How Georgia could affect your wallet
This might seem a stretch, but the outcome of Georgia’s two run-off Senate elections on Jan. 5 could have direct ramifications for Connecticut’s budget. Here’s why. After the new General Assembly session opens on Jan. 6, with somehow swearing into office 36 state senators and 151 state representatives safely during the pandemic, its main task will be to adopt a two-year budget. With an estimated billion-dollar deficit looming, elected officials will be hard pressed to devise a balanced budget. But they are required to do so by state law.
What will make all the difference is whether the federal government provides stimulus payments to Connecticut and the other states. Only the federal government can deficit spend, and Republicans who control the Senate have been reluctant to help the states.
State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, meeting virtually with the Hearst Connecticut Media Editorial Board this week, discussed Georgia’s importance. If the two incumbent Republican senators lose to Democrats, it will tilt the party in power as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would hold a tie-breaking vote. If one or both Republican senators win, the GOP will retain hold of that chamber.
He’s hoping for a Democratic win to assure Congress will pass legislation to help the states.
Aside from the grave health aspects, the pandemic has wrought economic devastation that is not over. Connecticut has incurred unexpected expenses and eventually income will be lower as more and more businesses and taxpayers struggle.
Early in the pandemic the federal government pitted states against each other to procure vital Personal Protection Equipment; now Congress must step in to support the states, as only it can, in hopes of avoiding a widespread pandemic-driven recession.
Sen. Looney was frank: Connecticut will need new revenue sources and those could come from legalizing sports gaming and recreational marijuana. Proposals have arisen in earlier years — hearings on legalizing marijuana draw crowds and demonstrations — but not made it to adoption. Debate is certain to be high if bills come up this session, and votes could be close. Incoming House Speaker Matt Ritter, a Democrat, calculated the chances at 50-50 of recreational marijuana becoming legal.
The pressure is on Connecticut as nearby states already have taken that step. Massachusetts legalized it in 2017, and New Jersey approved it in last month’s election. So far, 15 states have legalized marijuana for adults and 36 states, including Connecticut, allow it for medical uses.
The sports gaming issue is complicated because the state has a pact with two Native American tribes to receive a portion of the proceeds from slot machines at the casinos in Southeastern Connecticut and the tribal leaders see sports betting as an extension of that exclusive agreement.
Legalizing recreational marijuana and sports gaming involve social health consequences and so should not be passed on the basis of revenue alone.
But Connecticut may take desperate measures if the federal government doesn’t lend a hand. Keep an eye on Georgia.
State Sen. President Martin Looney is hoping for a Democratic win to assure Congress will pass legislation to help the states.