March 11, 2022
In This Issue:
From Paddi's Desk
CT Agency Corner
Municipal Roundup
Inside Scoop
This Day in CT History
This Week's News:
UPDATE: Due to inclement weather, our St. Patrick's Day Party has been postponed to Saturday, March 19th, at 287 Capitol Ave in Hartford from 9 A.M. to 12 P.M. RSVP to mjankowics@ctlobby.com.
A small glimmer of hope was dashed this week at the LOB

So the café is open, and committee staff issued new rules for hybrid attendance by legislators for committee and public hearings. Legislators began to attend in person committee meetings this week, and everyone was excited to see the room locations published for a bunch of committee meetings. But, ….now we’re hearing that the in-person committee activities are still not fully open to the public (aka lobbyists) – rats!

For two session we’ve been operating at a distance and it’s certainly made lobbying a challenge. The other day, I was talking to some legislators first elected in 2018 about the fact that out of the almost 48 months of their service as a state legislator, they have only been in the LOB/Capitol with face-to-face public interactions for the first year of their term, 2 months in 2020 and only one day of 2022.. They too are frustrated. That’s only 1/3 of the time they have been serving as a state representative!

The house seems as if they are ready to roll, but it seems that when they consult with the senate there still are reservations of some kind that are holding back the complete opening of the capitol campus to the public. Some folks in the know around the building seem to think it’s based on several concerns over individual health conditions. But in fact no one really knows.

No one is clear when state buildings will be fully open to the public, allowing lobbyists back to meet with their elected representatives on every floor, or even to catch folks in the atrium or café to inform legislators about a certain topic or bill. Many, including legislators and key staffers, are really seeing the difficulty of running a legislative session without this daily action. It makes the process so much slower, complicating the process of getting the language correct in a timely fashion. It is putting a strain on the drafting team at LCO to get stuff out the door without the ability to get a quick review from the key players working on the legislation.

We all were anticipating that by now we would see fully open committee meetings, and maybe a few hybrid public hearings. But, as in the established process, it's takes two weeks for changes to take effect when the caucus leaders issue modifications to the current rules and procedures.

It’s frustrating for those of us that used to live in the LOB and Capitol from opening gavel to closing gavel, especially when we see that all cities and towns have dropped their mask mandates and have fully operational city government buildings and processes. The positivity rate in CT is way down near the margin of error (which, in the polling world, is 1.4%). This was announced yesterday, as COVID-related hospitalizations are declining as well.

So we soldier on with our newfangled ways of getting our work done as we scratch our heads and wonder - When will the doors of the people's house be flung open once again, allowing the “tee-shirt lobbyists” (aka advocates), the “black hat” lobbyists, local homeowners, soccer moms, high school students, college graduates, and so many more to roam the halls of state government to have their voices heard?

We can only wish! 
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. 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)
Within Available Appropriations

Any advocate who has worked on an issue in Connecticut related to spending will remember the most confusing phrase in state statute (which also seems to contradict itself): “within available appropriations.”

That statement is given to a bill usually as a “compromise” when an agency or municipality is being asked to fund a program by the legislature, but does not have the funds available to do so. In tough budget years, this phrase became the go-to legislative solution to show they supported the idea, but ultimately gave discretion to the supervising entity on the topic. That is – Until the state is now flushed with cash.

The new estimates of the budget being $2.5B in the black for FY 22 and $3B potentially available in FY 23 have spawned the question of asking agencies to fund programs that have been passed into law, but not been funded because of the term “within available appropriations” being in the statute. Let’s go through an example:

Last year, the legislature required the Department of Social Services to provide medical assistance within available appropriations for certain Medicaid recipients regardless of their immigration status. By including the words “within available appropriations” it’s understood that in a bad budget cycle, the commissioner does not have to fund this program. However, in a good budget cycle, he or she should have the funding to do so.

The biggest question remains in this case: If funds are available but the commissioner wishes to fund other programs, what happens? Clearly there is statutory intent to fund these programs if the commissioner has the funds for an agency to do so. But if the preference is to fund alternative programs, what is the purpose of “within available appropriations”?

This could be a developing issue facing agencies this year and S&L will report on this topic with new updates as the end of session approaches quickly.
MIRA Mania

The 48 towns that have their trash handled by MIRA must decide by the end of the month whether to sign a five-year contract to stay with the agency or find another option. As the Materials Innovation and Recovery Authority, or MIRA, prepares to shut down its trash-burning power plant, it is transitioning into a new role as a broker between its member towns and private trash haulers. Cost will be the major factor towns consider when weighing their options, but geography could determine whether the member towns even have other options to consider. 

Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Newington have recently decided to issue an RFP to determine if there were other options and it could certainly be something that more MIRA towns elect to do as the costs continue to rise for transportation and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW). Some towns like Old Saybrook, are sticking with MIRA for now and likely will re-evaluate costs on a year to year basis. 
This certainly appears to be the end of the road for MIRA who has burned waste and created energy for over 30 years. The future still remains unclear what the ultimate solution will be. They had originally planned to start trucking waste out of state this year, but suggested a few weeks ago that they may be able to make the plant continue to operate for up to a year. It all depends on the mechanical functions at the plant. 
Broadband Infrastructure

As we all know, the idea of remote education and “working from home” was not as prevalent pre-pandemic as it quickly became in 2020. We tended to take a lot for granted a few years ago. One of those things we found was a new need to understand and support broadband connectivity. Now that we have to check the connection to the microphone and whether or not we are muted on zoom, we have a greater appreciation for a good internet connection. Having to be connected became a huge issue for much of our state. Even many students in Connecticut’s biggest cities were doing work at their local McDonald’s for the Wi-Fi connection. Doctors were experiencing issues with telehealth connections and yes, even you in your sweatpants in your kitchen realized that sometimes too many people are on the damn Wi-Fi! During the height of the pandemic, Connecticut saw what many other states saw as well, a need for a direct injection of funds for broadband infrastructure support.

Local elected officials heard that calling and in the Governor’s budget, the need for infrastructure dollars related to broadband is reflected. The Governor’s budget allocated $64.53 million of the state’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) award to broadband infrastructure. This includes millions for libraries, councils of government and municipalities. Building on an initial $10 million allocation by the legislature, an additional $14 million is proposed in the Gov’s budget for grants to help bring broadband service to underserved areas of the state, bridging the digital divide and promoting digital equity. This investment brings the total for this initiative to $24 million. Governor Lamont also proposes committing $23 million to improving connectivity on our rail lines.

As we head back to more in-person events and our kids are back to school, realizing the gaps we have when it comes to broadband connectivity is important. The Governor’s budget, along with another federal injection of infrastructure funds, reflects an investment that will improve connections, bandwidth, reliability and download/transfer speeds. As they say, it’s important to know your connection is strong before you unmute yourself. 
March 11th : She Taught a Man's World How to Build a Business

When Beatrice Fox Auerbach became president of Hartford’s G. Fox & Company in 1938, in an era where there were scarcely any female retail executives in the United States, neither she nor any of the popular department store’s board members expected her to remain in the position for very long. But instead of stepping aside, Auerbach remained the head of the company for the next 27 years, steering it into a golden age of expansion that led it to become the largest privately held department store in the United States.

The 50-year-old widow was certainly no stranger to the department store business: Her grandfather, a Jewish German immigrant named Gerson Fox, had founded G. Fox & Company as a fancy goods store in downtown Hartford in 1847, and Beatrice’s father, Moses, became president of the popular store upon Gerson’s death in 1880. Beatrice’s husband, George Auerbach, was also from a family who owned a large department store in Salt Lake City, Utah. After her husband’s untimely death in 1927, Beatrice Fox Auerbach took over his role as a board member for G. Fox, and when her father died 11 years later, she assumed leadership of the entire company.
Auerbach proved to be a brilliant executive who oversaw the greatest expansion in the company’s history while simultaneously implementing a system of generous benefits for G. Fox’s 3,000 employees, which included five-day, 40-hour work weeks, structured retirement plans, and even “safety net” programs, like interest-free loans, to employees in need. She pioneered several innovative ideas designed to make shopping at G. Fox a pleasant and customer-centered experience, from the inclusion of beauty salons, lounges, personal shopping assistants, and even foreign-language interpreters at the company’s brick-and-mortar stores to the creation of the nation’s first toll-free telephone order department for men and women who preferred the convenience of ordering from home.

Auerbach also quickly established a reputation as a generous philanthropist who poured her money and energy into bettering her community and offering assistance to those who sought to work their way toward a better life. She established a retail training program for career-focused young women attending Connecticut College in New London, and offered African American men and women jobs at G. Fox with full benefits and plenty of opportunity for advancement. On March 11, 1941 — three years to the day after Auerbach assumed the presidency of G. Fox & Company — the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation was formally established. Through the Foundation, Auerbach funneled millions of dollars during her lifetime to local community organizations, like Hartford-area hospitals, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and the Wadsworth Atheneum, in addition to funding scholarships for students seeking business degrees.
Auerbach stayed at the helm of G. Fox & Company until 1965, and upon her death three years later at the age of 81, one-third of her estate was left to the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation, which continues to fund philanthropic efforts across the greater Hartford community. The business maven who defied expectations by creating a more compassionate corporate culture while realizing record retail profits left a memorable legacy for Hartford and beyond, beginning on this day in Connecticut history.



The original article from the CT Humanities Council can be found here.
Sullivan & LeShane, Inc.
www.ctlobby.com | (860) 560-0000