Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

Connecticut state legislators have backed off a plan–pushed by bank lobbyists and opposed by retail groups–to make retailers who are found to be at fault in data security efforts pay all bank costs, according to this fascinating Hartford Business Journal story.

Despite lobbyist arguments that TJX was merely a victim of the cyber thieves who orchestrated the data heist, Connecticut state Sen. Bob Duff wasn’t buying it. “I still blame TJX. They should be blamed, they should be sued, they should be fined,” he said.

But Duff did yield to the argument that such a bill would financially desrtroy small retailers and ultimately backed off. The Hartford Business Journal story gives us a great–and rare–peek behind the scenes at one state’s legislative maneuverings.