In today’s Quinnipiac poll, Tom Foley, the former ambassador to Ireland leads in the Republican primary for governor with 37 percent, followed by Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele with 11 percent. Businessman Oz Griebel had 5 percent.
The poll showed that 42 percent of Republicans are undecided, and the percentage of GOP voters who don’t know about the candidates to form an opinion ranges from 58 percent to 88 percent.
In the Democratic primary race for governor, former U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont leads Dannel Malloy, 41 to 24 percent with 30 percent undecided. Malloy, the former mayor of Stamford, was the party’s endorsed candidate at Saturday’s convention in Hartford. Lamont gets a 46 to 12 percent favorability rating among Democrats, and 39 percent haven’t heard enough to form an opinion, the poll indicates.
Overall, 65 percent of Democrats said they did not know enough about Malloy to form an opinion – even though he won his party’s convention twice for governor and has been running for the office for six years. He raised and spent $4 million in an unsuccessful race in 2006 – losing in the primary that summer to New Haven Mayor John DeStefano.
The 65 percent who said they do not know enough about Malloy only covers Democrats.
“You’ve got to figure it’s higher among the total” population, said Douglas Schwartz, the Q pollster.
Republican Rob Simmons, the one-time frontrunner for U.S. Senate, announced this morning that he is ending his campaign after losing his party’s nomination to multimillionaire Linda McMahon.
“This is not an easy decision,” Simmons said this morning at a press conference. “This is not a happy decision. But I believe it’s the right decision.”
Simmons is releasing his campaign staff and curtailing fundraising efforts, but his name will remain on the primary ballot. He did not say whether he would endorse McMahon or vote for her in November.
Simmons said he came to his decision “reluctantly and prayerfully.” Simmons, who had a long career in the military and is a military history buff, spent part of the weekend reading accounts of Civil War battles that showed in vivid detail the high toll that pursuing a lost cause can extract.
The former congressman and Vietnam War veteran lost the Republican convention’s endorsement on Friday to the former World Wrestling CEO.
He observed that he had more than enough support at the nominating convention to force a primary: He wound up with 46 percent of the convention vote.
“Speaking for myself and my family, however, we understand the mathematical reality of competing against an opponent with unlimited financial resources who has already invested … $16.5 million in this campaign.”
“There are few Americans who have served their country with more courage, integrity and purpose than Rob Simmons,” said state Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy in a prepared statement. “He has risked his life to preserve our freedom.”
“Rob’s decision today was difficult but speaks to all of what he has dedicated his life to — service,” Healy said.
Simmons entered the Senate race in the winter of 2009, when a politically ailing Sen. Christopher Dodd was the presumptive Democratic nominee. Throughout the spring and summer and into the fall, Simmons sat atop public opinion polls.
Then McMahon entered the race in September and began spending millions on television ads and direct mail.
Throughout the increasingly bitter campaign between Simmons and McMahon, Simmons had said he would abide by the convention’s choice and not force a primary. However on Friday he announced a change of heart and said he would primary McMahon for the party’s nomination after all.
Late Monday, the Simmons campaign sent out a press release alerting reporters to the press conference this morning at the Radisson Hotel in New London.
“If that’s the decision he’s made, I know it was a difficult decision,” said state Sen. John Kissel of Enfield, a longtime Simmons supporter. “I’m proud of Rob if he’s come to that conclusion. …It would be right for the party and right for Rob.”
McMahon, a political outsider who has never held elective office, has enormous resources. She said she would spend up to $50 million of her vast fortune on the campaign.
Peter Schiff, another Republican candidate for Senate, said Tuesday that he now looked forward to a two-person race for the Republican nomination. He did not meet the 15 percent threshold to automatically qualify for a primary at last weekend’s convention, but he intends to gather signatures to petition his way onto the Aug. 10 ballot.
“I am a true political outisder and real grassroots candidate,” Schiff said in a written statement. “There is a reason why I am the choice of Tea Party leaders, political newcomers and independents, and why Linda McMahon, the darling of the establishment, has become the ultimate insider.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meanwhile, ignored Schiff’s campaign in promoting Democrat Richard Blumenthal‘s candidacy and targeting McMahon’s.
