New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
A new tone at the Capitol
Lamont asks lawmakers for cooperation
HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont, in his first budget presentation, asked the General Assembly Wednesday for their help in dealing with a $1.5 billion budget deficit and a looming multibillion-dollar wave of red ink in the teachers pension fund.
Legislative leaders and Capitol watchers said the request for collaboration, after eight years of an often-combative relationship with former-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, was a breath of fresh air, whether or not they agree with
specific proposals.
They said Lamont is approachable and down to earth as he navigates through the legislative maze and an early June deadline to come up with a two-year spending-and-tax package. He proposed a 1.7 percent increase over current spending in the $20.8 billion budget set to take effect July 1 and 3.4 percent to $21.2 billion in the second year.
State Rep. Arthur O’Neill, D-Southbury, in his 31st year in the House, said lawmakers often thought that Malloy, a former prosecutor and Stamford mayor, negotiated budgets as if they were contentious criminal plea bargains.
“His idea of making a deal was offering a couple years off your sentence,” O’Neill said on the House floor after the speech. “Gov. Lamont’s approach seems to be, ‘let’s both profit.’”
“He’s a straight-shooter who wants people to come to the table with ideas,” said Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin. “His budget presentation today is refreshing both in tone and substance.”
“The governor has talked with us about different ideas, about what he was thinking,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “We sat with the governor for a preview yesterday and he said, ‘Look, if you have any other ideas, I’m open to them.’ I think he’s looking for ideas, as well.”
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, highly critical of many budget details, said he believes the governor means well.
“I think Governor Lamont is a very nice person,” Fasano said. “I think he welcomes conversations. So I think that is totally different than Governor Malloy. I honestly believe that he’s trying to do the right thing. He is a neophyte to the budget. He’s a neophyte to the building. We have to give him a little slack there. I’m going to say I don’t like this budget.”
“It’s so refreshing to have a governor with some personality, who’s engaging, who actually talks to you and is willing to work with you,” said Rep. Richard A. Smith, R-New Fairfield, in his ninth year in office.
“Governor Lamont is certainly a much more collaborative governor,” House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said. “He’s much easier to approach. That doesn’t mean that he won’t stick with what he believes in, but he’s a more collaborative governor. Whether we agree at the end of the day, that’s something we need.”
“He’s been very accessible both during the campaign and during the transition, and since he’s been sworn in,” said Joe Brennan, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. He was impressed with Lamont immediately pointing out the state’s problems with fixed costs, such as the under-funded teacher retirement plan.
“Imagine what we can do if we get this state going again,” said Lamont, a 65year-old former small-business owner whose previous experience in elective office was the Greenwich Board of Selectmen. “Together we can take this fiscal challenge and turn it on its head. The budget we have put together is far from perfect and I welcome your input.”
Lamont warned that in particular, his proposed elimination of tax exemptions on digital and streaming sales, as well as many services, is bound to cause complaints, while making the tax structure more fair.
“Why do you have to pay a sales tax on a manicure, but you don’t pay a sales tax on a haircut?” Lamont asked in a 35-minute speech punctuated about a dozen times by applause, mostly from fellow Democrats.
“If every tax expenditure had a strong lobbyist behind it, the pushback will be ferocious,” he predicted. “I’m gonna work this out with you.”
Lamont leaned on his business experience and asked lawmakers to work with him to avoid a looming $1.5 billion deficit projected for the budget that starts July 1.
“Today, I am presenting you a budget which gives us the best chance to get this state growing again. Connecticut has been a jobs laggard for many years, which depresses opportunity and hits our budget every year,” he said. “If we had grown jobs at the same rate as other states, we would be talking about how to invest our surplus or cut taxes. Instead we are staring down the barrel of a
$3.7 billion deficit over the new two-year budget cycle”
He also asked state union workers to help him cut health care costs. He’ll try to push out a looming multibillion-dollar unfunded liability in the retirement fund for teachers. Wealthier towns that pay their teachers higher rates would pay more into the retirement fund in a three-year phasein worth $75 million.
He’ll tackle litter issues by establishing new cash deposits for wine, liquor and even tiny “nips” bottles that are ubiquitous roadside eyesores.
“The fiscal crisis before us is not just a short-term hole in the budget,” he said. “We are digging that hole deeper by $400 (million) to $500 million annually due to fixed costs such as pensions, state employee health care and bonded debt — all growing faster than our economy.”
Lamont admits that he has less experience, relying on his top advisers, including State Treasurer Shawn Wooden and Melissa McCaw, who as the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management is his chief budget aide.
“The legislature has to figure out whether you want to apply the sales tax to consumer services,” Lamont said Tuesday to state newspaper editors and publishers. “My hunch is you either do or you don’t. We’re positing that out to the legislature. I think it’s a fairer and I think it’s much more stable way for us to calculate what our revenues are going to be.”