In This Issue:

From Paddi's Desk

CT Agency Corner

Municipal Roundup

Inside Scoop

This Day in CT History

This Week's News:

MURPHY, BLUMENTHAL Not Among 13 Co-sponsors Of Bill To Federally Legalize Cannabis...

CT House approves climate change bill after failing on mandate on electric cars...

Surprise!

In politics there’s a saying about two to three weeks before an election – watch out for the October surprise. Usually, it's not a good surprise – like a personal attack by one opponent to knock the energy out of the other candidate or something personal to embarrass the opponent. The best-known October surprise in past elections might have been when CT was hit was an October wine snowstorm that shut down the state and the then-governor was on a family ski trip and waited several days before taking any concrete action. Or in the 1990 gubernatorial election between a first-time candidate for government, John Rowland against Former US Senator Lowell Weicker when the Sunday before election day, Weicker doubled down on his position on the controversial topic of enacting a state income tax with the phrase -it's like throwing gasoline on a fire and thereby burst Rowland’s chance to win. 

This week the legislative leaders got an October Surprise in May which defiantly was not a bad surprise but it did catch the legislative leaders by surprise. Just as Connecticut's regular 2024 legislative session is about to adjourn leaders face both hope and frustration. The announcement of unexpectedly hefty tax revenues promised billions more for the government's coffers in the coming years. Unfortunately, the legislative leaders had decided to take a pass on making any adjustments to the current two-year budget and the clock is running down. They had decided to look elsewhere to find funds for some necessary funding and based on the legislative–bureaucratic process it may be too late to take advantage of this newly founded revenue during the regular session. 

It doesn’t mean that they can call themselves back into a special session to make some of the budget commitments they had hoped for earlier in the session. 

Appropriation Co-Chair Senator Cathy Osten in particular in the media spoke of the missed opportunities of receiving the “consensus budget numbers” based on actual changes in the economy. She pointed out the decisions made back in early April would have been different if they had the newly announced state revenue numbers. 

The Consensus Revenue Projection was established as a process where the Governor's Office of Policy and Management (Budget Office) would collaborate with the Legislative Office of Fiscal Analysis to share data and insights to come to one single source of anticipated revenue based on the most recent tax submissions and information from a variety of other outlined sources. This was enacted into the statute when the legislature and governor's offices were made up of opposite parties, who back-predicted wildly different financial projections that state decision-makers had to use as the underlining data to craft the state budget. Often due to the swings in revenue predictions, the Legislature would adjourn without a budget in place and have to sweat over the next month or so and negotiate between two different buckets of the projected fund and return before the July 1st start of the budget. Before the enactment of the consensus revenue estimates everyone knew that they faced a special session and nail-biting times as the governor and legislative leaders fought over who was right and who was wrong. 

The Joint Report has been able to provide the baseline all agree to and then the issue was to find solutions to the questions of how much to spend and how much to reserve for the “bad years” and to pay off the deferred payments to the state pension funds. 

For this year, with this most up-to-date information arriving on the legislature's doorstep with eight days to go, it might be too late before adjournment to have the solution of how to cover the structural revenue gap that people predicted in 2023. The predicted modest surplus now has ballooned, providing a lifeline to a budget predicted to teeter on the edge of deficit. 

Despite this great news, tempers disappointment, and discontent appears to be brewing. Many are grappling with the implications of squirreling away billions while vital programs languish. Critics argued that excessive saving was siphoning resources from essential services, perpetuating a cycle of neglect.

The fiscal guardrails the Governor spoke of in his opening day address and called for respect for their contributions to right the years of underfunding obligations work better than expected. Now the Volatility Fund is overflowing and many want to make adjustments to use for what they believe are critical investments in CT’s people. 

With the recent revenue predictions, the call earlier in the session by the progressive members to readjust these guardrails seems to have picked up speed. Now House Speaker Ritter and Senate President ProTempre are suggesting a look at these “constraints”, especially the “massive savings mandate”. Republicans say now is the time to return these savings or at least a large part of them to the people who contributed to the HUGE surplus through the state income tax, sales tax, capital gains taxes, etc. 

Most of the collected general fund revenues appear after April 15th and the early timetable of the session this year limits the time that the legislature can appropriately craft a budget that reflects the current situation in real-time. The CT Mirror reported that since 2022 legislators no longer receive the daily forecast of revenue from the Office of Fiscal Analysis. Leaders more than likely will be rethinking that and reinstating their reporting. Additionally, in some discussions with an election year in the Fall, there will be a special session sooner than later and before the July 1 start of a new budget year so that those running for reelection might just have a little October surprise early for their constituents. 

As the legislative session draws to a close, the prospect of abundant resources remains just out of reach, undoubtedly resulting in lawmakers looking at the guardrails and budgetary procedures to set CT up for a long-term system to try to predict a world that changes by the second. 

In the words of management guru Peter Drucker - Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window. 

