill the State Senate passed last week was a bill
banning Trans Fats in the State beginning in 2007.
• That bill, which was added as an amendment to another bill
was introduced by two Republican members of the State Senate
but received support from the majority Democrats.
• We will also be watching that bill very closely in the
House.
• For up to the minute news on what is happening on all of
these issues and the state budget, we encourage all members to
participate in our Legislative Committee conference calls.
• Our next conference call is scheduled for Wednesday May 16,
2007 at 10:00 AM EST. Please call Cathy in our office at
860-527-1044 for more information.
• And, don’t forget our Legislative Reception this Thursday.
It is the perfect opportunity to discuss these issues with
your local Legislator.
CRMA Golf Classic
• Boy how time flies! It is golf season and our Annual Golf
Classic is right around the corner.
• This year’s event will be held on June 26, 2007, at
Blackledge CC in Hebron CT.
• For more information about the event, please contact Cathy
at 860-527-1044 or
cathy@crmaonline.com today!
• There are a variety of ways you can participate in this
year’s event and we hope all members will find a way to help.
• The Golf Classic is a very, very, important event for the
CRMA so please consider joining us on June 26, 2007.
Retail News and Notes
• NRF: Mother's Day spending to total $15.73 billion. This
year's Mother's Day revelers will spend about $20 more per
person than last year's, the National Retail Federation said.
"For mom, it's the thought that counts," NRF President Tracy
Mullin said. "As people find more creative ways to treat the
women in their lives to something special, retailers of all
types and sizes stand to benefit from Mother's Day."
MyrtleBeachOnline.com (S.C.)
(5/10)
• McDonald's keeps Chicago's Olympic bid at arm's length
Because of it's longstanding sponsorship ties to the Olympics,
McDonald's can't lend its support to Chicago's bid to host the
2016 Games even though the restaurant chain is headquartered
in nearby Oak Brook, Ill. The International Olympic Committee
forbids leading sponsors from lobbying on behalf of cities
looking to host the Games.
The Wall Street Journal
(subscription required) (5/11)
• Forever 21 positioning to be retail powerhouse. Forever 21
had humble beginnings in the 1980s as a small downtown Los
Angeles shop offering merchandise for children. Now the
cheap-chic apparel retailer, still owned by founders Don and
Jin Chang, is a major mall force -- despite some grumbling
from certain designers.
The New York Times
(5/10)
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