State lawmakers to take aim at Eversource
After months of an exceedingly low infection rate, Connecticut’s coronavirus numbers are beginning to slowly creep up, a trend Gov. Ned Lamont has called “concerning.” “This reminds you why we continue to be very cautious,” he said. OnTuesday, Lamont signed an executive order allowing fines to be issued for people who violate executive orders on mask-wearing and limiting the size of gatherings. The governor said cities and towns had asked for additional tools to enforce the orders.
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The big story
Utilities and more on tap for special session: The state Senate and state House of Representatives will meet in special session this month to vote on consumer protections for utility customers and other legislation. Major changes to a recently passed police accountability bill, however, are off the table. Lamont, as of Friday afternoon, had yet to issue a formal call for the session, as legislative leaders are still negotiating over exactly what topics will be voted on. But among the items under consideration are approving school construction grants for cities and towns, expanding the state’s grant program for homeswithcrumbling concrete foundations to include condominiums, and legislation seeking to curb sexual assaults on college campuses that would prevent students who report such assaults from being penalized by their school if they were at a gathering that’s been prohibited due to coronavirus-related restrictions when the assault occurred. The utility legislation is No. 1 on the agenda and a draft of the bill includes provisions that would reimburse customers for spoiled food and medicine in the event of an outage lasting longer than three days. The vote comes amid public anger toward Eversource, the state’s dominant electric utility, over recent rate hikes as well as criticism over how it responded to Tropical Storm Isaias, which left some homes and businesses in the dark for nine days. The Senate is expected to meet this coming week and the House later in the month.
Five things you may have missed
Surprise surplus, but big deficits loom: Connecticut got some unexpected good news Thursday when it was determined the state concluded the fiscal year that ended June 30 with a modest $39 million surplus. Earlier in the spring, as the coronavirus pandemic raged through Connecticut and led to the massive shutdown of businesses, Lamont’s budget director had predicted a deficit of as large as $900 million. But federal assistance, including $1,200 stimulus checks and a $600 boost in weekly unemployment benefits, helped prop up the economy through the end of the fiscal year. “We could all use a little good news, and ending the fiscal year of 2020 with a surplus is, in fact, good news,” state Comptroller Kevin Lembo said Thursday. But big deficits are looming for the current fiscal year and the two after that. The state expects a $2.1 billion budget gap this year and then $3.5 billion in each of the following two years.
Flood of ballot applications returned to towns: Just a week after the applications were mailed out, more than 60,000 Connecticut voters have already applied for absentee ballots for the upcoming November election. Using federal funds, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill sent the applications to the state’s more than 2 million registered voters. Due to the ongoing pandemic, all voters will be eligible to vote by absentee ballot this fall. Election officials predict two-thirds of the votes in November will be absentee ballots and that total voter turnout could reach 80%. In a typical election, fewer than 10% of voters use absentee ballots. The Aug. 11 primary offered a preview of what’s to come, with 227,000 absentee votes compared to roughly 72,000 in-person votes.
The absentee ballot applications voters received can either be mailed back to election officials or dropped off in special boxes outside town halls. The ballots themselves will be mailed back beginning Oct. 2.
Study says legal marijuana could raise $952M over five years: A new study by a UConn economist estimates legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana could generate $952 million in new state tax revenue over the first five years the drug was available for sale. The study, funded by a national group that lobbies for marijuana legalization, says revenue would grow from between $35 million and $48 million in the first year of sales to as high as $223 million in the fifth year. While the money wouldn’t come in time to help Connecticut’s immediate budget deficit, lawmakers are expected to once again debate legalization of marijuana when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. Recreational marijuana is available for sale in Massachusetts, but the study predicts Connecticut would benefit from customers from New York and Rhode Island who would cross the border to buy a product that remains illegal in their states. Lamont has said he supports “a well-regulated market for cannabis.”
Connecticut sues ExxonMobil over climate change:
Attorney General William Tong Monday sued ExxonMobil Corp. on behalf of the state, arguing the fossil fuel giant misled investors and the public about its contribution to climate change, costing the state precious time to limit damage to the environment. Tong, at a news conference in NewHavenMonday, said the effects of climate change are undeniable. He cited the wildfires that are ravaging California and Oregon as well as Tropical Storm Isaias that left hundreds of thousands of homesandbusinesses in Connecticut without power last month. The lawsuit claims ExxonMobil’s own scientists as far back as the late 1970s warned executives about the “greenhouse effect” tied to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of the use of fossil fuels. ExxonMobil called the claims “baseless and without merit” and said the lawsuit would only “waste millions of dollars of taxpayer money.”
State adds 20,000 jobs in August as gains slow: Connecticut’s economy continues to slowly recover from the toll the coronavirus pandemic took on employment in the spring, with businesses in the state adding 20,400 jobs in August, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. State officials estimate Connecticut’s unemployment rate at near 15% compared to a U.S. jobless rate of 8.4%. Employment gains slowed from earlier in the summer. In June, employers added 77,300 jobs. The biggest gains last month were in the health care and social assistance and leisure and hospitality sectors. While Lamont has said that most businesses in the state have been cleared to reopen with safety measures in place, some, including bars and indoor event venues, have remain closed since March. And restaurants that saw success with expanded outdoor dining this summer are uncertain about how the fall and winter will play out. They’ve asked Lamont to allow for greater capacity for indoor dining.
Odds and ends
Marc Bradley, the manger of Lamont’s 2018 campaign for governor, has been appointed Connecticut state director for former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. Bradley, who is 43 and lives in Norwalk, left his job in Lamont’s office as director of external and constituent affairs in February. “While Connecticut is a relatively safe state for VP Biden and Sen. Harris, we can still play a significant role in this year’s presidential race by contacting voters in battleground states to help get out the vote,” he said in a recent Facebook post. … Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin was hospitalized for colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease he has had for more than 10 years, he shared on social media Thursday. Bronin said he went to the hospital after a flare-up and doctors kept him “longer than expected, doing tests (and) getting things back on track.” “So far going well,” he said. Bronin said he expected to be home in a few days and that he’d been in touch with his staff each day. … State Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown, has removed a sticker on his car associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory after criticism on social media. The theory, which has been repeatedly debunked but continues to be discussed in far-right circles, is that a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles in Hollywood and the media is conspiring against President Donald Trump. Berthel initially told the Courant that while he didn’t believe in the “wild eyed theories” associated with QAnon he believed the conspiracy theory “has allowed for people who have previously felt disconnected from public policy and government to be part of the conversation.” … The Hartford City Council took a step toward renaming Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, as Bridgeport, West Hartford and other communities have done in recent years in recognition of Christopher Columbus’ subjugation of natives. The change won’t happen in time for this year’s holiday on Oct. 12, but a new task force will look at renaming the holiday as well as looking at all city memorials to Columbus. A statue of the Italian explorer near the state Capitol was removed in June and there has been a push to rename Columbus Boulevard in downtown as well. … State Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, is suing Lamont, arguing his continuation of the public health emergency that grants him extraordinary powers during the pandemic is “completely meritless” because the state is not facing a “major disaster.” The lawsuit, in which France is represented by two fellow Republican lawmakers, cited Connecticut’s recent coronavirus metrics, including a low infection rate as evidence that it was unwarranted to extend Lamont’s emergency powers through February. A spokesman for the governor declined to comment.