Gov. Rell Addresses Lawmakers
Photo by Steve Kotchko
Posted 2/8/10
Journalists, including yours truly, dutifully reported that Republican Gov. Jodi Rell delivered her final State of the State Address to the legislature on Feb. 3rd, the opening day of the 2010 General Assembly session. That is technically true, but it certainly wasn’t a farewell address. Rell will be governor until next January and her remaining time might not be quiet.
Rell could choose to address the legislature again on the final night of the regular session, May 5th, though in recent years she’s stayed away, unhappy with the lack of progress on state budgets. If the budget story explodes into discord as it did last year, Rell could ask to address the state on radio and TV to press her case. Bottom line—we haven’t seen the last of this governor even though she is a “lame duck” after her decision not to seek reelection.
The Governor didn’t use her State of the State message as a farewell address. It was more of a table setter for the legislative session ahead, rather than a high-flown account of the accomplishments in her tenure.
Most of all, Rell urged lawmakers to avoid a repeat performance of last year’s protracted budget deficit battle, and she was blunt. “We need to stop the game-playing and name-calling and constant bickering that has come to consume too many at the Capitol,” said Rell. She continued: “There is no room for such pettiness on the playground; there certainly shouldn’t be in the Legislature, the Governor’s Office, or the courts either.”
Rell clearly tried to plant election day fears in lawmakers heads, warning that voters “emotions are raw.” Citizens are “uncertain about the future” and they are “frustrated and angry about the present”, she said.
Her message seemed directed at the legislature’s majority Democrats. She clearly wanted them to think about the victory of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown in Massachusetts—that bastion of liberal Democratic politics. The Governor claimed voters “want an end to political press conferences and partisan pinball.”
So what do voters seek? “They want us to act like adults,” Rell concluded.
Due to the continuing state deficit, Rell did not offer up any big initiatives for her last year in office. She said the legislature should focus on two key issues: job creation and the deficit.
To grow jobs, Rell wants the state to help break the ice jam on credit availability for small and medium size companies. There’s evidence many of these firms want to re-tool, expand, or engage in more research, but are stymied by an inability to get loans from banks still smarting from the big recession.
Some economic observers say in many cases, lenders aren’t saying “no” on credit, they’re just being tight-fisted. A company seeking a $200,000 loan to expand is offered something far less, perhaps $70,000. The smaller loan isn’t worth the effort in terms of paperwork, and won’t accomplish the business goal.
Rell proposes a public-private effort to boost credit availability. Her suggested Connecticut Credit Consortium would use $100 million in state funds to leverage another $400,000 from Connecticut banks. To free up the $100 million, Rell proposes cancelling certain old state bonding authorizations that haven’t gained final approval.
Democrats have different ideas for boosting credit availability, but say they are willing to talk with the Administration to develop a compromise that could accomplish the goal.
The Governor continued her campaign for more cuts in state spending to ease the deficit, and proposed a new plan for streamlining state government. Her idea is a 24-member commission she dubbed PERFORM (Plan to Effectively Reorganize the Functions, Operations, Responsibilities and Mission of state agencies). It is designed to be “a top-to-bottom review of state government”, according to the Governor’s press office.
Suffice it to say Democratic reaction was tepid. To many, Rell’s proposal seemed like just another “study commission” on how to cut state expenses by closing some programs, merging some agencies, or similar steps. A few Democrats said it seemed a half-hearted pitch by Rell too late in her administration to be taken seriously.
If Democrats are thinking Rell is just going through the motions in her final months in office that could prove a risky judgment. Tucked into her State of the State address was a warning that Rell, who doesn’t have to worry about reelection, may be ready to use her veto power to the max. “I intend to do everything in my power in my remaining months in office to make the changes that are needed to break insatiable spending habits and to make state government affordable once again,” she said. Let the games begin!