“We now likely have a race in Connecticut between a crusading attorney general with a long record of delivering for Connecticut families and a wrestling mogul who made her millions peddling violence to kids, hiding widespread steroid abuse, and sending her employees into dangerous situations in exchange for their glory and her profit,” the committee said in a release.
“But Rob Simmons is only the latest Republican moderate to fall in their bloodletting civil war. Republicans have nominated extremists in Florida and Kentucky and appear well on their way to doing so in Colorado, Wisconsin and Nevada. The battle between the Republican establishment and the fringe of their party does not seem to be a close one. The moderates keep losing.”
Republican delegates endorsed Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele’s chosen running-mate, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, for lieutenant governor. They gave him 687 votes to defeat Simsbury businesswoman Lisa Wilson-Foley, whose 258 votes qualified her for an August primary, and former state Rep. Lenny Winkler of Groton, who got 90 votes and didn’t qualify. The results reflected the delegates’ dwindling numbers near the convention’s end; the lieutenant governor’s contest was the last on the schedule.
Wilson-Foley did not say immediately whether she would exercise her right to challenge Boughton in an Aug. 10 primary. But Boughton said afterward that he is assuming that she will. If she does, Boughton will appear on the same primary ballot line as the party-endorsed gubernatorial candidate, Thomas Foley – who, unlike Fedele, did not come into the convention having named a lieutenant-governor candidate with whom he wanted to run.
Asked if appearing next to Foley on the ballot would be awkward for him, Boughton said, “I worked with Mike Fedele because I believe in his candidacy. But I’m going to tell you that we’re blessed with three good candidates” – Foley, Fedele and the third Republican who qualified Saturday for the gubernatorial primary, R. Nelson “Oz” Griebel. “We’ll see what happens,” Boughton said. “At the end of the day August 10th at 8:30″ – after the primary polls close, that is – ” I’ll work with whoever the Republican nominee is,” Boughton said.
Asked if he would campaign for the primary in public appearances with Fedele, based on their pre-convention arrangement, Boughton declined to answer. Instead, he said he needs to talk in coming days with Fedele about the latter’s plans.
Avon attorney Martha Dean emerged as the winner of a four-way fight for the Republican nomination for attorney general at the party’s nominating convention Saturday.
But Ross Garber, who entered the race on Thursday after his sister-in-law, Susan Bysiewicz, was declared ineligible to run by the state Supreme Court, vowed to force a primary. He received 39 percent of the vote; Dean netted more than 50 percent of the vote.
After the tally, Dean, 51, a lawyer from Avon, gave what might be one of the shortest acceptance speeches in convention history: “Thank you God. Thank you Republicans. Thank you very much. That is my short speech. Thank you.”
A Republican has not held the attorney general’s office since 1959, since John J. Bracken served.
Dean and Garber were both on the statewide ballot in 2002. Garber ran for state treasurer and Dean ran for attorney general. Both lost.
There were initially four Republicans in the race, but Kie Westby and state Rep. Arthur O’Neill, both of Southbury, failed to garner enough support to secure a primary. After the first round of balloting, both men released their delegates.
Garber said he was pleased by his showing, given the short amount of time he’s been in the race.
“Now I’m looking forward to starting to talk to the voters of Connecticut,” said Garber, who is 43 and lives in Glastonbury. “I’m happy that the Republicans in the state are going to get to have a choice about who they want their nominee to be.”
The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat George Jepsen, who won by acclimation.
(In photo, Martha Dean celebrates with her husband and campaign manager Malcolm McGough, on the stage of the 2010 Connecticut Republican Convention, after receiving her party’s nomination as its candidate for Connecticut Attorney General. Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant)
Kevin P. Lembo won the Democratic Party’s endorsement for State Comptroller, ending a surprisingly brief state Democratic convention on Saturday.
Lembo, a former assistant state comptroller and currently the head of the state Office of the Healthcare Advocacy, accumulated 998 votes over three other candidates in the race. Two other candidates qualified for the August primary by winning at least 15 percent of the delegate vote.
They are State representative Tom Reynolds of Ledyard and Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura.
(In photo, Kevin Lembo accepts the endorsement for Comptroller at the Democratic Convention. Bettina Hansen/Hartford Courant)
Newington Mayor Jeff Wright handily won the Republican nomination for state treasurer today, turning back a challenge from Andrew White of Ridgefield.
