Why they voted against Sikorsky deal
L ast Wednesday, meeting in a oneday special session, the General Assembly gave overwhelming approval to an incentive deal to make sure that Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft builds the next generation of military helicopters in Connecticut.
The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, which negotiated the deal, made sure state legislators knew what was at stake, providing them with lists of the number of Sikorsky employees and supply companies located in their districts. Without the incentives, Sikorsky would have built the CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter in another state, most likely Florida.
That would have left the Stratford plant, at best, with maintenance and refurbishment work on the aging Black Hawk Army helicopter fleet.
It was perhaps no surprise, then, when the Senate voted 35-1 and the House 136-6 to approve the incentive package.
Interestingly, two of those lonely seven votes came from southeastern Connecticut — Rep. Mike France of Ledyard, whose 42nd District also includes Preston and Montville, and Doug Dubitsky of Chaplain, whose 47th District includes the northern section of Norwich, Lebanon, Lisbon, Franklin, Hampton, Scotland and Sprague. Both are Republicans.
France said he based his no vote on principle. “I don’t think government does well when it becomes a venture capitalist,” he said.
And on practicality. “One of the first things you have to know when you enter into negotiations is what is the do-nothing position?” France said. “I did not feel there was a clear answer.”
In other words, he said, how fewer jobs would there have been — both at Sikorsky and for the companies that provide its supply line — and what would be the economic implications if the King Stallion helicopter was built elsewhere and the Stratford plant was left with the maintenance work? Without that information, he said, he could not tell whether the $220 million incentive deal was worth the investment.
Dubitsky, meanwhile, said there was nothing in the deal for his district.
“The state is taking tax money from the people of my district and they’re giving it to a $50 billion company. Instead of being in special session to come up with this crony capitalism deal, we should have been in special session trying to fix why it cost $400 million more to build a helicopter in Connecticut than anywhere else,” Dubitsky told me.
The $400 million refers to how much more Lockheed expects to spend building 200 helicopters here in Connecticut as opposed to other states under consideration. The company did not detail what made it more expensive here, but Connecticut is recognized as having higher energy, labor and regulatory costs than other states.
Both conceded their choice would have been more difficult if the plant was in their backyards. Both said they had no Sikorsky suppliers in their districts. France is running unopposed, while Dubitsky faces a challenge from Hampton First Selectwoman Kate Donnelly, a Democrat, in the Nov. 8 election.
France said he found it particularly disturbing that Connecticut will borrow $140 million, with an estimated $30 million in interest, to provide grants to Lockheed Martin. The incentive package provides up to $5.7 million in annual tax sales exemptions and about $8.6 million in annual grants, running through 2032.
While their disgust with the cashstrapped state handing money to a vastly successful corporation is understandable, and many of us share the feeling, the fact is that Connecticut cannot become more business friendly overnight. It needs to preserve manufacturing jobs now. That meant making a deal.
Politics being a game of long memories, you also have to wonder if, when it is an industry or program needing help in their districts, if this vote won’t come back to haunt them.