Financial analysts and political observers are predicting that bipartisan banking reform is more likely to happen now that Sen. Christopher Dodd is retiring at the end of his fifth term.
Connecticut’s senior senator has achieved political clout in the Senate during his 35 years in Washington, D.C.
While his retirement may signal the loss of a senior voice on Connecticut’s behalf, it may also signal a new opportunity for Dodd to negotiate banking reform that will actually pass muster in Congress.
While few can refute the banking sector’s role in the economic crisis and subsequent recession, efforts to enhance regulation have been met with disdain by those who maintain the banking bill goes way too far in expanding federal oversight.
The controversial banking reform proposals would create three new federal agencies to police banks, protect consumers and close failing financial institutions.
In particular, there has been heavy opposition to Dodd’s insistence that a new federal agency be created to focus on consumer protections.
As a result, banking reform has been at a standstill.
No longer needing to raise campaign funds and free of the hamstrings that go along with party politics, Dodd has an opportunity to enhance his legacy by negotiating a bipartisan banking reform bill that passes in both the House and Senate.
He has his work cut out for him. Bipartisan agreement is essential if any changes to banking regulation are to take place and avert future economic meltdowns.
Commit To Rail
Last week, the State Bond Commission was expected to approve $26 million for the design and construction of a double-track commuter rail line between Springfield and New Haven.
Although the state is facing a budget hole of more than $500 million, by not investing in mass transit — particularly commuter rail integrated with a system of connecting buses and ferries — Connecticut’s economic prosperity will be hampered.
Opponents insist that few people will use the expensive rail line because the state lacks connecting mass transit links.
However, the MetroHartford Alliance and the Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board have long called for a robust transportation system that is self-sustaining. The board’s vision includes a one-hour rail service that links Hartford to New York and Boston and provides mass transit to Bradley International Airport, as well as the completion of the New Britain-to-Hartford busway.
Mass transit that connects housing, offices and retail, the Alliance and strategy board say, would create development opportunities, create jobs and strengthen the state’s infrastructure.
Integrated mass transit systems are not new. Connecticut had a successful system at the turn of the 20th century, which was responsible for creating the kind of economic opportunities the strategy board and Alliance predict they could bring to the state.
Consider that during the peak of trolley ridership in 1910, the Hartford & Springfield Street Railway Co. had service to Hartford and Springfield every 30 minutes and service to its branch lines. It owned 46 cars and operated over 83 miles of track, according to author Michael C. De Vito in “Diary of a Trolley Road” (1973).
Three trolley companies served residents in the north central Connecticut and Springfield areas, with connecting routes between Hartford and Springfield with stops that included Suffield, Rockville, East Windsor, Somers and Enfield. Most of the tracks were torn up as automobiles became popular.
The approval of funds for mass transportation, particularly a commuter line between Springfield and New Haven is just a beginning to creating an integrated mass transit system. As a state, we need to learn some lessons from our past successes.
