Across the border in New York, Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo is making waves.
In a matter of days after his election, he has already said the state is spending too much on education and getting too little in return, angering the teachers unions that helped get him elected. Next, he toured some aging state institutions — including the famed Sing Sing prison — and proclaimed the state can no longer pay employees to do jobs that aren’t needed. Predictably, the powerful state employee unions weren’t happy.
What makes a Democrat with an electoral mandate say things like that and what can Connecticut learn from it?
One explanation is it’s simply a function of the times. New York, like Connecticut, is facing a multi-billion-dollar budget problem and it’s time to explore all good ideas, even if they belong to the other party. Recall Bill Clinton co-opting GOP positions in the mid-‘90s.
Another factor is that Cuomo got an electoral mandate and is dealing from a position of real power. The people want a fix and he seems poised to build his career by delivering.
In a column a few days ago, Keith C. Burris, the editorial page editor at the Journal Inquirer in Manchester, suggested Governor-elect Dan Malloy do something similar. He likened it to Richard Nixon going to China, the iconic red basher extending a hand to the rival he maligned because it was the right thing to do for the times. The theory is that only a well-credentialed Democrat could reach across the aisle and embrace some of the cost-cutting measures being advanced by Republicans.
It’s a great analogy. But it’s one that may work better for Cuomo than for Malloy.
Malloy played the overture when he praised defeated rival Tom Foley as “classy” and a voice that should be heard. Then he paid a courtesy visit to the Republican caucus.
We’d love to believe it is more than window dressing. The time is right and the need is pressing. But then there’s the pesky reality that Malloy has no mandate and thus little room for maneuvering. A man who wins by fewer than 6,000 votes can’t afford to alienate a union local much less a broad spectrum of labor supporters.
Time will tell whether Cuomo and/or Malloy really delivers. At stake for each is a possible spot on the national stage. But more importantly, what’s at stake is little short of the future of their state.
Chasing Fool’s Gold
Like NFL lineman getting into a three-point stance, Connecticut lobbyists are getting into position for a bruising budget fight.
A prelude came last week over the controversial film credit. Jim Amann, the former speaker of the house who fathered that tax break, said he’s been hired as a lobbyist to play defense against those who would terminate the tax credit in the name of austerity.
Amann went through the usual litany of arguments, saying the tax credit created an industry that hadn’t existed and that the benefits for Connecticut are enormous.
We’re not ready to join that chorus. For now, there are so few trained professionals in the state that those production jobs are going to what amount to guest workers.
The state made a monstrous error in underfunding the necessary vocational training and overfunding tax breaks. We also remain dubious about the wisdom of any targeted tax breaks that can be resold.
But all that aside, Connecticut made the commitment and reversing course now is a pursuit of fool’s gold. The announcement of plans to film a big-budget thriller in Groton is but one measure of the success of the tax credit. Even though we’ve blown an opportunity to maximize the gains, the governmental till will be better off for the tax credit.
Stay the course and look elsewhere for savings.