Wright had initially pondered a gubernatorial bid, but the 38-year-old father of three switched to the treasurer’s race. He will face Democratic incumbent Denise Nappier.
The state treasurer oversees the state employee pension fund and a state-run college savings plan, among other responsibilities. Wright said both of those funds are lagging behind those of other states.
“The treasurer must be the state’s cash cop,” Wright said during his brief acceptance speech at the Connecticut Convention Center. “We must protect and secure the state’s finances.”
(In photo, Newington Mayor Jeff Wright gives his wife Marina a kiss after he won the GOP endorsement for State Treasure Saturday afternoon during the Republican Convention. John Woike/Hartford Courant)
Jerry Farrell Jr., the state’s consumer protection commissioner, is the Republicans’ choice for the next secretary of thestate.
Farrell defeated Corey Brinson, a lawyer from Bloomfield and the Republicans’ only African-American candidate, to seize the convention endorsement today. Democrat Susan Bysiewicz is vacating the seat.
Farrell, 42, of Wallingford, has served as commissioner since 2006. He said his goals were to foster job growth, particularly in small businesses, and drive down state spending.
“I’m going to walk in there and clean it up,” he said. “We can’t let government … just creep along the way it is.”
Farrell said he expected to win the endorsement, but made sure he put in the work to secure the votes.
“I left no stone unturned,” he said. “You don’t go into this kind of thing over-confident.”
Brinson, who garnered nearly 40 percent of the votes, said he was unsure if he would wage a primary, but would make an announcement one way or the other on Monday.
“Regardless of what happened today, the voters are looking for change in their party,” he said. “The state is 25 percent people of color. The convention is not.”
It’s beginning to look like the most contested primary among the Democrats will be the Secretary of the State’s race.
On the first ballot Saturday at the Democratic State Convention in Hartford, three candidates won at least 15 percent of the delegate vote and thus qualified for the Aug. 10 primary. House Majority Leader Denise Merrill won on the initial round of balloting, with 44 percent of the delegate vote. State Senator Jonathan Harris from West Hartford won 31 percent of the vote and former New Haven Alderman Gerry Garcia won 24 percent.
But a candidate must win at least 50 percent of the delegate votes to qualify for the party’s endorsement. Several more ballots might be required until a clear winner emerges.
Regardless of the official party endorsement, however, the three candidates who qualified at the end of the first ballot guarantee a crowded primary until August.
Jack Orchulli, the former fashion entrepreneur who lost against Sen. Christopher J. Dodd in the 2004 Senate race, received the Republican nomination for state comptroller today. He was unopposed for the nomination.
Orchulli, of Darien, started a fashion business with design partner Michael Kors, and was CEO of Michael Kors for 21 years, helping build the company into an internationally known design brand. He sold his share in the company in 2003.
In 2007 he was the state Republican Party’s finance chairman.
State Republicans today endorsed former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Thomas Foley as their candidate for governor on the first ballot, after a series of switches at the end of the 2 ½-hour initial balloting. He received 710 votes to exceed 50 percent of more than the 1,400 delegates who voted. The unofficial tally among the contenders was Foley, 710; Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, 427; longtime business executive Oz Griebel, 243; Lawrence P. DeNardis, 16; and Christopher Duffy Acevedo, 5.
When the switching phase began, most of the switches went from DeNardis to Foley, making DeNardis, in effect, a king-maker by his agreement to release his delegates to Foley.
Fedele, with 427 votes, easily qualified for an Aug. 10 primary. Griebel, with 17 percent of the vote, said he will definitely seek a primary. Fedele has not said yet what his plans are.
PHOTO: Republican candidate for Governor Tom Foley and wife Leslie Fahrenkopf which his candidate biography video the Connecticut Republican Convention. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Addressing the Republican convention for the last time, Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Friday thanked her supporters and encouraged the candidates to keep their heads held high.
“We are going to be victorious in November,” Rell said. “It’s an exciting time and I think we’re going to be successful.”
The speech was notable for its lack of campaign rhetoric. The governor spoke as if she were addressing friends or family. She appeared emotional at times, taking brief pauses.
“To all of you, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your support over the years. … Thank you for your friendship.”
Mid-speech, one supporter shouted, “We love you, Jodi!”
