The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Senate leader talks politics, pot and education
NEW HAVEN >> Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney hopes one of his ideas to save Connecticut money and perhaps add revenue will lead the state to greener pastures: Legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
Running unopposed for a seat he’s held since being elected in 1992, Looney met with the Register’s editorial board Wednesday to discuss many issues, including the issue of marijuana and how he and his peers in Hartford will tackle a more than $1 billion budget deficit during the next legislative session.
Looney is among several General Assembly candidates from New Haven running unopposed. Yet he said he has continued to campaign, in part to remind his constituents he will continue to serve them in Hartford.
“I am running unopposed this year but I am very grateful for the support of my constituents and the nomination,” Looney said. “I am running an active campaign even though I don’t have an opponent, because I think I owe that to the voters, to campaign vigorously and let them know that I appreciate their confidence and I look forward to continuing to serve.”
He counted among the state’s successes some of its business programs, retention of jobs and criminal justice reform. His ideas include exploring the possibility of legalizing recreational marijuana use, pushing for more regionalization of school districts and continuing to fund municipal aid.
Looney spoke at length about potentially legalizing marijuana, which he said he supports.
“I think obviously it is something that there could be a substantial revenue benefit to the state,” Looney said.
Looney held up Colorado, where a 2012 ballot measure led to recreational marijuana sales starting in January 2014, as a case study that could be used to explore Connecticut’s options.
A recent report showed how profitable that state’s industry is: The Denver Post’s The Cannabist news site reported Wednesday that Colorado’s legal marijuana industry has a $2.4 billion economic impact in the state.
The news site reported in February that Colorado’s licensed and regulated marijuana stores sold more than $997 million worth of recreational and medical cannabis in 2015, which translated to more than $135 million collected by the state in taxes and fees. In addition to Colorado, marijuana is legal for recreational use in Alaska, Oregon, Washington state and the District of Columbia.
“Frankly, it is a potential significant revenue raiser for us, too,” Looney said, saying scaling Colorado’s model to Connecticut could be worth about $60 million to the state.
Connecticut’s northern neighbors, Maine and Massachusetts, are two of five states set to vote on recreational marijuana use this fall. Looney said Massachusetts’ referendum could provide insight on how Connecticut residents would vote for a similar bill.
The state first decriminalized the possession of a small amounts of marijuana in 2011. Looney said his push for doing this in Connecticut was prompted by Massachusetts decriminalizing small amounts in 2008.
“If the referendum passes in Massachusetts, that would give additional impetus to possibly having the issue brought forward in Connecticut,” Looney said.
Another way the state could potentially save money is exploring regionalizing school districts, he said. The state has 17 regional school districts, out of 164 districts, according to figures from the state Department of Education.
“I think we ultimately need to have more regional school districts in the state for efficiency purposes,” Looney said.
This wouldn’t necessarily mean shutting down schools, which Looney generally opposes, but rather consolidating administrative offices. Salaries for administrators can be costly, and Looney said there are too many small school districts that have too many layers: A superintendent, deputy superintendent and other administrators supervising a small number of students.
“I think that’s increasingly not supportable, given our state fiscal climate,” Looney said.
Mentioning the September ruling from a state judge that called the state’s public education system unconstitutional, Looney said it could be challenging for communities to pay more when they are already struggling to pay for education.
Consolidating might be difficult given the numerous districts in the state, he said. Such a decision would require multi-town agreements. Making some state grants available only for regional resources could help move more districts toward regionalizing. Such a move could potentially save the state and district money.
“We’ve had one signif- icant success in regionalization in the last few years and that was in the consolidation of our probate court system,” Looney said, referring to the 117 districts reduced to 54.
Looney responded to Republican state Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano’s concerns about his party being shut out of the policy-making process. Fasano told the Register editorial board last week that Republicans have new ideas to contribute, but don’t always get a chance to be heard, due in part to the “arrogance of majority,” and he seeks more change in Hartford.
“If there’s anything we have done in the last five or six years it is structural change,” Looney said. “That is, of course, entirely a political ploy. It’s an effort on their part to try and create public sympathy for a sense of grievance.”
About costly pensions, Looney said the state started to pay special attention to pension shortfalls in 2011. Since then, the General Assembly has contributed about $1 billion annually to address pension obligations.
“I think that’s been real responsibly structural planning,” Looney said. Negotiations with state employee unions provided a new plan that reduced pension amounts starting in 2011. Looney said the state has steadily reduced the pension packages for decades.
Other areas that need work include the state’s assistance for veterans on car assessment values, Looney said. One program the state sponsored to assist veterans was to create a program for veteran entrepreneurs that gives them a competitive advantage on bidding projects.
With a polarizing presidential election drawing to a close, Looney said the race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump is proving to be an “unprecedented election.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen, at least in my memory, a national candidate like Mr. Trump,” Looney said. “I think that’s a good thing, that we haven’t seen a candidate (like that) in the national scene before him.”
Trump’s positions and his “confrontational approach” to his candidacy are beginning to fatigue his supporters, Looney said, especially after his crude comments about touching women inappropriately.
“The approach that he’s taken — worrying about the election supposedly being rigged and stolen from him — is the sort of thing someone only says in advance of an election when they expect to lose,” Looney said.