In This Issue:

CT Agency Corner

Municipal Roundup

Inside Scoop

This Day in CT History

This Week's News:

Fairfield recount gives CT House Democrats a 98th seat...

Recount Confirms Fazio Victory In The 36th...

Daum Tapped As State Development Chief...

Consensus Revenue Estimates - What They Are and How to Interpret the Projections

It was announced last week that the streak of windfall budgets has been extended even longer with revenue estimates that estimate a surplus in the budget.

The projections were confirmed through a process called the Consensus Revenue Estimates where the executive and legislative branch compare their budget projection numbers and reach an agreement on the most accurate amount based on all the data points.

Why is this an important part of the process? It may seem anti-climactic now to have separate branches of government project the budget deficit or surplus, but that is mostly because the state has had one-party rule since 2011.

Before 2011, the Governor and legislature were more often than not different political parties which meant that it was more of a challenge to determine the actual budget projections. This all came to a head when Governor Rell in 2009 was faced with a stark deficit amid the Great Recession and was tasked with proposing a budget to the legislature. Governor Rell’s budget was proposed on time however it contained a $2B gap in what the legislature forecasted the deficit to be at the time.

To put it mildly, the result of this was ugly: The legislature and Governor never agreed on a final budget number which led to two vetoed budgets, three months where the state had no budget and sessions to decide on the budget that lasted through October!

After this contentious cycle, the legislature and Governor’s budget office decided to work to pass a law that would create what’s now called Consensus Revenue Estimates where three times a year the Office of Fiscal Analysis and Office of Policy and Management must certify the current status of the budget.

The numbers that were released this week are extremely positive given the anticipated recession that the market could face next year, but it’s important to remember that part of these funds are being offset by the federal government through ARPA dollars made available during the pandemic. Governor Lamont is expected to release his proposed budget by February 10, 2023 and the legislature will then be able to propose changes to his budget.

Click here to find the full Consensus Revenue Estimates report that was released. 

CCM Elects new President

Mayor Thomas Dunn of Wolcott was recently elected by his peers as the new President of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Mayor Dunn is serving his 10th term in Wolcott and is not registered with a political party. The election took place earlier this month at CCM’s annual meeting and convention. The organization represents 168 of the 169 municipalities in CT. Stratford Mayor, Laura Hoydick will serve as his Vice-President and New London Mayor Michael Passero will serve as the second Vice-President. Congratulations to Mayor Dunn.

In Fairfield, post pandemic outdoor dining regulations are under discussion. During the pandemic, communities and restaurants wanted to provide outdoor dining to refrain from closing restaurants entirely and many communities became very creative with limited space, especially in downtown areas. Now the question is whether or not to keep those regulations in place permanently. The permanent amendment now under consideration in Fairfield would target the requirement to have at least 75% of the seating to be inside. This would allow for expanded outdoor dining areas without having to remodel existing infrastructure. The concerns expressed during the public hearing came from a variety of sources that wanted to know if this change would allow restaurants without any specific footprint to open fully outdoor, which may impact existing businesses who have invested heavily in brick and mortar. Regardless of the outcome in Fairfield, the issues resulting from new consumer habits after the pandemic will remain a focus for many communities as we return to pre-pandemic norms. 

A Tale of Two Cities

As we come down from the high of Election Day (week), we had some really fascinating occurrences this cycle across the state. As Brian Shactman mentioned on his show last week, “Greenwich rolled over for Democrats this year.” Governor Lamont flipped around 35 towns from 2018, meaning he won towns he lost in the first election. It was an astounding referendum of the work he has done and a huge victory for the Governor over Republican candidate Bob Stefanowski (he even beat Stefanowski in his Madison stomping grounds)! For people that have worked on campaigns, election day is our super bowl. That being said, there was a place that struck my interest this year more than others. New Britain is a city in the Fifth Congressional District. It has Democratic State Reps/Senator but is represented by very popular Mayor Erin Stewart, a Republican. This year, turnout was the word of the week. As initially reported, turnout in the cities was lower and cities had to deliver for Democrats to win. I spent the entire weekend before Election Day in New Britain as campaigns flooded the streets with canvassers and rallies brought some outside energy into the city. How did turnout differ there from 2018? Let’s dive right into it.

During Governor Lamont’s campaign for governor in 2018, he won New Britain by a huge amount: 10,700 to 5,400. Congresswoman Hayes won New Britain with 12,000 votes that year bringing a win to her district by 11 percentage points. This year was different. A little over 8,000 people showed up to support the Governor in the city while the numbers for Stefanowski were more similar to 2018, cutting the margin. The numbers were the same for Congresswoman Hayes’ election (barring an absentee ballot count), which was significantly lower than 2018. The city turned out nearly the same for Republican candidates, but not as much for Democrats as in year’s past.

While the reason for this is yet to be determined and some votes are still being counted, the turnout was lower in cities than Democrats had hoped for. For instance, Democrats voted overwhelmingly for Rep Hayes in Waterbury in 2018. 14,000 people showing up for her there. This year? 10,000 supporters. In Bridgeport in 2018, 23,000+ people voted for statewide candidates. This year? Around 13,000. While turnout in the cities was low, Democrats took the statewide races because they flipped many smaller towns in their favor.

November 18th: Stonington Sailor Discovers Antarctica

Born in Stonington, Connecticut in 1799, Nathaniel Brown Palmer, like so many other young men from Stonington, first set sail at an early age, working as a teenage deckhand on American ships running through the British naval blockade during the War of 1812. After the war, Palmer joined scores of Connecticut sailors who sought their fortunes by hunting seals for the lucrative and recently-established China trade, taking command of his first ship, the Galina, at the tender age of 19.

By the second decade of the 19th century, however, global seal populations were already experiencing a sharp decline from over-hunting, forcing sailors like Palmer to venture further and further southward into uncharted waters. During the fall of 1820, the 21-year-old Palmer was exploring the seas south of Cape Horn a captain of the small, seal-hunting sloop Hero when, on November 18, he spotted a land mass that had yet to be recorded on any known map. That land, which the young captain modestly named “Palmer Land,” was the northernmost tip of the continent of Antarctica, known today as the Antarctic Peninsula.

While Palmer’s claim of being the first person to discover Antarctica is disputed — two other sea captains, one from Russia and one from England, claimed to have spotted the continent slightly earlier than the date given in Palmer’s ship’s log — he is credited with being the first American to do so. After his seal-hunting adventures drew to a close, Palmer returned to Stonington to become one of the port town’s leading citizens and a renowned shipbuilder. His Victorian mansion in Stonington was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994, and is seasonally open to the public as a house museum operated by the Stonington Historical Society. Unlike his Russian and English competitors, Palmer’s namesake “Palmer Land” remains on modern maps of Antarctica. In 1968, a new United States research station built on the peninsula was named Palmer Station in the Stonington captain’s honor, ensuring that his legacy of exploration and seafaring lives on to the present day.

To view the full story on the CT Historian's website, click here.