Rell said she plans to help Republican candidates campaign over the next few months.
“I want to be out there. I want to stand in front of grocery stores. I want to get our message out,” she said.
Looking ahead to November, Rell said she is excited to begin a new phase of her life.
“I want to tell you all, it has truly been my honor to serve as our governor.”
In the 1st District, Ann Brickley of Wethersfield wins GOP endorsement to run. District. Mark Zydanowicz of West Hartford gained enough delegate votes to force a primary, but has not said what he will do.
In the 2nd District, Daria Novak of Madison, a former Asia specialist for the U.S. Department of State, wins party’s backing after three delegate ballots. Janet Peckinpaugh and Douglas Dubitsky both had enough delegate votes to wage a primary.
In the 3rd District, Jerry Labriola Jr.,receives the GOP nomination to run.
In the 4th District, Dan Debicella wins GOP nomination to run.
In the 5th District, Waterbury state Sen. Sam Caligiuri won the endorsement of the state Republican convention Friday, besting Justin Bernier of Plainville, but there will be a primary on August 10.
A loud and spirited event unfolded outside the Connecticut Convention Center early Monday evening as attendees quietly filed into the Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey dinner.
Backers of Dan Malloy and Ned Lamont, in phalanxes facing each other a few paces apart, waved signs and chanted their candidates’ names.
“Dan’s Our Man!”
“Ned Lamont for governor!” the Lamont crew shouted, led by the Nation Drill Squad and Drum Corp from New Haven.
Mary Glassman, another Democratic candidate for governor, approached the deafening din. “I’ve got people, I’ve got people,” she declared, and she hurried out to Columbus Boulevard to gather a handful of her volunteers, signs in tow.
The Glassman crew arrived and closed the circle, shouting M-A-R-Y, as Glassman herself danced, in medium heels on brick pavers, in the middle of the commotion, smiling and high-fiving all around.“Never underestimate the power of a woman,” she said.
Board of Education President Milo “Rusty” Peck announced Thursday he will challenge six-term incumbent Peggy Sayers for the Democratic nomination in the 60th House District.
A member of the board of education since 2006, Peck is a former member of the town council and has been chairman of the board of tax assessment appeals. The father of six, he is a professor of financial and government accounting and taxation at Fairfield University.
“We need new ideas and expertise to help tackle this problem. Peggy Sayers has served our district well since 1999, but it’s time for a change. My experience both as a certified public accountant and tax attorney — with an expertise in government finances and taxation issues — is what is needed to help find solutions for these challenging times,” Peck said in a statement announcing his candidacy.
The 60th District includes the eastern side of Windsor and all of Windsor Locks. Sayers, a registered nurse from Windsor Locks, announced in February she would seek a seventh term.
James Michel, a member and past chairman of the Bloomfield board of education, has announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination for the 15th House District – a seat currently held by former Mayor David A. Baram.
Michel, 45, becomes the third announced candidate for the party nomination. Baram, 57, was elected in a special election in March 2009 to fill a vacancy created by the death of incumbent Faith McMahon.
Baram filed for re-election in January, and last month Windsor Democratic Town Chairman Leo Canty – a longtime union activist – registered his campaign committee. The 15th district covers portions of both Bloomfield and Windsor.
The district nominating convention will be held at 7 p.m., May 25 at the Bloomfield Senior Center. To force an August primary, a candidate needs support from 15 percent of the delegate count, or four of the 21 delegates (12 from Bloomfield, 9 from Windsor).
Michel said he plans to focus his campaign on the need for state budgetary controls, a more equitable distribution of state aid to local education and a reduction in state education mandates.
Michel holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brooklyn College and an MBA from the Barney School of Business at University of Hartford. He is employed as an audit director in the finance department of Aetna. He is the current chairman of the Board of Hospice Saint Joseph, a nonprofit organization that provides medical services, education sponsorship and a nutrition program to more than 10,000 people in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
Canty, 57, a union officer with American Federation of Teachers Connecticut, has been Windsor’s Democratic chairman since 2006. He represented the Windsor Democratic Town Committee as its candidate in the convention held prior to the 2009 special election at which Baram secured the party nomination.
BLOOMFIELD — Mayor Sydney T. Schulman has formed an exploratory committee to seek the Democratic nomination for attorney general.
