Snow In October
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Bipartisanship
Photo by Steve Kotchko
Posted 10/31/11
Democrats and Republicans wrangled so much over the state budget, the deficit, and other issues during this year’s regular legislative session, some political wags might claim “it will be a snowy day in October before you see bipartisan cooperation in the State Capitol.”
Last Thursday evening, Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy signed into law a bipartisan jobs stimulus bill. One hour later it started to snow at the Capitol.
All kidding aside, the bill signing was a political love fest, after weeks of what apparently involved some hard bargaining as staff negotiators from all four political caucuses in the legislature crafted the jobs bill along with the Malloy administration.
House Speaker Christopher Donovan (D-Meriden) said: “We hear from the unemployed, from small businesses ‘please listen to us and do something quickly’, and we did. We worked together and we targeted those needs, and we succeeding (in approving) provisions that can help put people to work right now.”
The House GOP leader, Rep. Lawrence Cafero (R-Norwalk), perhaps the most vocal critic of the Malloy administration, said the bill signing proved to be “a pretty neat day” for him, at long last a true example of bipartisan cooperation on an important issue for Connecticut. “The result was amazing both with substance and process,” he said.
Senate GOP leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield) expressed the hopes of many saying he hoped the cooperation on the jobs bill is not “one shining moment” of teamwork before both parties fall back into their all too familiar pattern of bickering.
Malloy, pleased that the jobs package came together with bipartisan support, cautioned against going overboard. “It is not a victory lap, what this is a few steps in the right direction.” Asked if he can apply the bipartisan approach on the jobs bill to other big issues in the 2012 legislation session, the Governor replied: “I want to do as many things on a bipartisan basis as we can, but I am mindful that there are differences between Republicans and Democrats, and sometimes that will prevent us from (being) bipartisan.”
The Governor said however that “whenever we can, we should try to show a bipartisan face to the citizens of Connecticut.” Malloy said all parties should be “on the lookout” for opportunities to work together on issues. He noted that he’s already called for education to be a special focus of the 2012 session and said this often controversial topic could use a dose of bipartisanship.
Malloy said he expects to have a series of recommendations on education available for discussion. “I certainly will run those up the flagpole (for both parties to digest) well before the session starts.”
Talking about increased bipartisanship and making it happen on a regular basis are two different things. While lawmakers banded together on the jobs bill, knowing that the public desperately wanted something done about unemployment, Democrats and Republicans argued old-style over Malloy’s other jobs-related bill in the special session—the deal to dedicate $291million in state funds to a new bioscience research facility in Farmington to be built by Maine-based Jackson Laboratories.
Malloy claims the project can be the trigger for a new research corridor extending from Yale in New Haven, to Jackson Labs and the UConn Health Center in Farmington, to the UConn main campus in Storrs. Republicans trashed the deal as pie in the sky with no solid details on job creation and virtually no state share in any genomic products turned out by the company.
The Jackson Labs bill was approved by the Democrat-controlled legislature, but attracted just a handful of GOP votes. In deference to political differences on the bill, Malloy held off signing the measure to some future date, even though both “jobs” bill were approved on the same night.
Malloy’s interest in bipartisan work on the jobs bill seemed to be two-fold. Show a united stance to the business community in-state and in the global economy so anyone interested in expanding here or locating in Connecticut gets the message that the state is ready to help with job training, streamlined regulation, and help in securing capital. Second, show a contrast between Connecticut state government and Congress—at least on the big issues. “It shows that when it comes to creating and fixing the economy, Connecticut is not Washington, D.C—here Democrats and Republicans can work together,” Malloy said.
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