December 16, 2022

In This Issue:
From Paddi's Desk
CT Agency Corner
Municipal Roundup
Inside Scoop
This Day in CT History

This Week's News:

A Year in Photos: A look back at 2022 in Connecticut.


Is CT still taking too much of retirees' income? Debate heats up

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house and senate,

not a creature was stirring - not even the governor lieutenant…


That about tells the story of this past week! All four caucuses have been spending time framing out the legislative committees – first the leadership, then the actual committee assignments, and also their own caucus leadership ladders. For the first time in a long time, many legislators who will return for their second term will be sitting in a chairman's seat due to the large turnover of the legislature in the past two election cycles. Many veteran legislators over the past four years have opted not to seek reelection. It certainly makes a difference in the direction of the committees, and even the "inside baseball" committee in each caucus called the “screening committees”.


We don't anticipate changes for the “big” six as we all call the leaders of each caucus,. But, as for the lieutenants of each caucus, we will be looking at fresh faces and new styles of accomplishing their task to ensure that when a proposed bill hits the house or senate floor its “ready to roll”!


The team at S&L has been busy reconnecting with the winners of the Nov 8th election through zoom meetings, in-person one-on-one get-togethers, and several client tours and visits. It has been fun to see the “people” part of our work start to look “normal”. We’re just hoping that by the time the legislature has that third stage of the legislative process – the house and senate floor debates - the capitol will throw its doors open wide so that the public as well as the lobbying corps can move around the senate floors, and the legislative office floors this session. I think we're still the only capital across the country that has restrictions on access to certain areas of our government buildings.


We're planning for our pre-inaugural opening day cocktail reception on Jan 4th at Red Rock Tavern in Hartford and hope you'll be able to join us from 4 PM – 6 PM even if you don’t plan to attend the festivities of the Governors Ball, which will be held at The Bushnell beginning at 7 PM. (so far invites haven't been issued, it's just a word circulating around the building for now!)


We wish you all a very happy holiday and will wrap up this year's IN THE LOOP next week. We’ve tried to make it filled with helpful and at times important information. We wanted to step up our “game” and also provide insights from our team on a variety of topics as they wander the CT hills and roads as well as the halls of CT Government. We think we accomplished that goal! 


Enjoy the holiday!  

Legislative Proposals and What They Could Mean to You


As a reminder, each year every state agency releases their top agency priorities for the session beforehand and spends the weeks leading up to the session advocating for their ideas within the appropriate legislative committees.


Here’s a 101 on what to expect when these proposals are released in the next few weeks:


Q: What are state agency legislative proposals?


A: Legislative proposals from a state agency is essentially a “wish list” of policy ideas they hope the legislature will take-up on their behalf. Included in each proposal is a title, proposal summary, proposal background, reason for the request, past legislative versions of this proposal and any fiscal impact it may have on the state budget (both positive and negative).


Q: Why are these shared in advance of the legislative session?


A: Having these proposals available streamlines the Office of Policy Management (Governor’s budget office) review process for what they should support on behalf of state agencies and assists legislators with better understanding the budget implications tied to these proposals.


Q: Does a particular legislative proposal mean the issue is strongly likely to pass? Can they be changed before being filed as an actual bill?


A: The short answers are maybe and yes (if you act quickly). Given the virtual nature of the legislative session, getting ahead of things in a timely way and working with state agencies is more important than ever. If legislative proposals that are shared impact your business or service, we strongly recommend being engaged early!


Q: What should I expect if S&L sends me a legislative proposal that affects me?


A: We’ll be able to walk through the recommended next steps once these proposals are released and if there’s a proposal specifically tied to your area of interest we will be pulling together a virtual meeting with that state agency.

Civility in Government


It appears these days, maybe in truth or perception, that civility is being lost in government. Whether it's through the increased use of social media or highly partisan talk radio and television news stations, residents and public servants often clash in ways that are unpredictable and most certainly unproductive. To be able to have a civil and respectful conversation, understanding that there may be differences in opinion, is not an easy task. Especially when you throw in highly charged issues like vaccines, mask mandates or even economic development in rural communities.