Schulman registered the committee with the State Elections Enforcement Commission on Feb. 18 before leaving for an extended vacation in Puerto Rico with his wife, Elba.
A lawyer who specializes in public interest law, Schulman was the fourth lawyer hired by Neighborhood Legal Services Inc., at the time a newly formed War on Poverty program established in Hartford to provide legal services for the poor.
Schulman served as executive director of the agency from 1969 to 1974, eventually leaving to establish his own practice.
“I think I exceed the minimum legal requirement,” he joked in a not-so-thinly veiled reference to the candidacy of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. Bysiewicz, the odds-on favorite for the attorney general nomination, has found her candidacy stalled, at least temporarily, by questions concerning whether she has practiced law in Connecticut for 10 years, as is required to hold the office.
Schulman has served as Bloomfield mayor since 2003 and is in his eighth term on the town council.
Former House Speaker James Amann, who has been polling poorly in his bid for governor, is expected to drop out of the race today, according to state Capitol sources.
Amann could not be reached for comment Thursday morning, but he is scheduled to make an announcement at 11 a.m. at the state Capitol.
Amann’s departure would leave only five Democrats still in the race: Greenwich cable TV entrepreneur Ned Lamont, former Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy, Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, and former state Rep. Juan Figueroa of Meriden.
Lottery-style keno
is a betting game in which players pick a set of numbers from 1 to 80
by buying and filling out a play slip from a retailer, such as a bar or
restaurant.
Bets typically range from $1 to $10. Payouts can range from
$1 to $1 million. The state lottery draws 20 winning numbers,
publicizing new results every 5 to 6 minutes, by television, for
instance. Winnings are determined by the amount of the wager and the
number of drawn numbers that a player matches.
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Williams, members and guests:
We gather today to mark the opening of the 2010 legislative session and we do so at a time of continued challenge, continued anxiety.
None of us need to be reminded of the unparalleled struggles that we have endured over the last 22 months. Our nation has been in the grip of an economic crisis unlike any witnessed in generations.
The stark reality of our struggles is all too real. Housing prices are down; unemployment is up. The value of savings and retirement accounts are down; mortgage foreclosures are up. The amount of debt at all levels of government is up.
Yes, the statistics are real – and our emotions are raw. People are uncertain about the future. They are frustrated and angry about the present. And they have every right to be.
The people of Connecticut are looking to us to help them. They are looking to us to lead. They are looking to us to right our ship of state.
They don’t want to hear shallow lamentations of sympathy or understanding from their elected officials. They want action and assistance. And they want an end to the theatrical histrionics of political press conferences and partisan pinball. They want us to act like adults.
President
Obama spoke eloquently about this last week in his State of the Union address.
He spoke of the nature and nastiness of politics in our nation’s capital.
Frankly, he could have been speaking of our own State Capitol here in Hartford.
I
will echo his sentiment and be a bit more blunt: We need to stop the
game-playing and name-calling and constant bickering that has come to consume
too many at the Capitol.
There
is no room for such pettiness on the playground; there certainly shouldn’t be
in the Legislature, the Governor’s Office or the courts either.
None
of us are blameless in this regard. All of us must accept our responsibilities
to treat one another with respect and to listen, truly listen, to those whose
views or proposals or policies may differ from our own.
In
the end we may not agree with one another, but we should respect one another.
We need not speak glowingly of each other or of each other’s ideas, but we must
speak civilly. Let us replace acrimony with accommodation; let us set aside the
difficulties and divisions of the last year and commit ourselves, truly commit
ourselves, to working with one another.
For
we have much to do – and our work begins in earnest today.
Thousands
of trees will be felled for the hundreds of bills that will be filed on dozens
of topics. But our efforts, our energies, this session should be focused on
just two core issues: creating jobs and balancing our state budget.
Too
many people have lost their jobs and a lost job means a lost paycheck, lost
security, lost dignity and lost hope for the future. Families across our state
are hurting and suffering and struggling.
We
need to get to work to put the people of Connecticut
back to work.
Today
I am announcing new proposals that will allow us to spur job creation now and
chart a course of economic vitality and growth for years to come.
The
most critical problem facing businesses today, particularly the small and
medium businesses that are our main engines of growth, is credit availability.
