House extends outdoor dining amid reopening battle
HARTFORD — Connecticut restaurants would be able to continue outdoor dining and entertainment through March of 2022, under bipartisan legislation unanimously approved Thursday in an otherwise sharply divided House of Representatives battling over control of the state’s reopening.
In a bitter, nearly twohour debate, Republican attempts to take away some of Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency powers failed in a partisan, 90-50 vote. Despite the rancor, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly agreed to make it easier for restaurateurs to continue serving customers outside.
The bill would let cities and towns close off streets and sidewalks, and food and drink services expedite bureaucratic obstacles, including time-consuming zoning requirements and special-event permits from the state Department of Transportation. It continues social distancing and mask guidelines.
To Republicans including House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, of North Branford and Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford, the restaurant agreement was proof that the General Assembly can comb through the 90-plus executive orders Lamont has issued over the last year, taking back its role in setting policy for the state.
“There is no reason we can’t do the same for all other executive orders. We don’t need to extend the governor's powers today. We need to get to work,” Kelly said in a statement earlier in the day. Candelora, during a mid-afternoon news conference on the steps of the Capitol, waved a thick printout of potential portions of executive orders that he said could be dropped.
Democrats said now is not the time to invite the sort of chaos that would come from floor debates about details of the reopening. And Paul Mounds, Lamont’s chief of staff, in a letter to Kelly on Thursday said that a variety of federal programs could be halted, including federal food services and emergency reimbursements, could become atrisk if Lamont’s emergency declarations were to prematurely disappear.
“To act otherwise could unnecessarily jeopardize the funding to which Connecticut is entitled,” Mounds wrote, stressing that no other states have lifted their emergency declarations.
“Covid has changed the way we all interact with the world,” said state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, co-chairwoman of the legislative Planning and Development Committee, who introduced the restaurant-relief bill at about 5:45 p.m.
The restaurant extension was aimed at helping perhaps the hardest hit industry in the state. State Rep. David Rutigliano, R-Trumbull, who owns several restaurants, said Lamont’s orders to ease outdoor dining helped save jobs and businesses.
“Our industry has struggled,” he said, detailing the 130,000 workers who suddenly became unemployed and the hundreds of businesses that have closed for good. “The single lifeline we had last year, it turned out, was the extension of outdoor dining. I believe it was the single thing we’ve done to save these small family-owned businesses. Something actually worked
out, even in this awful year.”
“I love it,” said Gov. Ned Lamont, when informed of the impending House action during his mid-afternoon news conference on the pandemic. The bill, approved 141-0 after a 15minute discussion, moves to the Senate, which may met as soon as next Tuesday.
“These relaxed rules could be the start of a new Connecticut tradition that increases activity in our towns,” Lamont said in a statement after the 6:10 p.m. vote. “One positive outcome of this unfortunate pandemic has been that we’ve been thinking about new, creative ways to offer activities outdoors, including at restaurants. Expanded outdoor dining has created a vibrancy in many of our neighborhoods in ways that we haven’t seen before, all while supporting locally owned, small businesses.”
“The two months when Connecticut shut down dining entirely were some of
the darkest days ever faced by our industry,” said Dan Meiser, chairman of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, after the quick House debate and vote. “Collectively we worked with state and local officials to change parking lots, sidewalks, and even roads into dining areas. This should continue in 2021, so that our industry can plan ahead, keep our doors open, and continue on the long road toward recovery to the benefit of local economies throughout Connecticut.”
“A year after restaurants were asked to close their doors, and we watched more than 600 restaurants close, moving this bill forward is a positive step in the right direction,” said Scott Dolch, executive director of the association.
The speedy bipartisan cooperation in the House followed a sometimes acrimonious debate on the extension of Lamont’s emergency powers until May 20, as Republicans charged that Democrats let Lamont usurp the duties of the legislature.
The emergency powers had been scheduled to expire on April 20. The governor and majority Democrats said the pandemic continues to rage, but they would use the extra weeks to review which of the 93 executive orders is no longer needed.
“This is not about analyzing what has been done up to now,” said Candelora, who complained that Republicans have not been consulted on the road ahead. “It’s about going forward.”
“When did we give the governor the power to enact these executive orders?” asked Rep. Tom O’Dea, R-New Canaan.
“This legislature, this body and by extension the people we represent,” replied Rep. Mike D’Agostino, D-Hamden, who brought out the bill.
The governor’s powers were extended by a smaller group of 10 legislative leaders, though a Superior Court judge later said in a ruling that the entire General Assembly should have voted on the extensions.
“I would submit that the governor has overstepped his authority because we have allowed him to,” O’Dea charged.
A GOP amendment that would have ended Lamont’s emergency power’s on May 1 failed 89-50.
House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, summing up the debate just before the final vote, said public officials throughout the state have had to be flexible over the last year.
“This has not been easy on anyone,” Rojas said. “We’re in a much better place than a year ago, six months ago, even a month ago. We cannot let up just yet. The spread of variants are happening. It’s still unclear of what our supply of vaccine will be. We still face considerable financial liabilities related to the pandemic. We must continue to be ready to respond to ever-changing conditions in the pandemic that no one was familiar with a year ago.”