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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Conn. Gov. Ned Lamont ‘more inclined' to seek 3rd term in 2026
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont describes his current thinking on seeking a third term. (Photo by Mark Pazniokas/CT Mirror) Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday that the challenges of navigating the economic uncertainties and political chaos generated by President Donald J. Trump only increase the chances he will seek a third term as governor of Connecticut in 2026. 'If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said, 'No, I think the state's on a good trajectory. We've stabilized things. We're growing again. Time to pass the mantle,'' Lamont said. He said he no longer is so eager to step aside. 'It's also an incredibly complicated time right now, starting with all the uncertainty of Washington, the increased possibility of a recession,' Lamont said. 'So, maybe a time where experience makes a difference. That's a way of saying I'm thinking about it seriously.' Lamont, 71, a self-described centrist Democrat, stopped well short of declaring his candidacy, but he gave his strongest indication to date of an inclination to seek another four-year term with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz. 'I love the job,' he said. 'I think we've had extraordinary progress compared to where we were, say, 10 years ago. I think Susan and I are a pretty good team.' Lamont met with reporters in his Capitol office at midday, just 12 hours after the General Assembly reached its constitutional adjournment deadline of midnight Wednesday. 'We got some extraordinary folks and Democrats, and I work very closely with each and every one of them,' he said. But sees himself with an edge. 'I think it's executive experience, having sat in this chair for the last six and a half years, having been through the Trump administration, having been through COVID, having worked closely with the leadership on both sides of the aisle,' Lamont said. He defended the granular details of the recently adopted budget and the broad strokes of his record as a governor overseeing a remarkable series of budget surpluses that have filled the state's budget reserves and allowed the state to pay down unfunded pension debt. With those surpluses has come pressure from the political left to address unmet needs, including low Medicaid reimbursement rates for medical providers. Lamont, they say, is too concerned with keeping spending within the state's fiscal guardrails. The criticism is not discouraging him as he finalizes a decision whether to run, he said. 'I'm a lot more inclined and interested in keeping going, keep this positive momentum going, than I was, say, six months or a year ago. That said, I still have some conversations to make. I put everything on hold during this last four or five months. We had a pretty tricky budget session to get through.' The 'tricky' part was finding ways to satisfy Democrats lawmakers within the constraints of spending caps. 'I think it's an honestly balanced budget,' Lamont said, adding it's based upon 'a pretty conservative set of assumptions.' The budget assumes that household income will grow about 4% annually over the next two years. But it also stretches Connecticut's budget controls without breaking them legally. The largest initiative, a new $220 million endowment to grow early education and child care services dramatically over the next decade, will be established outside of the formal budget and spending cap. In doing so, the leaders of the Republican legislative minorities say Lamont is losing his credibility as a fiscal centrist, a theme the GOP will try to develop if Lamont runs. 'Fiscal moderation has officially left the state Capitol,' Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, proclaimed recently. House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said, 'This budget eviscerates all of our fiscal guardrails.' House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, smiled Wednesday when asked about the GOP efforts to define Lamont as a born-again, tax-and-spend liberal. 'The governor is being attacked by the left and the right, and so he's probably here,' Ritter said, pointing to the center of the table. 'And the answer is, always here.' On Thursday, Lamont concurred: the political center is his comfort zone. He noted that Republicans regularly have claimed his two-year budgets were built on shaky foundations. ''You're going to be in deficit within two years. You're going to be raising taxes.' Well, at six years later, stop crying wolf,' Lamont said. Despite the off-budget spending on early childhood education, the governor estimated that at least $1.2 billion of this fiscal year's $2.4 billion projected surplus still would be used to cover more unfunded pension liabilities He reiterated his intention to veto a bill that would give jobless benefits to strikers, a source of tension with the Connecticut AFL-CIO. He also announced an intention to veto a bill sought by Republicans — and opposed both by the building trades unions and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. The measure, House Bill 7004, is intended to give Plainfield, a small town in eastern Connecticut, the ability to hold a referendum over a proposed trash-to-energy plant and possibly influence the state Siting Council to block the project. He briefly deferred a question about the bill to a senior staff, who confirmed it indeed would be vetoed. 'I'm vetoing that,' Lamont said, laughing. 'I just made that strong decision by myself.' Lamont said he welcomed passage of a bill encouraging housing construction, though he had yet to finish reviewing it. 'We're never going to get economic growth [and] keep it going if we don't have a place for people to live, young people to live, workforce housing, getting our cities growing again,' he said. Opponents in Fairfield County have urged him to veto the bill. 'I think there's some red flags in it, and I know why it makes people nervous,' he said. 'But it's basically gross misrepresentation from the anti-growth people down there that are stirring people up. They're saying it's a big mandate. You're gonna forcing me to build housing, you know, in my backyard, which is not what the strategy is at all. It's trying to tell towns, you take the lead, you show us where you want that housing to go. It's important for your community.' CT Mirror reporter Keith M. Phaneuf contributed to this story. This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Boston Globe