State lawmakers and Hartford officials announced a $10.5 million boost in funding for the city’s schools to forestall recently approved job cuts. Nearly half of the funding will be sourced from the state government, with the remainder drawn from a city account primarily allocated for retired employee health insurance. Additionally, the city will absorb expenses related to crossing guards previously covered by the Board of Education. While House Speaker Matt Ritter highlighted the assistance's significance, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam emphasized its role in preserving teacher positions and school quality, alongside efforts to devise long-term educational plans. The funding comes in response to Hartford education officials' concerns over budget shortfalls, attributed to the expiration of federal pandemic aid and the need for resources to support post-pandemic student recovery and mitigate inflation impacts.

The Senate unanimously passed a comprehensive Department of Motor Vehicles bill on Wednesday, featuring provisions to incentivize school districts to enhance bus safety by adding seat belts. Senator Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, highlighted the bill's measures, including mandatory insurance and licensing for driving schools, instructor identification requirements, and the revival of a program offering a 50 percent sales tax credit for school districts installing safety belts on buses. Cohen emphasized the importance of bus safety, citing a constituent's account of a harrowing bus accident, and underscored the need to promote seat belt usage among students. The bill, also introducing a prohibition on passengers in towed vehicles, now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.

May Flowers 

We are just a few days away from the end of a legislative session that has so far been as expected, quick and quiet in the beginning with saving just about everything for last. Most of the lower number Senate bills remain still out there and the ARPA money we have been hearing so much about, has an ill-defined final number many continue to guess around. With a few days left, legislators have a lot to do and this week showed us that we are quickly approaching deadline day on May 8th where if you have an issue that has not been addressed, better luck next year. Most importantly for those who scroll down this far, you know our focus is on the budget and revenue, and to say this week brought interesting legislative money news, that would be a vast understatement. 

April showers certainly brought May flowers on Wednesday as the Comptroller projected a surplus of $256 million with some significant other dollars to celebrate as well. The beloved saving program legislators have supported over the years is expected to capture slightly more than $450 million in each of the next two fiscal years and the volatility adjustment now is projected to collect almost $1.2 billion in 2024-25 and $910 million in 2025-26. Legislatively driven savings programs mean the legislature cannot spend these dollar but what they can spend is the ARPA allocation we are waiting for and that is our focus these next few days as that money gets quietly divided out and allocated. According to the CT Mirror from this week, “House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, has said his party has assembled about $400 million in ARPA money…” While that may not be the final number, it shows that there is still a huge amount of dollars that still need to be accounted for. With just a few days left, the Golden Dome appears to be focused on just how much money they can allocate before they get the heck out of Hartford and rush into campaign season. More to come, but how much more is still tbd. 

May 3rd: A Revolutionary Medal for the Common Soldier

“The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus opened to all.” So said George Washington when he created the Badge of Military Merit, which he first awarded today in 1783, to two brave enlisted Connecticut soldiers at the Continental Army headquarters in Newburgh, New York.

Prior to this, awards for military distinction had been granted almost exclusively by Congress to military officers:

Washington, for forcing the British to evacuate Boston; Horacio Gates’s victory at Saratoga; Nathaniel Greene’s victories in the Southern campaign. The only non-officers awarded medals were the three enlisted men who had captured the spy John Andre, which exposed the British plan to take over West Point and execute Washington, with the help of the traitor Benedict Arnold.

But the final years of the Revolutionary War, which would formally end in September 1783, had been particularly grueling for American soldiers. A frustrating lack of progress regarding peace talks followed the 1781 American victory at Yorktown. Continuous shortages of food, pay, and supplies led to several mutinies and near mutinies among Continental Army soldiers in the months leading up to the summer of 1783. Congress had banned the practice of granting commissions or promotions as a reward for merit, so Washington decided that a formal award honoring enlisted men’s bravery and exceptional service would serve as a much-needed boost in morale. Such an award had no European precedent. Washington authorized its creation, however, writing that he was “ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military merit.”

The original Badge of Military Merit, as described in Washington’s General Orders, was a heart-shaped badge of purple cloth; only one surviving example still exists. The “purple heart” was intended to be sewn onto the left breast of a recipient’s uniform, so others could easily see the merit badge at a glance.

On May 3rd, 1783, Washington awarded the badge to Elijah Churchill of Enfield and William Brown of Stamford. Churchill was a sergeant in the Second Regiment of Dragoons, and was recognized for his bravery in two daring raids in New York: one on Long Island behind enemy lines, and the other in the contested “neutral ground” near Tarrytown. Brown is believed to have earned the badge for valor exhibited during the Battle of Yorktown. A third Connecticut man, Daniel Bissell of East Windsor, was the only other known recipient of the Badge of Military Merit; he received his award on June 10, 1783 for his role in successful intelligence-gathering. It is unknown if there were any other recipients of the award during the course of the war; the “Book of Merit” that recorded the full list of recipients has since been lost to time.

The Badge of Military Merit was revived in 1932, the year of Washington’s 200th birthday, by General Douglas MacArthur, who wanted to honor Washington’s memory. The new medal — a heart-shaped medal featuring a profile of George Washington amid a purple enameled backdrop — was designed as a tribute to both the original Revolutionary War badge and Washington himself. Over the course of the 20th century, the criteria for earning a Purple Heart has dramatically changed. Considered to be one of the highest honors in the United States military, it is now awarded by the President of the United States to any active service member wounded or killed in action.

To view the full story on the CT Historian's website, click here.