Employers need loans and financing to buy equipment and inventory, expand space
or just to meet daily cash flow demands.
As we
all know, the credit crunch has crippled a great many employers. Financing that
was readily available in years past is difficult, if not impossible, to find.
This
is a national problem, but we need to find a Connecticut solution to it.
I am
calling for the creation of the new Connecticut Credit Consortium – a $500
million partnership between the state and Connecticut banks to substantially boost
credit availability.
I
propose canceling $100 million in old bond authorizations and instead using the
funds for the Consortium. Our $100 million dollars will leverage at least $400
million dollars from banks all across our state.
That’s
$500 million that will immediately be put to work to help businesses save and
create jobs. And here’s one key provision: $25 million of the state’s $100
million will be targeted strictly for small businesses for micro- or small
loans.
As I
have said before, small businesses are the chief job creators. That is not in
dispute. And neither is their need for credit. Their lifeline is credit – and
that lifeline has been cut off.
Work
with me to open up that lifeline to create jobs and pass into law the
Connecticut Credit Consortium.
I
also ask you to help in passing other proposals I am offering to reinvigorate
our economy and create jobs.
The
first one modifies the relatively new but little-used job creation tax credit.
It was aimed at large corporations, but they are not availing themselves of it.
So I am proposing that we change it to benefit small businesses with 25 or
fewer employees.
Because
most small business are limited liability corporations – LLCs – and S corps, we
will, under my proposal, allow for the first time a credit against an
employer’s personal income tax liability. The credit will be for $2,500 per
year for three years for each new job created. Ten million dollars is already
in the budget for this proposal – and up to 4,000 new jobs could be created
this year alone.
One
area where we see a large number of new start-ups of small businesses is in
green technology and clean, renewable energy. Kermit the Frog had it wrong all
these years, I’m afraid. It is easy
to be green. Solar, fuel cells, wind turbines and geothermal – all hold the
keys to economic and energy prosperity.
That
is why I am proposing that we expand our sales tax exemption to include
machines, equipment, tools, materials, supplies and fuels used in renewable
energy and green technology.
This
is in addition to the work of my Electric Vehicle Council that is preparing the
way for green business opportunities for the arrival of zero-emission, electric
vehicles.
And
there’s one more component we still need to address – and it’s a critically
important component: our work force.
We
are recognized around the nation for the high quality and talent of our work
force. The best and brightest are found right here in Connecticut. But we need to do more to keep
them here.
We
want our children to be educated here and start their work life here and then
raise their own families here.
And
our companies will only succeed if they have the qualified, trained employees
they need. That is why I am proposing a new loan forgiveness program for
students who stay and work in Connecticut
after they graduate from college with a degree or certificate in green
technology, renewable energy, life sciences or health information technology.
They
will receive a $2,500 annual forgiveness for each of four years if they have a
baccalaureate or higher degree or $2,500 a year for two years with an associate
degree.
Join
me into making this loan forgiveness program a reality.
And
there’s something we can do – must do – for all businesses and for all of our
citizens: bring certainty and sanity to our state’s fiscal situation.
The
protracted discussions and negotiations, along with the fevered partisan debate
that characterized last year’s budget, cannot be repeated. It was hardly state
government’s finest moment.
Today
marks a new session, a new start and a new effort to work together to honestly
confront the undeniable realities of shrinking revenues and ever-rising costs.
A
little more than seven months into a two-year budget and we are already facing
a $500 million dollar plus deficit. A deficit due in large part to drastic
reductions in the collection of the income tax and sales tax. Why? Because if
you do not have a job you do not have any income on which to pay tax and you
have no money to spend on items that carry a sales tax. We have 94,000 people
in this state who have lost their jobs since the recession began in March, 2008
– 94,000.
The
recovery will be long and painfully slow and there will be a “new normal” when
it does take full effect.
We in
state government need a “new normal” as well. Because we have a state
government that has outgrown the ability of our citizens to pay for it.
We
need to recognize that not every service, not every program, not every function
is absolutely essential. We need to acknowledge that higher taxes are not the
solution to our problems.
It’s
common sense: The taxes we already have on our books are not bringing in the
revenue we thought they would, so why would new and higher taxes be the answer?
They’re not.