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
Connecticut reforms towing laws to protect drivers from predatory practices
The bill, which Advertisement 'It's reform that ensures transparency, it ensures fairness and accountability, but does all of this without undercutting the essential work that ethical and professional tow operators do each and every day for us, keeping our roads safe and our properties accessible,' said Transportation Committee Co-chair Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford. 'We've learned over the years, and particularly over the last year due to some investigative reporting, of some particularly egregious circumstances.' A spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont said the governor plans to sign the bill into law. Republican Sen. Tony Hwang, ranking member of the Transportation Committee, also spoke in favor of the bill. The bill got about a half hour of debate ahead of passage, and there were no comments in opposition. Hwang, who represents Fairfield, said the bill strikes the right balance between the interests of towers and consumers. Advertisement 'I want to acknowledge that our press had an important part to bring out transparency and some of the bad actions, and I think in this bill we address some of those issues,' Hwang said. 'We took measures to ensure that there is due process, and what has been discovered to have occurred in a criminal action, I believe, should never, ever happen again, to undermine the trust that we have to have in this process.' Connecticut's law allows tow companies to begin the process to sell vehicles after just 15 days. CT Mirror and ProPublica found that it is one of the shortest windows in the nation, and that the law has particularly impacted people with low incomes. Reporters spoke with people who said towing companies required them to pay in cash or wouldn't allow them to get personal belongings out of their vehicles. Many couldn't afford to get their towed vehicles back and lost transportation or jobs because of it. After weeks of negotiations, lawmakers said they came to a compromise with the towing industry. Two bills were merged to include massive reforms to towing procedures from private property and rate increases for highway tows that typically follow car accidents. The bill that passed and would take effect Oct. 1 requires tow companies to accept credit cards and doesn't allow them to tow vehicles immediately just because of an expired parking permit or registration. Vehicles can't be towed from private property without notice unless they're blocking traffic, fire hydrants or parked in an accessible spot. Under the bill, towing companies can still start the sales process for vehicles worth $1,500 or less after 15 days, but they would now have to take more steps to give the owner a chance to claim the vehicle. The Department of Motor Vehicles would be required to check whether the driver filed any complaints about the tow before approving the sale, and the tower would have to send a notice ahead of the sale to the registered owner and lienholders via certified mail, with receipts of delivery. Advertisement The actual sale couldn't go through until 30 days after the tow. The bill also requires that towers take at least two photos before they tow a vehicle — one of the violation that resulted in a tow and another of any damage to the vehicle. Cohen said this would help determine if vehicles had any missing parts before the tow, a seeming nod to the news organizations' story about a DMV employee who the agency's investigators found schemed with a towing company to The bill also establishes a working group to study how to handle proceeds from the sales of towed vehicles. State law requires that towing companies hold profits in escrow for a year in case the vehicle owner claims them, then remit that money to the state. But CT Mirror and ProPublica found Additionally, it calls for the DMV to work with the state's attorney general to develop a consumer bill of rights on towing. Advertisement Tow companies have to be available after hours and on weekends to allow people to get their vehicles or personal property. In a story published this month, CT Mirror and ProPublica reported that Under the new law, drivers will be allowed to retrieve their belongings from their vehicles, even if they haven't paid the towing fees. State regulations currently allow vehicle owners to retrieve only 'personal property which is essential to the health or welfare of any person.' Cohen listed many of the issues outlined in the news outlets' reporting as 'some of the worst abuses of predatory towing practices.' Timothy Vibert, president of Towing and Recovery Professionals of Connecticut, said the industry initially opposed the bill because towers believed it would impede their ability to tow cars and clear traffic. He also said towers weren't involved enough in the original draft. But they worked with lawmakers on the bill over several weeks, and he issued a statement in support this week. 'The people of Connecticut deserve safety, accountability and transparency when their cars are towed, and so do the people who work for Connecticut's towing companies who risk our lives every day to make our roads safe,' Vibert said. 'We all need clear, easy-to-follow rules.' DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera commended the House and Senate. 