After the longest House debate of the session so far, lawmakers passed the so-called captive audience bill early Thursday morning.
The bill has been hailed by labor but was denounced Thursday by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, which represents 10,000 businesses. CBIA says that the passage of the bill shows that Connecticut is "closed for business'' and will hurt the creation of jobs.
"State representatives who voted for this bill delivered another anti-jobs blow to Connecticut's business community just when employers are reeling from the recession, facing $70 million in higher unemployment taxes, and dealing with the tax increases contained in the new state budget," said Joseph F. Brennan, CBIA's chief lobbyist at the Capitol and senior vice president of government affairs.
Brennan continued, "Legislators ran for office promising to make the economy and jobs their top priorities, but now they have passed one of the biggest anti-business, job-killing measures before them, making Connecticut less competitive and less attractive as a place to do business."
If passed, Connecticut would be the second state in the nation - following Oregon - to have a captive audience law.