So I
say no. No on behalf of the 94,000 people who have lost their jobs. No, on
behalf of the businesses that are struggling to keep their doors open. No, on
behalf of all the families who struggle to make ends meet day in and day out.
We do
need to say yes to some basic structural reforms, however.
People
look at Washington
and the spending spree they have been on of late. They see weekly stories about
borrowing a few hundred billion for this, a few hundred billion for that … and
they react with horror. They worry about the bill that will be handed to their
children and grandchildren for all that borrowing.
We
have our own concerns here in Connecticut,
since we have one of the highest debt rates in the country. That’s why it is so
critical that we tackle this year’s deficit head-on and honestly deal with it,
not borrow to cover it.
I am
proposing that we put into place a new protection: Any bond authorization that
has been on the books for five years or more without being allocated by the
State Bond Commission will automatically be canceled.
We
have billions and billions of dollars of bonds that have been authorized by the
Legislature over the years. Some are for worthwhile statewide needs; many are
not. But all could bankrupt us and all are counted by credit rating agencies as
liabilities.
If a
project is not worthy enough to be approved after five or more years then we
probably shouldn’t bond for it and pay 20 years of interest on it.
And
there is another financial Sword of Damocles hanging over the state’s head that
we literally can no longer afford to ignore: our unfunded state employee
pension liabilities and unfunded retiree health care costs.
The
tab for our unfunded pension liabilities is a staggering $9.3 billion. The
price tag for health care benefits for retired state employees is an almost
incomprehensible $24.6 billion.
This
mounting debt has been virtually ignored for decades. Ignorance may be bliss,
according to the old adage, but that bliss carries a price – too high a price.
For
that reason I am establishing a working group, with representatives from the
Treasurer’s and Comptroller’s Offices, OPM, SEBAC, accountants, actuaries and
others, to propose short and long term plans for addressing our unfunded
liabilities. Their first report will be due by July 1.
I am
also offering a proposal today that contains an automatic requirement that half
of any budget surplus declared by the Comptroller in her January or May report
be automatically deposited into the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
When
I was sworn in as Governor on July 1, 2004, our Rainy Day Fund had a zero balance. Zero. I made it a priority to restore
the fund, the state’s nest egg, and working with you, it was filled to its
largest balance ever by 2008 – nearly $1.4 billion. I am proud of that effort.
And
it’s a good thing that we took that action because we are now in the midst of
our “Rainy Day” – we’re using all of the Fund’s assets this year and next to
balance our state budget.
But
the Rainy Day Fund is a tempting, too tempting, target. There is never a
shortage of people who enjoy spending money and never a dearth of people who
are asking for it.
Each
dollar of surplus spent is one dollar less that can go into the Rainy Day Fund.
So,
let’s reduce temptation and ensure that half of any surplus declared in January
or May be automatically deposited into the Fund. No diversions. No
short-sighted thinking. No excuses.
We
need to pass these proposals and to act now – because the outlook for the
future is fiscally challenging, to say the least. Early revenue shortfall
projections for the out years are in the billions of dollars.
The
Rainy Day Fund will be empty. Federal stimulus grants will be gone. All our
outside funds will have been swept. And yet employee, insurance, heating, fuel
and other costs will continue to increase appreciably. Quite frankly, the dire
circumstances we are facing today will pale in comparison to the challenges
that will face the next Governor, the next Legislature.
Every
action that we take this year, to finally get state spending under control will
ease the budget pain that all will be feeling for the next few years.
So
let me be clear about this: I intend to do everything in my power in my
remaining months in office to make the changes that are needed to break
insatiable spending habits and to make state government affordable once again.
It
would not be fair to my successor – or yours – to simply ignore the fiscal
problems that we have today and that we all know lie just ahead.
We
must deal with our current problems this session and develop a plan of action
for new leadership next session.
So
today I am proposing something rather unique – and rather necessary. Something
that will build upon the important work begun by my Administration and the
Legislature in streamlining state government.
I am
calling for the establishment of a 24-member commission to examine our
government, top to bottom, to achieve efficiencies, eliminate redundancies and
waste and reduce the size and cost of state government.
