In This Issue:
From Paddi's Desk
CT Agency Corner
Municipal Roundup
Inside Scoop
This Day in CT History
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Is it really all about what goes down the drain?
As you may recall, Governor Lamont continues to issue weekly Thursday updates on the status of hospitalizations, positivity rates, and the spread of the newest variations of Covid-19 as the Winter turns into Spring. While these weekly reports are somewhat encouraging, the real test of CT’s recovery seems to be something that’s not often spoken of in terms of “scientific data” – WASTEWATER. Yup, you heard me correctly!
While many political pundits have a lot to say about what direction the state economy is taking, or the strife of civility in Connecticut, there seems to be some lessons to be learned about what CT's residents are “depositing” into their wastewater.
According to recent media stories, the folks at the New Haven regional wastewater treatment facility continue to work with a Yale professor to weekly track the “output” from the New Haven region to predict, or rather give an early warning to, CT’s current status. It's believed to be a fairly accurate forward look at what is coming down the path in the next week or so. The team looks to identify signs of a new surge as we experienced in late December and early January of this year. They feel confident that CT rode out the new subvariant to the Omicron variant as recently as April 4th. Their finding does still demonstrate that there's a very low level of some form of the COVID-19 virus out and about the New Haven area, but nothing to be alarmed about.
As CT continues to be out of the pandemic classification for most purposes life as we knew before March 2020, society is trying to recalibrate. Almost all schools are maskless and allow for mask options based on the wearer. Practically all public facilities except healthcare facilities are mask optional as well and even there are rumors that airline mandates might be revisited. (I'm not so sure about that one!)
The legislature’s focus, now related to CT’s health, seems to have detoured away from crisis to management. And mostly, the management of the final federal dollars is still available under the guise of a public health emergency. CT fared very well – the proof is in the huge surplus that the legislature is about to have a major family feud about once the final actions of the budget and spending committee come to an end.
This weekend the back and forth among committee members ends and the debate heads to the committee of six and the debate on the House and Senate floors. Reminder - once the budget committee and revenue committee report their work out – the six caucus leaders and the governor’s office work to try to come to a majority rule solution on what’s in and what’s out of the spending and tax package. Next up comes the traditional implementer bills that follow the line item recommendations needed for state agencies and local municipalities to actually spend the money that has been delegated. Expectations are to see a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) implementer bill to outline the exact agreements that were made during these meetings of the six leaders and governors' offices. Only once in my lobbying years has the legislature bolted and did their own thing – that was during the Malloy administration where the legislature adopted the budget in 2017. The Democrats worked across the aisle and adopted a Republican focused budget which happened to occur during a very heated midterm election for the state legislature. Unlike this year, where every CT elected seat is up for reelection except one US senate seat… bolting on your team leader would probably not be in the best interests of the democratically controlled state.
Many are already expecting to see a dozen or more incumbents selecting to not seek reelection, and others will certainly face a hotly contested Fall election base on the CT economy dissatisfaction levels and a lot of “social unrest” over CT's direction for the next four years.
So as the scientists keep their eyes on the wastewater situation, those of us in the Capitol are keeping tabs on the political temperature. Will a lot of hopes and dreams also be headed down the drain as the legislature just passed the one month mark until that final gavel comes down in Hartford?
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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. Cathy Abercrombie (D)
- Rep. Dave Arconti (D)
- Rep. Whit Betts (R)
- Sen. Dan Champagne (R)
- Rep. Tony D'Amelio (R)
- Rep. Joe De La Cruz (D)
- Sen. Paul Formica (R)
- Sen. Will Haskell (D)
- Rep. Brandon McGee (D)
- Sen. Craig Miner (R)
- Rep. Rosa Rebimbas (R)
- Rep. Brian Smith (D)
- Rep. Dave Wilson (R)
- Sen. Kevin Witkos (R)
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Will Public Virtual Meetings Exist after June 30th?
The executive order extending the ability to have virtual public meetings for state agencies is set to expire at the end of June.
While the legislature has the ability to do this with the joint rules that were amended in January through the end of the calendar year, the state agencies are bound by the rules in statute which prohibit virtual meetings to take place except when there’s a State of Emergency which is active until June 30th.
