The Connecticut General Assembly is scheduled to begin its 2010 session on Feb 3.  This year is a ”short session” and will run through May 5.  With the state’s budget deficit already projected at $500 million since the recent passage of the 2 year budget, the legislature is expected to concentrate on budget issues during the session. CFA’s legislative committee has been hard at work laying the groundwork for advancing our pro-active issues- ending Connecticut’s blue laws which would allow the sales of alcoholic beverages on Sunday and allowing grocery stores to sell wine.  The committee has also developed tactics to address our defensive issues such as minimum wage, paid sick leave, further bottle bill expansion, milk pricing, and plastic ban bags.

Depending on the particular committee, we will have a good idea of the bills that will be raised by February 19, 2010 and be able to adjust our tactics accordingly.  Recognizing that a unique window exists for the approval of Sunday sales of alcoholic beverages due to the budget deficit, CFA has prioritized this issue for the current session. A full blown “End Connecticut’s Blue Laws” campaign has been developed and will be implemented in early Feb.  Moreover, CFA met with Co-Chair of the Environmental Committee, Richard Roy to discuss potential legislation that could come out of that committee this year. The outlook on our key issues is promising.  Based on the way 2009’s legislation played out, bills calling for the expansion of the bottle law and plastic bag issues are unlikely to be raised.  However, bills calling for an increase in handling fees are also unlikely.

CFA continues to be proactive in promoting the use of reusable checkout bags. In cooperation with CFA member, Univision, a Spanish language Public Service Announcement, Think Green Act Green,  was produced and will air the next 4 weeks.
We continue to work with DEP to resolve the “deposit initiator” definition issue raised by the new bottle law. While progress has been made, the status quo continues.

Our first event of the year was an outstanding success.  Approximately 200 people were in attendance at the Annual Meeting, Installation of Officers and Wine Tasting on Jan 21 at St. Clement’s Castle.  In addition to tasting wines from local Connecticut wineries, the crowd heard words of wisdom from CPTV UCONN’s women’s basketball analyst, Meghan Culmo. With a sense of humor, Meghan related tales of playing for Gino as team captain, as an assistant coach, and trying to keep this year’s broadcasts interesting as UCONN continues to dominate the women’s basketball scene.