'Moving the Needle' to Reimagine Connecticut

With the start of the 2025 General Assembly session, the CBIA BizCast team sat down with CBIA vice president of public policy Chris Davis to discuss the session and CBIA’s ReimagineCT policy solutions. Supported by a bipartisan group of 73 lawmakers and a growing coalition of businesses, the policy solutions are designed to drive economic growth, address the high costs of living and running a business, expand career pathways, and foster innovation. "If legislators were able to really sit back and think about, 'Is this making Connecticut more affordable, and is it making easier to employ people here in Connecticut,' I think you'll see a lot of good legislation get passed," Davis said. CBIA developed the solutions in collaboration with residents and business leaders from across the state. “What’s really impressed me is the level of engagement that our business community has, especially around public policy issues,” Davis said. “These are items that they have said to us, ‘If we can implement these changes, we can really start moving the needle here in Connecticut to grow our economy and improve our workforce.’” Davis said the ReimagineCT policy solutions are a way to build coalitions around critical issues to the business community. “It's a way for us to really have those conversations across party lines about these real solutions that will really grow our economy and our workforce," Davis said. "Because at the end of the day, that's not a partisan issue. “Trying to get your constituents more access to jobs and trying to help those businesses within their communities, is something that transcends party.” While Davis and the CBIA’s policy team will be advocating for these solutions at the State Capitol, he said CBIA members and the business community also play an important role. “One of the key things that we do on our public policy team is getting out and meeting with members,” he said. “We oftentimes will bring a legislator with us and have them have the opportunity to see firsthand exactly how that business operates here in Connecticut. “Hearing directly from your own constituent business can play such a huge role in your decision making process as a legislator.” Related Links: ReimagineCT: https://www.cbia.com/news/media-center/reimaginect-cbia-2025-policy-solutions-2 https://www.cbia.com/resources/issues-policies/reimaginect-general-assembly-pledges CBIA Website: https://www.cbia.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/