Connecticut Lodging Association
05/10/2022
Paolino Public Affairs Legislative Consulting, Inc. Legislative Report
Attached is your weekly legislative bill tracking report. We are currently in the process of curating a more detailed analysis, and will be sending it along next week. The 2022 Connecticut General Assembly legislative session ended Wednesday, May 4, 2022, at midnight. This was the “short” session which is convened in the even years. Although this was a short session there were some highlights and many initiatives from children’s mental health to historic tax cuts were achieved.

Late in the session the legislature passed a $24 billion budget that featured numerous tax cuts and increased spending on initiatives like mental health for children to raises and bonuses for state employees to avoid a “silver tsunami”. With thousands of state employees planning to retire, the Governor thought this package would mitigate the exodus.
CRA Webinar: Legislative Session Recap & Industry Update
Join CRA President & CEO, Scott Dolch, and CRA contract lobbyist, Nicole Griffin, for an industry update webinar on Wednesday at 10AM. Zoom registration is required.

With legislative session ending last week, we will update everyone on new bills that passed and proposed legislation we were able to kill. In addition, we will provide industry updates at the local, state, and federal level.

Wednesday, May 11th at 10 a.m. via Zoom
Coronavirus (COVID19) in Connecticut
Connecticut Update: as of May 9, 2022 4:00 p.m. portal.ct.gov/coronavirus
Overall Summary Total**; Change Since Yesterday
COVID-19 Cases; 834,379; +8,476
COVID-19 Tests Reported; 14,183,304; +75,030
Daily Test Positivity; 11.3%
Patients Currently Hospitalized with COVID-19; 276; +46
**Includes confirmed plus probable cases
U.S. - COVID19: What is the current situation?
Cases & Latest Updates 5/9/22 Cases in U.S.
Total cases: 81,717,488 +24,403
Total deaths: 995,118 +33
Global
World Health Organization Situation Report who.int
515,192,979 cases; +3,488,304
6,254,140; deaths; +12,648

Connecticut News

CT's 7-Day Rolling COVID-19 Positivity Rate at 11.3% nbcconnecticut.com

COVID cases spike sharply in CT schools, data shows ctinsider.com
National News

U.S. will limit next-generation Covid vaccines to high-risk people this fall if Congress doesn’t approve more funding cnbc.com

Why 100 million Americans could be infected during COVID surge this fall abcnews.go.com
Hotel News
New Q1 2022 Travel Trend Report Shows Rising Travel Intent and Growing Traveler Confidence

A Short Guide to Cost-Effectiveness – 6 Ways to Reduce the Pressure of Increasing Costs

Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index Rose 0.7% in April

CBRE: Key hotel trends continue to improve
Hotel Jobs Gain, Still Lag Broader Economy
The U.S. economy added 428,000 jobs in April, beating expectations and meaning that 95% of pre-pandemic jobs have returned, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April jobs report released today. 

The Accommodations sector added 22,000 jobs, putting hotels still down 404,000 jobs compared to pre-pandemic levels, or 81%. 

Overall hotel wages were up 14% compared to the prior year, nearly three times as much as total U.S. wages and far outpacing inflation (+8.5% year over year). 

With 22,000 jobs added, the industry is chipping away at the workforce shortfall, but there is a long way to go back to full employment for the industry. 

AHLA will continue to advocate at the federal, state, and local level for policies that will bring us to a full recovery. 
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