In This Issue:
From Paddi's Desk
CT Agency Corner
Municipal Roundup
From Inside The Golden Dome
This Day in CT History
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Pull the Plug
As the governor returns to a snow storm outside, he found one inside the capitol as well. It appears that his state trip to Israel was successful and identified many opportunities for the state in the advancement of several critical industries for CT's future growth. With a return to typical New England weather complete with snow, sleet, and freezing rain greeting the Governor, he also faced an administration with some chinks in its armor.
Yesterday, in a media event, the House Republicans pushed for an investigation similar to others that were convened related to then Governor John Rowland and Senate Republican Leader Lou DeLuca several years back. The theme appeared to be ….”What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”. While the legislature’s Democratic leaders weighed in gingerly, they seemed to agree that “where there’s smoke, there more than likely is fire” and it deserves a peek under the covers, but not now with a federal criminal investigation underway. Seems like even the governor agrees that there’s a need for everyone to understand the multiple levels of concern identified – not only the potential criminal activities of certain appointed people – though almost no one seems to imply the governor himself was involved - there is plenty of talk in the halls of other instances of lack of judgement, lack of oversight and supervision, as well as additional people engaged in the school construction mess and potentially other areas of interest to the FBI.
By this afternoon an all-hands-on-deck commissioners meeting will take place and then a media appearance by the governor. We should know for sure afterwards whether OPM Secretary McCaw resigns, was forced out, or was asked by the governor to step down. It’s pretty sure that the next OPM secretary will certainly have a close relationship with the governor and will need to have an extensive working knowledge of state and local government since we’re in the midst of important budget discussions and negotiations. Of course there are rumors galore of potential appointments. Is it someone in the administration? Would someone in the cabinet slide over to take on a new challenge? Does the governor go outside CT government as he has in the past and look for a fresh face? Or will he lean on the current staff at OPM to get thru the next 70 + days? We should know the answer to these questions soon enough. The position is too critical to day to day government operations as well as the upcoming governor’s reelection campaign.
So while the rest of the legislature is engaged in public hearings, the leadership is looking to figure out its role in this boondoggle. The deputy leaders of both caucuses are reviewing the COVID-19 protocols for the next steps for the legislature. Word has it that the café will be open for a shortened schedule next week and that there’s a 14 day assessment period as to when the doors of the Capitol and Legislative Office Building are flung wide open for the public and lobbyists to return to our normal activities.
With the shortest session in decades closing out its first quarter of activities, dare I say there’s light at the end of the tunnel?
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List of Legislators not Seeking Re-Election
We would like to give a huge thanks to the following legislators that will not be seeking re-election this year for all they have done for Connecticut, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors!
- Rep. Whitt Betts
- Rep. Tony D'Amelio
- Rep. David Wilson
- Rep. Joe De La Cruz
- Sen. Will Haskell
- Rep. Brandon McGee
- Sen. Kevin Witkos
- Sen. Dan Champagne
- Sen. Paul Formica
- Sen. Craig Miner
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A $250M Problem - Will the state invest, or sweep it under the rug?
It’s probably a surprise reading about Connecticut having a budget problem since the state has a $2.5B surplus, $3.2B rainy day fund and has significantly begun to make a dent in their unfunded liability contributions. Where could there still be budget issues? Look no further than the community college system.
Declining enrollments (especially after the pandemic) hasn’t been easy for the state college and university system to manage and to make matters worse they have been underinvested by the state for years and have not been able to adopt and approve their consolidation efforts to bring all 17 schools under one management roof. It was announced this week by Ben Barnes, former Malloy budget chief and CFO for the CSU system, that the deficit of $250M will need to have tuition increases (which were recently approved) and have contributions by the state.
Governor Lamont committed in his budget to give the system $100M of the $250M needed which is still $150M short but the Appropriations Committee is permitted to fund the remaining balance. Funding community colleges is a very thankless task from the perspective of lawmakers who don’t individually benefit as much for making the payments (and then having the system likely fall into deficit again) but it is an important investment that is maintained as part of the “social services safety net”. The increase per student comes to $244 and the board seemed this week very reluctant to pass on the debt to students but CSU is doing this in a way to show the state they’re will to make tough choices as well in order to solve this problem.
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Delay your Reval?
The legislature is in session, and with that comes a plethora of proposals impacting local municipalities. Some welcome changes, others maybe not. There is a proposed bill that could provide homeowners in some Connecticut municipalities with a brief reprieve by allowing local officials to delay property revaluations up to one year.
Connecticut property values have rebounded during the COVID-19 pandemic to levels not seen since the real estate boom of the mid 2000s, as residents of major cities like New York and Boston have sought an escape to more rural destinations. In some instances, that has impacted annual tax bills homeowners and businesses pay municipalities where they are located. For example, Bridgeport’s “grand list” of property values jumped 23 percent last year.