There is a bill HB 5269, that if adopted would allow both municipalities and state agencies to conduct future meetings virtually. However if that bill does not get adopted then all of those meetings will have to be conducted in-person. The public has certainly seen a distinct advantage to this and there has been a large amount of discussion related to having a hybrid model be a permanent fixture to the legislative, executive and municipal process.
The sentiments from most of our clients during the legislative hearing process are that having virtual hearings presents both positive advantages, but also creates inherent downsides to being able to convey a message during a hearing. As a way to lightly reflect on what we’ve heard from most clients, here’s a list of the positives and negatives that we’ve heard to better shape which camp you fall into on this issue?
Positives of Keeping Virtual Public Hearings and Approval Meetings:
- More participation from members of the public given the flexibility involved with being remote.
- Lawmakers have a better chance to tune-in and participate in-between other discussions and day-to-day responsibilities.
- It’s much easier to re-watch a hearing or meeting that’s virtual since all the coverage of that process is on a web-based platform like Zoom or WebEx.
The Downside to Having Virtual Hearings and Approval Meetings
- It doesn’t appear to have the same level of engagement from a legislator virtually. As background, once you testify, a legislator would normally walk up to someone if they passionately agreed or disagreed with their comments. That doesn’t happen as much virtually.
- A legislator looking for more information on a topic from either someone who testified or has to make a decision on a bill is now very limited in how they can obtain that information.
- The consistency with how voting happens with lawmakers is extremely difficult to follow.
That said, it’s certainly a positive thing that there is development on this topic that certainly needs to be revaluated.
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How Car Tax Proposals Will Affect You
We all know the dreaded envelope that comes every year, containing our motor vehicle property tax bill for the year. This year, the legislature is seeking to provide residents in high-tax areas with some relief. Currently, there are three live proposals in the legislature pertaining to motor vehicle property taxes.
Governor Lamont's proposal would set a statewide cap on the motor vehicle mill rate at 29 mills. Under his plan, municipalities with mill rates higher than 29 would be refunded the difference by the state each year. Under this model, a $22,500 car in Bridgeport, now taxed at $978, would be $652, a savings of $326. However, towns are worried that the state will eventually stop covering lost tax revenue, while maintaining the cap. This proposal has a projected annual cost of $160 million. Municipalities are worried that if the state experiences fiscal troubles in the future, the state will not be able to continue the reimbursements. Opponents also argue that this proposal mostly benefits those who own expensive vehicles (and most likely do not need the break), while owners of less valuable vehicles would see a relatively small tax break.
Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague), Chair of the Appropriations Committee, proposed a much different idea. Her plan is to exempt all cars valued at $10,000 or less from the motor vehicle tax entirely. While this proposal would greatly benefit low to middle income drivers with cheaper cars, it does nothing to release the tax burden on people with moderately priced vehicles, and creates a "cliff", with an owner of a vehicle assessed at $10,001 being taxed hundreds of dollars.
Senator John Fonfara (D-Hartford), Chair of the Finance Committee, proposed his model as well. Senator Fonfara would like to see towns with a mill rate over 29 mills continue to tax their regular rate up to 45 mills, but $5,000 would be lopped off of the assessed value of every passenger vehicle. This proposal is projected to cost $240 million.
As the proponents of each of these proposals duke it out over who gets their plan past the finish line, the team here at S&L will keep you well informed on all the happenings under the golden dome!
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Finance and Appropriations
Late Friday night last week, the Finance Committee announced they would be holding their important deadline meetings the following Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee has jurisdiction over all matters relating to fees and taxation. While most Committees have finished their hearings, for people inside the building following along with the budget, these hearing announcements and subsequent meetings, are wildly important. Many would say it’s like the Masters, just for Connecticut budgetary policy wonks, and we don’t even get a green jacket at the end. But there’s a problem and it has to do with tax cuts. Federal guidelines for COVID relief funds say states can only use that money for certain things and CT can only cut taxes so much given these guidelines that legislators are constrained to. As our team at S&L has heard from key leaders inside the building, this means that certain legislator spending priorities won’t be met. Let’s dive in.
For over 6 hours on Tuesday, the Finance committee met on 27 agenda items including income tax reductions and sales tax remittance. The biggest topic during this meeting was the Child Tax Credit bill (HB 5403) which would establish a child tax credit (CTC) that taxpayers with qualifying incomes may claim against the personal income tax. A priority of the Co-Chair of the Committee, Representative Sean Scanlon, the bill was supported out of committee and will find its way to the floor soon, for what feels like an inexorably positive outcome.
