May 18, 2008

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Lawmakers inch toward adjournment

By Susan Haigh

Associated Press Writer

05/08/08

State legislators were slowly wrapping up a legislative session Wednesday night that started off with many promises and a plump surplus, yet ended with curtailed spending amid a growing deficit.

Unlike past years, there was no great debate over the budget on the final day.

The Democrat majority and Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell decided against making changes to the $18.4 billion tax and spending plan approved last year for the new fiscal year that begins on July 1 after learning the state now faces an $80 million deficit.

That decision left many bills in limbo, especially ones requiring new spending.

"I wish we had more money. I wish that we could simply meet the needs of everyone that's out there, all of the wants, all of the asks, whether it's a group or a person," Rell told reporters during a session-ending news conference in her office early Wednesday evening.

"But the bottom line is, we simply cannot afford it. Period," Rell said.

The governor opted to skip her traditional midnight address to the General Assembly, saying lawmakers' were tired and tempers were short.

Lawmakers spent much of Wednesday debating relatively minor bills and honoring fellow legislators who are retiring. One highlight was passage of a bill that addresses the subprime mortgage crisis, providing new opportunities for homeowners to refinance their troubled mortgages and avoid foreclosure.

The fate of some key bills was uncertain as midnight approached.

A bill that would revoke the pensions of corrupt politicians and government employees was caught up in a disagreement between the House and Senate over whether to apply the same standard to both groups of people. The concept has been in the works for years since former Gov. John G. Rowland resigned in 2004 amid a corruption scandal.

"Some people just want to dig in their heels," complained Rell.

Another bill requiring employers to provide their workers at least 6 1/2 sick days was also awaiting a vote in the House of Representatives.

Still awaiting a vote was a resolution that would call lawmakers back to the Capitol sometime before the end of the fiscal year on June 30 to extend a local real estate transaction tax. It provides cities and towns with about $40 million. The tax was set to expire June 30.

While Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said he supports the idea, House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, said there wasn't a final agreement. Rell urged lawmakers to pass the legislation, but there's a concern that Republicans will try amend the bill with their budget proposal.

The GOP contends lawmakers should not be leaving without making changes to the budget, and have offered a proposal that provides more money for nursing homes, nonprofit agencies and other programs, as well as a gas tax holiday. It would all be paid for with an early retirement incentive program.

Rell has said she'll veto most bills that reach her desk and require spending. But she signed a key crime bill on Wednesday that toughens penalties for repeat offenders and spends about $10 million to hire additional prosecutors, probation officers, state police and other criminal justice staff.

The bill comes in the wake two deadly home invasions in Cheshire and New Britain.

"Public safety has to remain our number one priority," said Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

This session, lawmakers also passed tougher rules for teen drivers, including an 11 p.m. curfew, more behind-the-wheel training and parental attendance at driver education classes; a new minimum wage that climbs to $8 on Jan. 1, 2009; and caps on global warming pollution.

Early Wednesday morning, the Senate gave final legislative passage to a bill that opens the state employee health insurance system to small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit agencies struggling to pay their premiums. Rell says she hasn't reviewed the legislation, but worries it will ultimately cost the state too much money.

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