'The DMV fully supports this initiative, as it not only enhances the framework for fair and equitable enforcement of towing laws but also provides a clear path forward for our agency to advance these efforts,' Guerrera said in a statement. Cohen said that the bill aims to 'fix a broken process,' and that lawmakers had worked on some aspects of it for years before the bill passed. Advertisement News of the bill's passage brought relief to Melissa Anderson, who was featured in a CT Mirror and ProPublica story after her car was towed and sold from her Hamden apartment because of an expired parking permit. The bill requires a 72-hour grace period before a car can be towed for an expired parking sticker to allow people time to get a new one. 'I'm glad we made a difference,' Anderson said. 'This is going to help a lot of people.' The bill next heads to Lamont's desk. 'The Governor appreciates all the work that went into this legislation, which provides greater protections for the public and their vehicles,' Lamont's spokesperson, Rob Blanchard, said in a text message. 'He plans on signing the legislation once it reaches his desk.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Conn. State Police contract: House approves raises for troopers
The Connecticut State Capitol on Jan. 7, 2025. (Photo by Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror) HARTFORD, Conn. — The House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a proposal that would grant Connecticut State Police troopers a 2.5% general wage hike and a step increase next fiscal year. The proposal, which is also expected to win approval in the Senate, passed 134-12 in the Democratic-controlled House, enjoying bipartisan support despite objections from GOP leaders. Legislators from both parties have lamented a state police force that's now about 25% smaller than the 1,200-plus troopers who served Connecticut prior to 2010. Democrats said the raises, which would affect an estimated 885 troopers, are essential to recruitment efforts. But both House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, and Rep. Tammy Nuccio, R-Tolland, argued against the raises. 'We're facing a collision course with a rather ugly truth' — that state employee compensation is becoming unsustainable, said Nuccio, who is the ranking House Republican on the Appropriations Committee. Nearly all unionized workers have received a 2.5% general wage hike and a step, which typically adds another 2 percentage points to the raise, each fiscal year since 2021-22. Gov. Ned Lamont's administration, which negotiated the wage deal with the troopers, also is bargaining new contracts with all other major state employee unions. And it would be difficult for state officials to convince labor arbiters that Connecticut could not afford effective 4.5% annual increases for other state employees if the legislature approves one for troopers. The House GOP proposed a $54.4 billion biennial budget earlier this month that counts on more than $300 million in savings over the next two fiscal years by freezing pay for all workers. Candelora said troopers earn an average of $116,000 per year in base pay, but compensation rises to $175,000 per year once overtime is considered. 'There's no amount of pay that's going to be able to recruit more officers,' he said. The solution, Candelora added, involves criminal justice reforms that give officers greater legal protection when performing searches or pulling over motorists on the highway. 'What they really need is our support,' he said. 'They need real criminal justice reform.' Despite Nuccio and Candelora's arguments, 35 of the 47 Republicans who cast ballots in Tuesday's joined 99 Democrats in supporting the raises. Andrew Matthews, executive director of the state police union and a former president, noted before a legislative panel earlier this month that union concessions packages have weakened retirement benefits for troopers. Before 2011, a trooper was eligible for a hazardous duty pension based on the three highest annual salaries of a minimum 20 years of service. Now Connecticut requires 25 years of service that offers a hybrid pension/401(k) benefit calculated on average wages over the entire 25-year span. But Matthews also said workers deserve the raises in the deal and more. 'It's a dangerous job,' he said at the time, adding that 26 troopers have died in the line of duty and that post-traumatic stress injuries are 'a real thing' many troopers face. The legislature's nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated the agreement would cost state government nearly $4.1 million next fiscal year. Municipalities that participate in the resident state trooper program would collectively incur an added cost of $301,675 next fiscal year, nonpartisan analysts estimated. This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lamont negotiates healthy raises for Conn. state troopers
A salute as the national anthem is played during the Connecticut State Police graduation ceremony in 2020. (Photo by Yehyun Kim/CT Mirror) Legislators are looking to delay raises for most state workers as Connecticut braces for big cuts in federal aid. But early indications are those pay hikes — whenever they arrive — will be healthy, costing the state more than $120 million per year. Gov. Ned Lamont and the union representing nearly 900 state police troopers recently struck a tentative deal that grants a 2.5% cost-of-living increase next July 1. All but senior troopers also are eligible for a step increase that adds about 2 more percentage points to the raise. Those proposed raises for troopers, which legislators will be asked to ratify later this spring, offer indications of the pay hikes to come for the state's more than 40,000 other unionized employees. In other words, how would Connecticut convince arbiters it can't afford 4.5% raises for engineers, social workers, IT professionals, custodians and others — once it had granted such increases to troopers? The prospect of new raises topping 4% for all workers is already polarizing legislative leaders this week. Majority Democrats say the state workforce is badly understaffed and that many agencies struggle to recruit or retain employees. But Republicans ask why the administration, which anticipates Congress will slash hundreds of millions or even billions in aid to Connecticut and its municipalities, is poised to dole out raises that exceed those offered most private-sector workers. 