Wednesday, when the Finance committee gaveled back in, they had more to talk about. Baby bonds, property tax cuts and the expansion of a sales tax freeze on at home COVID tests were among the big topics of conversation. The leadership of the Finance committee knows the constraints they have when it comes to spending, cutting taxes, assessing revenue and having to prioritize on certain tax cuts. The tax plan that passed out of committee this week includes the Governor’s plan to expand the property tax credit, expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and create a Children’s Trust Fund. Appropriations met Thursday and adopted a similar spending plan. As the legislature comes back into session next week, our team at S&L will be there to watch the rest of these discussions unfold.
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April 8th: The Distinguished University Professor Who Was Once America's Greatest Child Star
When Joel Kupperman died of the COVID-19 coronavirus today in 2020, the mild-mannered, Cambridge-educated,
retired academic was a distinguished university professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut and one of the world’s leading authorities on Asian philosophy. A much-honored and visionary philosopher of ethics, aesthetics, and Eastern philosophies, colleagues hailed him as “a leading light and inspiration for so many of us . . . a trailblazer and a beautiful human being.”
For all their admiration, however, few who knew Joel as scholar and philosopher ever had the faintest notion he had once led a life completely the opposite of the soft-spoken and unassertive academic they revered. As his obituary in the Washington Post noted, “Between the era of Shirley Temple in the 1930s and before Jerry Mathers appeared on TV’s “Leave It to Beaver” in the late 1950s, Joel Kupperman may have been the most famous child in America.” From 1942 to 1952, beginning at the age of five and continuing to an awkward teen-aged 15, Joel Kupperman was the best-known contestant in a phenomenally successful radio (and later television) program called Quiz Kids.
Wearing a pint-sized cap and gown, Joel joined a rotating panel of extraordinarily intelligent children on weekly broadcasts competing to answer extremely difficult questions about science, math, the humanities, sports, and topical events. The program was the brainchild of Chicago public relations expert Louis G. Cowan, who later went on to produce shows such as Captain Kangaroo and The $64,000 Question, and to serve as president of the CBS television network.
Kupperman first appeared on “Quiz Kids” as a cute, eager-to-answer, garrulous kindergarten student with a penchant for explaining mathematical formulas and scientific theories with a winning, tooth-missing lisp. With a brilliance that far exceeded his age (his IQ was measured at 219, one of the highest scores ever recorded), Joel quickly became the program’s centerpiece celebrity, receiving as many as 10,000 letters a week.
During World War II, Joel and other Quiz Kids toured American cities, raising over $120 million in War Bonds. As the first among equals, Kupperman met celebrities from Marlene Dietrich to Orson Welles, and Henry Ford to Abbott and Costello (who gave him a dog). He even appeared in a 1943 movie, Chip Off the Old Block, with Donald O’Connor.
Joel’s “career” as a child celebrity was stage-managed by his mother, who was present at every performance. Her ambition for her son’s career far outlasted Joel’s enjoyment of his fame. Not surprisingly, he found that being other parents’ “model student” –(Why can’t you be like Joel Kupperman?”) – came with a price. “Being a bright child among your peers was not the best way to grow up in America,” he said in a rare 1982 New York Times interview. “Even if you tried to be likeable, you felt resentment. I felt I suffered from it.” By the time he reached the mandatory retirement age of 16 in 1952, Joel had appeared in over 400 episodes of Quiz Kids and had been – and continued to be – thoroughly traumatized by the experience.
Constantly taunted by fellow students at the University of Chicago, where he received two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s in mathematics, Kupperman struggled to find a post-celebrity path forward, until an understanding professor suggested that the way to escape his past as a Quiz Kid was to get out of the country. Inspired by that advice, and propelled by an interest in Asian philosophy, Joel went to England, got his Ph.D. in philosophy several years later, and then, as professor Kupperman, joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut in 1960. Freed from his celebrity past – a life even his family was forbidden to talk about – Joel Kupperman went on to publish 10 books, scores of academic articles, and to become, in 2006, one of the University of Connecticut’s distinguished professors.
The story of Joel Kupperman’s once secret life is sensitively and powerfully told in his son Michael Kupperman’s highly acclaimed graphic novel All the Answers, published by Simon and Schuster.
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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