HARTFORD, CT (Feb. 13, 2024) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy association, released the following statement by NFIB State Director Andy Markowski in response to a Labor & Public Employees Committee hearing this afternoon on a bill to require unemployment insurance coverage for striking workers. NFIB strongly opposes such legislation, and Gov. Ned Lamont vetoed a similar bill last year.

“State government shouldn’t pick sides in labor disputes, and small business owners and other state taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for employees who choose to be out of work on strike,” said Markowski. “Paying employees who are not working because they are on strike is an unprecedented policy change and goes against the purpose behind the unemployment benefits system, a system that is funded through taxes on small business owners and other employers.”

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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.