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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They are off and running...
This week was one of the busiest yet for the 2022 session. Committee leaders and their staff organized their annual lobbyist meet and greet for the upcoming session as they attempt to manage the short 84 day calendar. Virtual meetings included Republican ranking members as well as committee chairs and the four caucus staffs, representatives from the Office of Legislative Research and the legislative commissioners.
In a form of speed dating, special interest groups have the opportunity to introduce their organizational representatives as well as their lobbyist to get a peek into what’s on their minds in terms of supporting and opposing legislation. Not many commitments were made but committee leaders had an opportunity to hear what’s on their minds and special interest groups get a peek into the urgency of action for such a short session.
With a lack of in-person meetings, this is as good as it can get. We’re now aware that the legislature will be holding virtual public hearings and committee meetings for at least the month of February. With upcoming senate and house sessions for addressing the emergency powers of the governor through legislation and appointments of interim commissioners, who knows at this time whether the building will have open access to the public.
Time will tell. So we’re off and running in less than 10 days and there’s a lot of listening and learning to do in order to be ready for opening day on February 9th.
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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. Bill Buckbee
- Rep. Tony D'Amelio
- Sen. Will Haskell
- Rep. Brandon McGee
- Sen. Kevin Witkos
- Sen. Dan Champagne
- Sen. Paul Formica
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When Retirements Lead to Policy
In a very uncharacteristic move prior to the start of the session, a number of retirements were announced in the Senate with possibly one or two more expected before senators gather around the circle.
Retirements are certainly a part of the process in Connecticut, but the interesting commonality in these three retirements that’s unusual (one Democrat and two Republicans) is that all three districts are considered purple in 2022. Given that these districts are all in play in the election, the policy reflected during the session will need to be carefully considered when it comes to appealing to these voters.
First there’s Sen. Witkos (R-Canton) who is retiring from a seat that has not been held by a Democrat in nearly 50 years. He won his last election in the district by less than 3,000 votes which is a much slimmer margin than normal. This district in large rests in the Farmington Valley, and at this point it is leaning red given the voter track record and dynamic of Trump not being in the White House.
Next is a well known newcomer to politics Sen. Haskell (D-Westport) who at the age of 25 has already built quite a portfolio of accomplishments which now include, yes, publishing his own memoir. As if that wasn’t impressive enough he’s leaving office to go to law school with the anticipation that he undoubtedly will return to politics to conquer bigger challenges. Haskell was the unlikely victor in 2018 in a seat within the heart of Fairfield County that been held by a Republican for years winning by margins in the 16-20 point range. The seat will be heavily contested by both sides and would anticipate a primary for both Republicans and Democrats.
The final seat being vacated by Sen. Formica (R-East Lyme) rests in the Southeast corner of the state and is anticipated to be the most contested race in the state. The reason behind this is the amount of turnover and change this seat has seen over the years and the ever-changing demographics in this pocket of the state. Prior to Sen. Formica’s dominant hold of the seat, Democrats and Republicans have traded places continually in this district and it is arguably the most purple senate seat in the state.
Both caucuses will be announcing their policy initiatives next week for the session and one would assume these priorities for both caucuses will certainly reflect what the voters in these districts are listening to this fall.
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This week the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) released their top priorities for the upcoming 2022 legislative session. The most pressing items focusing on tax and fiscal relief and diversification of municipal income streams. On the infrastructure front, the group is pushing the General Assembly to provide “sustainable funding to maintain and improve state and local transportation infrastructure,” and to make such funding available by supplementing existing state programs, such as the Local Capital Improvement Program and the Local Bridge Program, rather than creating new ones.
CCM’s list also touched on goals related to education, public safety and health, including improved air filtration and ventilation systems for public schools, an expansion of the state’s efforts to contain the opioid epidemic and broader deployment of police body and dash cameras. “These proposals are popular, common-sense initiatives to make life easier and more affordable for Connecticut families and residents,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who also serves as president of CCM.
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Connecticut Senate Republicans Push for Stronger Fentanyl Penalties
Senate Republicans are calling for increased penalties for selling fentanyl, an opioid fifty times more potent than heroin. These calls come after the death of a 13-year-old Hartford boy, who overdosed on fentanyl earlier this month. Senate Republicans also are calling for a three-pronged approach that proposes establishing guidelines to place Narcan in public schools. Narcan is a nasal spray used to resuscitate people experiencing an overdose, and is now available to all of Hartford's public schools, as well as training to properly administer the life-saving drug. The proponents are also looking to create a public awareness campaign about the dangers of fentanyl, paid for by the recent opioid settlement money the state received . The Republicans did not announce exactly how the penalties would be increased, stating that the issue needs to be further discussed with fellow attorneys and lawmakers.
To highlight how serious the current fentanyl situation is in Connecticut, here are a few statistics. In 2020, 1,374 people died in Connecticut from accidental drug overdoses. 84% of those deaths were due to fentanyl. Experts expect total overdoses in Connecticut to have risen above 1,500 in 2021.
Governor Lamont's spokesman Anthony Anthony noted that the Governor has already signed into law stiffer penalties against people illegally dealing fentanyl. He argued that the state should not double up its resources in one place, instead they should be spread around other preventive measures. Let's hope both sides can come to an agreement to address this horrifying plague affecting every community in Connecticut.
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January 28th: The World's First Commercial Telephone Exchange and Connecticut's First Transcontinental Telephone Call
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a U.S. Patent for the first practical telephone design, ushering in one of the most revolutionary devices of the late 19th century. The earliest telephones, however, were extremely limited: they allowed for communication between two receivers, but only if they were directly connected by a single wire. It wasn’t until January 1878 that a New Haven inventor by the name of George Willard Coy created the world’s first commercial telephone exchange, which allowed a single telephone to connect to multiple lines through a central switchboard.
Several months earlier, Coy had attended a lecture in New Haven given by Bell himself, where the inventor first discussed the concept of a central exchange which could, in theory, provide access to multiple telephones using only one connected line. Coy, a Civil War veteran and longtime telegraph operator and office manager, convinced a pair of local investors that he could make Bell’s idea a reality. With their help, he purchased a storefront on State Street in downtown New Haven that soon became home to the world’s first commercial telephone exchange.
The inventive Coy proceeded to build a primitive switchboard from what appeared to be little more than spare parts, including carriage bolts, teapot handles, and a type of metal wire normally used to make ladies’ undergarments. Subscribers to the exchange service would pick up their receivers and speak to an operator, who could then manually connect their line to the telephone of any other fellow subscriber. With this simple setup, a telephone owner only required one single line to be installed — from their home to Coy’s central exchange — in order to reach dozens of different subscribers.
On January 28, 1878, Coy’s telephone exchange, under the aegis of the District Telephone Company of New Haven, went live, ushering the world into a new age of live, long-distance, and convenient communication. For its first month of operation, the District Telephone Company had twenty-one subscribers — mostly businesses and government offices — which paid $1.50 a month for the service. Less than a month later, the number of subscribers had more than doubled, inspiring Coy to publish the world’s first telephone directory on February 21 — a one-page listing of all fifty subscribers on his exchange. The switchboard quickly became a fundamental feature of telephone communications the world over, and Coy’s company, which renamed itself the Southern New England Telephone company in 1882, would become one of New England’s most influential companies of the 20th century.
Thirty-seven years to the day after Coy opened his exchange, Thomas B. Doolitle of Bridgeport, who was then on the Pacific Coast installing the innovative system he had helped develop and was about to use, made the first transcontinental call to Connecticut, to talk to his daughter in Branford. Revolutionary connections made twice, 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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