'Clearly they [Democrats] are just playing a shell game,' said House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford. 'They continue to beat the drum there are phantom cuts coming' from Washington. In recent days, Democratic-controlled committees have proposed legally exceeding the state spending cap next fiscal year; redirecting $700 million from a savings program to reduce pension debt to instead off-set impending cuts from Washington; and boosting taxes on businesses and high-earning households. 'I think we have to be extremely careful with the [wage] contracts that are presented before us,' said Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield. 'Keep in mind the taxpayer.' 'For weeks, lawmakers have claimed that massive federal cuts are looming, using fear as a tool to justify breaking Connecticut's bipartisan fiscal guardrails,' said Carol Platt Liebau, president of the Yankee Institute, a conservative fiscal policy group. 'Yet they've made no effort to reduce state spending and instead proposed a budget that blows past our spending cap.' Both Harding and Candelora praised the important work done by state troopers but said legislators should be looking to freeze wages for all state employees before adopting the measures proposed in committee. The Lamont administration estimates the troopers' raises would cost $6.3 million next fiscal year, a tiny share of an overall state budget expected to approach or exceed $27 billion. But if all workers get similar raises, the overall cost approaches $130 million, based on past estimates from state analysts. Asking workers to forgo raises one year wouldn't be too painful, Candelora added, given the healthy increases they've received in recent years. The legislature ratified a four-year contract with the troopers union in 2023 that set compensation for the first three years and stipulated a reopener to set wages for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The Lamont administration estimated when that original contract was presented that the average salary for troopers would increase by 9.7% in the first year, 3% in the second and 4.8% in the third. Most state employee unions have received 2.5% general wage hikes and a step increase for each of the past four fiscal years. Democrats say the issue is more complex than that. The Executive Branch workforce shrank 10% between 2011 and 2018 as then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the legislature often used attrition and hiring freezes to close budget deficits. The Lamont administration has struggled to attract and retain workers because Malloy significantly scaled back pension and other retirement benefits for new hires through concessions agreements with unions in 2011 and 2017. More than 4,400 veteran state employees retired between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2022 — roughly double the total normally seen in a full year — just before certain restrictions on pension benefits tied to the 2017 concessions package took effect. The state police contract ratified in 2023 was specifically designed to boost compensation to stem a trooper recruitment crisis. 'The Republicans pay lip service to supporting law enforcement, except where it really counts,' said Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, predicted some rank-and-file Republican legislators would support the new raises proposed for troopers. 'It will not be their entire caucus voting 'no,'' the speaker said. 'No chance.' Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said 'municipalities regularly give raises above and beyond what state employees get,' further complicating efforts to retain workers. Osten also noted that state government spending on overtime has increasingly been criticized but reflects inadequate staffing in '24-7' agencies such as the state police force and the Department of Correction. Osten is a retired correction officer supervisor and former president of the correction supervisors union. According to the legislature's nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, agencies and departments spent more than $158 million on overtime through the first six months of this fiscal year — about $6.7 million, or 4.4%, more than they had through the first half of the prior year. The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, which represents all major state employee bargaining units excluding the troopers' union, wrote in a statement that the state police suffer from 'severe understaffing.' The force stood at roughly 1,100 one decade ago when the troopers union battled Malloy in court because a statute directing a minimum level of 1,248 troopers was not being followed. The SEBAC statement added that 'recognizing the need to provide fair wages and working conditions is an important step forward towards protecting the vital public services upon which our communities depend.' Lamont's budget spokesman, Chris Collibee, said the administration 'appreciates the difficult and essential work done by the men and women of the Connecticut State Police. This wage reopener continues the current wage increase pattern for their bargaining unit.' The president of the Connecticut State Police Union, Todd Fedigan, could not be reached Thursday for comment. According to the details of the wage agreement the Lamont administration filed Wednesday with the General Assembly, the state police union ratified the deal on April 14. This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Connecticut to join multistate lawsuit against ‘unlawful' tariffs