The bill was proposed last week in the General Assembly, where it will get an initial consideration in the Planning & Development Committee. The bill would allow municipalities to delay up to one year any initiation of revaluations through 2023. Under Connecticut law, municipalities complete property revaluations every five years, with taxpayers able to challenge those findings to lower their property assessments. Stamford, Danbury, Middletown, Ansonia, Bethel, Guilford, Newtown, Orange, Redding, Ridgefield and Wilton are among those that have revaluations underway this year.
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Fiscal Impact of a Retirement Wave
Who else is dreaming of warmer weather and sunnier days? As we continue our deep dive into specifics around the Governor’s budget on this cold and wet day, our focus comes to our third installment of our budget deep dive, the oncoming wave of retirements. I know, exciting stuff if you are one of the 8,145 employees that are eligible to retire this year among the roughly 30,000 people who work for the State’s executive agencies. As the state prepares to transition through the upcoming retirement surge, the Governor will have a lot of vacancies to deal with.
Each year, thousands of employees join and leave state service. As state employee turnover has accelerated and will continue to grow in the face of the anticipated retirement wave in July 2022, the Governor’s budget aims to meet this obvious challenge. The Governor’s budget reallocates 483 staff with funding of $39 million in staffing costs and $32 million in operating expenses across all appropriated funds. Funding is allocated to ensure that the human resources team is adequately resourced to meet state agency workforce demands. Also in the budget is $1.2 million in spending for thirteen positions within the statewide human resources unit. The legislature also expressed concern during recent public hearings related to the Governor’s proposed state budget. With committee leadership asking agency heads across the board how they were planning to address these issues and what plans were they executing to adjust for the vacancies that will be rolling through over the next several months. Most importantly, legislators asked which critical positions will need to be filled in order for the agency to get their various missions accomplished. On cold days like today I think we can all dream of warmer months and maybe even, that time down the road when we retire!
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February 25th: Samuel Colt Finally Gets His Shot at Success
Today in 1836, Hartford inventor Samuel Colt — after being expelled from school, sailing the seas, and touring as a showman demonstrating the unusual effects of nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas” –received a U.S. patent for the first revolving chamber percussion pistol. This was a dramatically new type of firearm, which would revolutionize the settlement of the American West and make Connecticut a world leader in arms manufacturing.
Colt’s revolver had its roots in young Samuel’s inability to stay focused at the boarding school where his father had sent him; he preferred reading scientific encyclopedias and tinkering with his own experiments over tending to his schoolwork, and was consequently expelled. Figuring a life at sea might be more suitable for the restless young man, Samuel’s father found him work aboard the India-bound merchant ship Corvo. There, after studying the turning and locking mechanisms of the ship’s wheel and rudder, Colt was inspired to create a prototype of a pistol with a revolving chamber, which allowed it to fire multiple bullets before reloading.
After his return to the United States, it would take Colt four years to raise the money needed to perfect his pistol prototype. During that time, Colt toured as “Dr. Coult, of New York, London, and Calcutta,” a “practiced chemist,” publicly demonstrating the unusual effects of the gas nitrous oxide. These effects, his advertisements noted, included laughing, dancing, singing, and a “propensity [for] muscular exertion, such as wrestling, boxing, etc.”
Finally, on February 25, 1836, Samuel Colt was awarded his first patent for what became the world’s first practical revolver: a semi-automatic percussion-cap pistol with a revolving chamber that could fire six consecutive bullets without reloading. A few months later, Colt secured a second patent for a similar revolver design; together, his two patents formed the basis for the famous Colt Paterson revolver — the first revolver mass-produced by Colt’s nascent firearms company, which was then based in Paterson, New Jersey. After several years of shaky sales and unstable finances, glowing reviews about Colt’s revolvers from the Mexican-American war front caused a huge spike in demand — enough for Colt to restructure his company and move it to Hartford, Connecticut, where he proceeded to build a massive factory on the banks of the Connecticut river in 1847.
In Hartford, the Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company pioneered revolutionary advances in mass manufacturing. One of Colt’s earliest goals was to ensure his pistols were made with 100 percent interchangeable parts, and his was one of the first factories in the world to implement an assembly line. The reliability of Colt’s firearms and the speed at which he could produce them landed the company countless U.S. military contracts, making Samuel Colt one of the richest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1862. Colt’s revolvers became an American icon, famously used by the pioneers, cowboys, and prospectors who fueled 19th century America’s westward expansion, and today, remains one of the most widely recognized firearms brands in the world. One of Connecticut’s most famous inventors secured a patent that would change the face of Hartford — and the entire American West — forever, today in Connecticut history.
The original article from the CT Humanities Council can be found here.
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Sullivan & LeShane, Inc.
www.ctlobby.com | (860) 560-0000
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