April 7, 2021

Rep. Greg Howard: Calling on State to Use Federal Aid for Small Business

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HARTFORD—State Rep. Greg Howard (R-43) on Wednesday joined leaders of Connecticut’s business community in calling for state government to use federal pandemic aid to reduce the amount of unemployment debt employers will have to pay back as they work toward recovery.

“Connecticut needs to take immediate action now or the financial situation for many businesses will get increasingly worse,” said Rep. Howard. “Without this funding, we run the risk of future tax increases that will disproportionately affect small businesses. What we don’t want is to see more mom and pop shops closing therefore leaving more people filing for unemployment benefits. We need to approach this situation in a way that helps job creators, as opposed to burdening them further.”

Representatives from the state’s two largest business advocacy organizations, CBIA and NFIB, joined the Connecticut Restaurant Association on Wednesday in a news conference where they urged the governor and legislature to act on the state’s unemployment debt crisis. Together, the advocates pointed out that other states have already used some pandemic relief aid to reduce unemployment debt.

Rep. Howard mentioned how he is in full support of a House Republican proposal that would have the state use federal aid for this purpose. (HB 5607)