Minority Republicans grab the reins
Who’s having more fun than the reporters, staffers and lobbyists witnessing the antics going on in the Connecticut General Assembly? OK, well maybe just reporters.
But it’s a laugh riot, witnessing the unwieldy Democratic majorities practically collapse on themselves, as if the head of the donkey were so massive and the legs so tiny that the body can barely hold itself up. Sure, I engage in hyperbole, but no one wants to watch this public policy soap opera play out over the dwindling weeks more than yours truly.
The session of 2019 is for all intents and purposes over, with the Republicans in control. Seeds in the Senate were sown a couple weeks ago when Democrats did a middebate victory dance on Twitter, then charged that Republicans were filibustering a bill on confidential benefits information involving domestic abuse and reproductive rights. At the time, a couple of conservative Republican senators were asking questions that I found interesting, having not yet covered the issue.
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano stood up and started frothing over the offending Democratic tweets. That’s about the moment I believe when Democrats lost any chance of getting GOP support on the thoroughly unrelated constitutional amendment on early voting, which will now not get on the statewide ballot in 2020. Yeah, there’s a lot of cause-andeffect in the Capitol.
With Wednesday’s 14hour long-day’s-journeyinto-night-dawn-the-morning-rush-and-lunch, a new standard has been set for debate on a single bill. If any of Gov. Ned Lamont’s core proposals — tolls, adult cannabis, family medical leave, minimum wage — is to go anywhere, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate had better bring them up fast, because June 5 is coming.
Republicans want none of this, so it’s to their advantage to talk and talk and talk, about anything. In the early evening on the night of the minimum wage debate for the ages, a totally innocuous bill came to the floor via Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee.
The legislation would require pedestrians to step to the curb or use hand gestures to alert motorists when they enter cross walks, in an attempt to cut down on the proliferation of traffic fatalities. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says there were 5,987 pedestrian fatalities in 2016, up 9 percent from the year before. House Republicans prolonged this debate for a full 90 minutes, no problem.
What kind of hand signals? Something obvious, Lemar replied. “We want to establish this propedestrian criteria,” he said, stressing the need for people to be recognized by motorists. Currently, the risky state law requires us to be in the crosswalks, where we can dodge multi-ton, speeding vehicles driven by idiots. Ole!
The GOP lawmakers warmed up to the existential possibilities. What about if my dog on a leash steps into the crosswalk, queried Rep. Chris Davis of Ellington, whose work as ranking member of the Finance Committee, is usually focused on the dense arcana within the $21-billion annual budget. “Yes, the cars have to stop,” Lemar assured. Davis worried about cars crashing into each other.
Lemar said that stepping to the curb is nearly universally recognized around the world.
“If a pedestrian comes upon a cross walk and has their back to the driver, and they’re not even making arm signals, they’re looking at you — for legislative intent — is it fair to say that that driver should not expect that person is going to walk through the crosswalk?” Rep. Tom O’Dea of New Canaan, ad-libbed, goodnaturedly. Is it time now to remind everyone O’Dea is a lawyer?
That was around 8 p.m., a full 10 hours before the final six-hour daylight cascade of debate on the minimum wage, which would rise to $15 by June 2023, if it gets approved in the Senate and signed by Lamont. O’Dea joined the chorus of Republicans warning that employers would have to cut jobs to pay workers more, rejecting the Democrats’ theory that more money in the hands of the lower-paid actually means more economic activity.
O’Dea offered the final losing amendment of the debate, which went down 80-54, with 16 absent or/ and snoozing. He wanted to keep talking, but Rep. Buddy Altobello, D-Meriden, at the speaker’s dais, mildly scolded that the rules stopped him from talking again so soon. “You can always catch up with us later,” Altobello dead-panned into his lie. “Love to hear from you.”
The session of 2019 is for all intents and purposes over, with the Republicans in control.