EDITORIAL: RELL’S VETO OF NUTRITION BILL MISGUIDED

Governor Rell has vetoed a bill designed to tackle obesity. Senate Bill 1080, An Act Concerning Access to Health and Nutritional Information in Restaurants: This bill would have required chain restaurants in Connecticut to disclose on their printed menus or menu boards total calorie counts for standard menu items. The state Department of Public Health would have been charged with enforcing the measure.

Although Governor Rell noted the cost such a bill would impose on restaurateurs and on the Department of Public Health,  by stating “This is hardly the economic climate in which to further burden our businesses and state agencies”, she failed to not that the bill had a clause at 4 (g) which states: (g) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to preclude any chain restaurant from voluntarily providing nutritional information that is supplemental to the requirements of this section. In other words the bill would have allowed restaurants covered by bill to act voluntarily. No statement from the Governor on the cost of such voluntary actions or proof that such actions would and do negatively impact the bottom line of Restaurants. The bill would also have repealed Section 19a-36a of the general statutes and added the requirement that the Department of Public Health monitor compliance. This was also cited by the Governor as costly to restaurants. However a detailed reading of the bill revels that it only required “reasonable” actions to comply. The use of this word provided a means for restaurants to comply and not face economic hardship, yet the Governor did not mention this provision which states: (11) “Reasonable means” means any reasonable means recognized by the federal Food and Drug Administration in determining nutritional information and calorie total information for a standard menu item, as such item is usually prepared and offered for sale, including, but not limited to, use of nutrient databases and laboratory analyses.

Obesity is associated with many diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. This disease was the target of the bill not the economic well being of restaurants. We urge the Legislature to over ride the Governors veto.

HIMES ANNOUNCES TAX CREDIT

Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) has announced an $85 million tax credit for GE Capital through the New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) Program.  The credits will allow the Norwalk-based company to invest and attract capital to make loans to businesses within distressed communities. The company plans to focus their efforts in the areas of sustainable forest products and renewable energy projects across the country.

With resources made possible through the Recovery Act, the NMTC Program injects private-sector capital investment into communities to create jobs, stimulate economic growth, and jumpstart the lending necessary for financial stability.

“Making credit available to businesses throughout the country is a critical piece of getting our economy moving again,” said Congressman Himes. “This tax credit will help GE keep and create financial services jobs in Norwalk while doing important work to help businesses throughout the country thrive.”

The NMTC Program permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in investment vehicles known as Community Development Entities (CDEs). A majority of the taxpayer’s investment must, in turn, be used by the CDE to make qualified investments in low-income communities.

“We’re very pleased to be chosen to participate in this program,” said Tom Quindlen, CEO, GE Capital, Corporate Finance.  “These tax credits are a key enabler for financing businesses in economically depressed, rural areas that will add jobs and provide other support to the local community.”

To date, close to $12 billion of private-sector capital has been invested through the NMTC Program into urban and rural communities throughout the country. Data reported through 2007 shows that $9 billion dollars of NMTC capital has been invested into approximately 2,000 businesses and real estate developments – helping to develop or rehabilitate over 68 million square feet of real estate, create 210,000 construction jobs, and create or maintain 45,000 full time equivalent jobs at businesses in low-income communities.

Additional information on the NMTC Program can be found on the CDFI Fund’s web site at: www.cdfifund.gov.