Attorney General William Tong speaks at a Press Conference with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Photo by Emilia Otte/CT Mirror) Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a multistate lawsuit Wednesday that is suing to block the Trump administration's tariffs, which have rattled the markets and worried businesses and consumers about higher prices. Connecticut is one of a dozen states challenging four of President Donald J. Trump's executive orders, arguing that he does not have the authority to circumvent Congress and increase tariffs on most imports. At a press conference on Wednesday, Tong called the tariffs 'unlawful, unconstitutional and destructive.' He argued that under Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, only Congress is given the power to levy tariffs. The lawsuit also argues that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which allows the president to regulate international trade during a 'national emergency,' and which President Trump has cited as allowing him to enact the tariffs, does not provide a legitimate legal backing for Trump's actions. The executive orders include a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, a 145% tariff on China and a 10% tariff on countries worldwide. Trump has also promised reciprocal tariffs on a number of countries but paused most of them for 90 days. The back-and-forth over the president's tariff policy has left things in a state of flux, particularly amid a growing trade war with China. But Trump said Tuesday that a 145% rate on Chinese imports 'will come down substantially, but it won't be zero.' Those comments, in part, led to a rise in global markets on Wednesday. Trump said Wednesday afternoon from the Oval Office that he hasn't brought down the high tariffs on China yet. 'I haven't brought it down. I said it's a high tariff, but I haven't brought it down,' Trump said after signing executive orders on Wednesday. 'It basically means China is not doing any business with us essentially because it's a very high number.' But U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said during the Wednesday press conference that even with the pauses on reciprocal tariffs, the new levies would hurt consumers and businesses. 'Ten percent [tariffs] still across the board — on our allies. On countries that make things we could never make: Bananas. Coffee. We're not growing them in the United States,' said Blumenthal. Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who also joined Tong's announcement on Wednesday, have been vocal opponents of the tariff policy and support bipartisan legislation that would allow Congress to regain authority on the issue. Blumenthal touted this legislation, noting that it is supported by seven Democrats and seven Republicans. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., has introduced similar legislation in the House. The lawsuit alleges that states are going to face 'increased costs when purchasing necessary equipment and supplies essential to their economies' as a result of the tariffs, an assumption echoed at the Wednesday press conference. Tong and Blumenthal both cited research from the Yale Budget Lab estimating a loss of $4,900 per household as a result of the tariffs, with prices for clothing and shoes being particularly affected. Courtney, whose district includes the General Dynamics Electric Boat plant that produces submarines for the U.S. Navy, said he was particularly concerned about how the tariffs would affect agreements with other countries. He referenced Australia, which is part of a deal, along with the U.S. and the U.K., to build three Virginia class submarines. 'Right now, those same questions that are being asked in Canada are being asked in Australia about whether or not the U.S. is really an ally that they can rely on,' said Courtney. Oregon's attorney general filed the latest tariff lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade. So far, only attorneys general from Democratic-led states have joined. That same court rejected a temporary restraining order requested by a group of small businesses that argued they would be immediately harmed by the tariffs. The judges ruled the tariffs can be left in place while the lawsuit continues in court. Since the start of Trump's tenure, Tong has been a part of numerous lawsuits challenging various executive orders and policies from the president. The most recent sued the administration for seeking to gut a handful of federal agencies that mediate labor disputes, provide funding for public libraries, museums and minority-owned businesses. Connecticut Republican Party Chair Ben Proto said that by instituting the tariffs, Trump was doing exactly what he'd told voters he would do. ' He said he was going to institute tariffs if he was elected, and he was pretty overwhelmingly elected. I know the Democrats don't like to think he was overwhelmingly elected, but some 78 million people voted for him, knowing full well what he was going to do.' Proto also criticized Tong, calling the lawsuit a waste of taxpayer dollars. He also said neither Tong, Blumenthal nor Murphy knew what the fallout would be from the tariffs. ' I have no idea what the tariffs are going to do, and I think the issue is if you're looking for an answer as to what they're going to do in the next 10 minutes, I think that will be a very different answer than what they're going to do in the next 10 months,' Proto said. When asked specifically about what has been gained from the China tariffs, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters outside the White House Wednesday that it is 'ensuring the rest of the world knows that the United States of America is no longer going to be ripped off.' She said there are 18 proposals 'on paper' from other countries to try and strike a trade deal. Leavitt said to 'have some patience and you will see' when pressed if the tariffs have worked. Trump said Wednesday that tariff negotiations with multiple countries are 'doing very well.' The president said his team is still working with other countries on potential deals. But if those don't come to fruition, they will set new rates in the coming weeks. 'If we don't have a deal with a company or a country, we're going to set the tariff. That will happen over the next two or three weeks. We'll be setting the number,' Trump said. 'We're dealing with a lot of countries right now.' This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
