This past week, the CT General Assembly's special session reminded me a bit of Christmas and Hanukkah with everyone hurrying up and waiting for the big event. So, I'm taking liberties and have "borrowed" a little holiday ditty and adapted it to fit the activities of the past week under the dome in Hartford. Here goes - no laughing!

 

A happy and cordial Old Saint Lamont

Busy so busy all day.

Looks to his elves and what does he see?

All busy with work and no play.

 

A busy Speaker Joe A-2-Z

Running around through the snow.

Lays down to make "angels", down on the ground,

Stacking them all neat in a row.

 

A "Christmas tree" or two is seen,

Decorated with amendments galore,

Awaiting the smiling legislators

To gather them thru the door.

 

Mistletoe hanging down by the stairs,

Reaching up towards the third floor.

Just the place for many a toll lobbyist

To stand and to make a big score.

  

A group of constituents gathered around

Roaming through these hallowed halls,

Sing beautiful "tunes" for everyone

The young, old, short and the tall.

 

The "table" is laid and activity abounds.

All to begin with a prayer,           

The words are lovely and bright,

As they echo throughout with but care.

 

Anxious senators are told to settle in,

Though they are too excited to try.

So they roam and await and look for the green light,

While occasionally let out a sigh.

 

Come Thursday morning, after all is done,

The media gather, sharing gifts and a story.

While radio talker's squawk with a laugh and a smile,

And to us they report all the guts and the glory!

 

Okay, I tried, right? Not everything at the LOB should be so serious!

With that, I send you off for the next two weeks, to wait in anticipation of how I can recover from such frolic. And then we get back down to the serious business of reporting how our elected folks are making big decisions on how CT can kick off the new decade. With a little bit more than fireworks, lights, and cameras, but some long-term actions to pull all of us into the next 10 years of good economic health and an improved quality of life for all to enjoy and benefit.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a very good year ahead to all!    

This week, the Governor brought welcome news to the state's economy that financial credit rating agencies are all enthusiastic about CT's indebtedness being addressed and for their preparedness for future recessions.

Credit rating agencies, such as Fitch and Moody, have all increased the state's classification from BBB to A+. According to Bloomberg News, these are signs of CT addressing their long term debt. "The government is being rewarded by Wall Street for taking steps to stabilize its finances. Unlike Illinois and New Jersey, Connecticut now pays the full required annual contribution to its pensions. The state also extended 30 years to its time frame to repay its retirement-fund debt, resulting in lower and steady annual payments even if it increases the overall cost. Connecticut has gone from trading like a triple B to an A rated bond that's consistent with our internal view," said Guy Davidson, chief investment officer of municipal investments at Alliance Bernstein. "They're a better credit than they had been in previous years and the market has rewarded them for it."

This news is welcome, given the predictions from market analysts that the country is likely heading towards a recession and that the state will need to be prepared to tap into funding sources if revenue collection dips. These sources will be things such as the "rainy day fund," which is funded at its highest percentage in years.

The Governor was very pleased with the announcement as well citing, "Despite being faced with a $3.7 billion deficit, we brought stability to the state's finances without raising tax rates or cutting municipal aid and educational funding. Equally important was curtailing the state's borrowing and restructuring the state's economic development strategy to incentivize growth without jeopardizing taxpayers' dollars. As hard as this year has been, that work is showing results, and Wall Street is taking notice."

Each year the Bethlehem Post Office processes hundreds of thousands of letters and Christmas cards during the month of December. People from all over the world forward mail to Bethlehem to receive special Christmas cachets and a Bethlehem post mark.

 

It all started in 1938. A week before Christmas, Bethlehem postmaster Earl Johnson decided to send out a Christmas card with a drawing of a little tree on the envelope and the words, "Merry Christmas from the little Town of Bethlehem." Hearing about this innocuous gesture of holiday spirit, Johnson's uncle wrote a story about it that ended up published in the Chicago News and, later, in the New York Herald Tribune. 

 

The little post office on Main Street soon became overwhelmed. During the 1950s and '60s the Bethlehem post office handled over 200,000 pieces of mail every December-a volume 1,000% higher than the rest of the year.

 

Bethlehem, CT still receives mail from all over the world, making CT's small town a true piece of Christmas.