State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury), Senate Republican Leader Pro Tempore John McKinney (R-Fairfield) and fellow members of the Senate Republican Caucus held a press conference today to announce their legislative priorities for the upcoming 2006 legislative session.  The Senators announced several initiatives they plan to support this session, including efforts to end eminent domain abuse, to increase penalties against sex-offenders, and to close the loopholes in last session’s campaign finance legislation.  The Senators also stated that the primary focus of the session will be to improve the state’s woeful business climate.

“Jobs and the economy are looking to be big topics this year, and this upcoming session will be a perfect opportunity to see which legislative caucus puts its votes behind real business friendly legislation, and which just pays lip service,” said Senator DeLuca.  “For years we have seen Democrats propose all manner of legislation that treats our business community as the enemy, so their recent claims of trying to be more business friendly might well be taken with a grain of salt.  We have 12 votes in our caucus that will support efforts to repeal the corporate surcharge, to defeat ‘pay or play,’ and to improve Connecticut’s business climate.  If the Democrats are sincere about reversing their course and finally supporting business in the state, then we are glad to have them aboard.  Otherwise I anticipate an election year session of rhetoric from the left as Democrats attempt to be both pro-jobs and anti-business.”

“Republicans understand the necessity of making Connecticut more business friendly, and more importantly, we have a far greater understanding of the consequences if we continue down the path of driving businesses out of the state,” said Senator McKinney.  “We need to encourage small business to grow and big business to stay.  We can do this by reducing the tax burden, establishing strategies for power generation and transmission, and making prudent investments in our transportation infrastructure.”

Other initiatives proposed by the Senate Republicans include a cost/benefit analysis of insurance mandates and establishing a state Department of Energy to deal with power generation and transmission concerns throughout Connecticut.