The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, this week, announced that 92 municipal leaders from 60 communities in Connecticut are early adopters of their newly minted “civility pledge.” This pledge at its heart is a commitment by municipal leaders to foster respectful, civil engagement in their community and throughout Connecticut. Its more than words on a page, it should be a way of life. CCM Executive Director Joe DeLong said, “CCM has a commitment to fostering a climate of open discussion and debate, mutual respect, and tolerance between all who live in, work in, and visit our communities.” Finding common ground and respecting people's right to disagree is fundamental in this way of thinking. For a list of those communities who have taken this newly formed pledge, here

New Resolutions, New Initiatives


As we close the books on 2022, we are all looking forward to what 2023 will bring. That is no different under the golden dome across the street. Legislators, 35+ being new in their roles, are starting to get a better sense of the leadership and assignments when it comes to certain committees. They are also staffing up and most importantly, many legislative initiatives are taking shape. As you decide what your new year’s resolutions will be, the elected officials that fill the halls across the street at the legislature are deciding what their legislative resolutions will be. Let’s dive right into what we are seeing, so far, from those across the street.


For starters, there will be new assignments for leadership of committees. This matters for a lot of reasons, but mostly because this will help us determine which legislative initiatives legislators are going to hone in on. For instance, the Housing Committee has a new co-chair on the Senate side, Democratic Senator Marilyn Moore of Bridgeport. The Environment Committee has a new co-chair after Democratic Senator Christine Cohen of Guilford moved over to the Transportation Committee and that is Rick Lopes of New Britain, also a Democrat. Freshmen Senators are getting the inside track on a few committees as well, with new co-chair Dem. Senator Ceci Maher of Westport co-charing the Children’s Committee and MD Rahman, a Dem. from Manchester, leading the Planning and Development Committee. New faces mean new initiatives and we will also have some new Republican faces on these committees as well. More to come on that.


Along with new faces, we have new legislative initiatives that fall into their respective committee jurisdictions coming out this month as well. The ACLU of Connecticut released their priorities with a focus on voting rights and criminal justice. On the housing side, a few organizations have developed an agenda ready to address an issue we have been hearing about for years. Don’t forget about the Governor either. He mentioned this week that a middle class income tax cut might be in the works. There will be a lot to unpack these next few weeks and our team at S&L will be right there to track all of the potential legislative initiatives and new committee assignments. 

December 16th: First Connecticut Stretch of I-84 "The Yankee Expressway" Opens


By the 1950s, overcrowded highways became an increasingly familiar annoyance to Connecticut commuters as the state basked in post-WWII economic prosperity and the increase in population — and automobile traffic — that came with it.

At the time, most of Connecticut’s inland east-west travel utilized U.S. Route 6, an old and overburdened road that stretched across the country from California to the tip of Cape Cod and passed through the middle of Hartford. Talks to replace the strained Route 6 with a new limited-access highway system began in the late 1940s, but remained unrealized until 1956, when the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, which funded construction of a new nationwide interstate system, was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.


In 1958, Connecticut Governor Abraham Ribicoff designated replacing Route 6 a top priority for his administration, and the very next year, the Connecticut General Assembly voted for a new east-west highway, christening it the “Yankee Expressway.” In keeping with the newly established national numbering system, Route 6’s replacement would also be known as Interstate 84. Like the Merritt Parkway before it, the limited-access four-and-more lane highway was hastened into production despite efforts by nationally renowned urban expert Lewis Mumford and a group of city planners to stop all urban interstate highway construction until comprehensive land use plans could be developed. Mumford, an outspoken critic of mid-20th-century America’s obsession with the automobile, argued that the 1956 legislation creating the Interstate system was jammed through to favor “the second mistress that exists in every household right alongside the wife–the motor car.”


Interstate 84 was built and opened in several stages, starting at the state’s western border in Danbury and working its way east toward Hartford. On December 16, 1961, the first segment of I-84 opened to the public, a 15-mile stretch winding its way from the New York state line through Danbury, Bethel, and Brookfield before terminating (temporarily) in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown. It took another eight years for the highway to reach Hartford, and another 20 for it to reach Massachusetts, where I-84 quickly dovetails into I-90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike). The 98 miles of Interstate 84 that wind through the Constitution State cost a total of $128.3 million at the time of construction.



Paradoxically, while I-84 successfully relieved local roads of daily traffic, it ushered in suburban growth that led to widespread traffic jams on the interstate itself — a problem Mumford had anticipated and civil engineers are still trying to mitigate. Despite the debut of a new and much-welcomed interstate in the western part of the state, the open road did not remain very open for long — today in Connecticut history.



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

Sullivan & LeShane, Inc.
www.ctlobby.com | (860) 560-0000