Every
institution, every structure, service, program and delivery mechanism will be
evaluated. And it will be done in a non-partisan manner by all 3 branches of
government. Six members will be appointed by me to represent the Executive
Branch. Six will be appointed by the Chief Justice to represent the Judicial
Branch, and six each will be appointed by the Democratic and Republican
leadership of the Legislature. There will be three chairs, one from each branch
of government.
The
commission will have until August 30 to conduct their work, the nature of which
is clearly spelled out in my legislation. It includes: agency mergers or
eliminations; administrative overhead; outdated functions or services and
better utilization of information technology. That’s step one.
Step
two is a separate, four-person board which is established on September 1. So as
to take the politics out of the equation, all branches and both sides of the
political aisle are again equally represented.
They
will review the work and recommendations of the commission. They will also hold
hearings and automatically accept those recommendations unless 3 out of 4
members vote to amend or reject any specific recommendation. Their work must be
concluded by December 1.
Those
recommendations that are administrative in nature will be implemented by the
Governor or Chief Justice, as appropriate. The Legislature will have 45 days
once the regular session starts next January to vote on the final
recommendations – without amendment.
And
every step taken will be done in open session, with all documents, phone calls,
meeting notes and correspondence open for public inspection. The timeline is
tight because we want the recommendations ready for the next Governor, the next
Legislature.
They
will need the recommendations to grapple with the great fiscal challenges we
will face. We owe it to them – and to those who pay for our government – our
taxpayers – and those who are served by our government. Let the creation of
this commission be one of the first bills you act upon so that its work can
begin immediately.
And
act quickly to fix and preserve the public financing law that so many of us
championed and that takes special interest money out of campaigns. Dozens and
dozens of candidates are running right now under one set of rules. It is very
likely they may find themselves running under another set if we lose our court
appeal.
Don’t
let us return to the ways of the past. We have cleaned up government and we
have cleaned up campaigns. Help me keep them clean. Act. Lead.
I’m
not scolding. I’m not lecturing. I’m beseeching you: Act. Lead. On campaign
finance reform, job creation and balancing the state budget.
Those
are the areas I have focused on and most of my proposals are paid for with
existing funds. This is not the year for a panoply of expensive new proposals
on a wide range of issues. We cannot afford them and the public is not crying
out for them.
They
want us to fix our economy, fix our state budget, jumpstart job creation and
then stay out of their pockets as they start earning paychecks again. And they
want us to do this while engaging, not fighting, one another.
It’s
not too much for them to ask. They put their trust in us – their public trust
by electing us to office.
I am
honored by that trust and I am proud to be the 87th Governor of this
great state. I am proud of all that has been accomplished since I became
Governor. Ethics and campaign finance reform. Civil unions. The Charter Oak
program for the uninsured. A new hospital at our veterans’ home. New charter
and magnet schools. Hundreds of new and refurbished rail cars, updated rail
stations and new buses. Thousands of acres of farmland and open space preserved.
Dozens of dairy farmers kept in business. College campuses that have been
transformed. The list goes on – and it will be added
to before I leave office next January.
There
is no time for reflection, however, for much work remains ahead, and much
history is yet to be written.
You
know, 2010 marks the 375th year of our great state. We are planning
a number of festivities to celebrate all the people and events that have made Connecticut such a
special place.
Three
hundred and seventy-five years of incredible history, with remarkable people
and achievements.
We
begin the next chapter, the next 375 years of our history, today.
I
foresee a bright future for our state, but we must first meet the many
challenges of today.
We
will continue to lead the nation in commerce, science, education, culture and
so much more.
We
will rebuild our economy. We will create jobs. And we will put our state back
on firm financial footing if we work hard and confront our problems with
courage and common sense.
Our
foundations are strong, our commitment resolute. The State of our State is
challenged but hopeful.
Extraordinary
times call upon us to do our best. To accept challenges and triumph over them.
And triumph we shall, if we work together, with respect and civility.
Before
I conclude I would ask that we keep in mind some of our state’s newest heroes –
the more than 600 members of the Connecticut National Guard, who are heading to Afghanistan
this week, for their deployment to that dangerous country.
They
are part of the largest deployment of Connecticut
soldiers to ever serve overseas. I ask that you keep them and their families in
your hearts and in your prayers.
I
thank you for the honor of serving as your Governor and I ask you to join me as
I say: God Bless the Great State of Connecticut.
