To hear the whining from Democrats and the solar industry, Gov. M. Jodi Rell killed the golden goose with one swipe of her pen when she vetoed the sweeping energy bill.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
What the governor did was strike a blow for good government by insisting this important piece of legislation not evade all the safeguards built into the legislative system. If there’s anything to be learned from the present economic situation, it’s that those who bypass built-in safeguards can trigger devastating consequences.
Rell had good things to say about many aspects of the bill. There are indeed laudable goals here, from seeking to cut rates to aiding the fledgling solar industry. But supporters are disingenuous when they say every part of the bill was fully vetted. That would be like certifying all the pieces of Frankenstein’s monster and never looking at the totality.
Recall that this bill is literally a Sunrise Solution. It passed the Legislature at 6 a.m. on the session’s final day. There were no hearings and no independent analysis. The massive lobbying fire drill that it set off on both sides is clear evidence there was plenty of debate to be had. Now Rell has assured that the debate will happen in full next session.
It’s unfortunate that Sen. John Fonfara of Hartford seems eager to mount a veto override. He needs to take a cue from his co-author, Rep. Vicki O. Nardello of Prospect, who seems ready to spend her energies starting the process for the next legislative session.
If the bill is as brilliant as supporters suggest, it will shine in the spotlight it will get next session. If there are flaws, they will be spotted and fixes can be developed. The one-year wait seems a small price for Connecticut to pay to make sure there are no unintended consequences.
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Family Labor Law
In Connecticut, it appears, regulation can break out any time, any place, on any issue, with or without a reason.
It’s a shame the Nuzzo family in Clinton has to bear the burden of reminding us all of that shameful truth.
The Nuzzos are a classic American success story. For more than 50 years, the family has grown its pizza business. Each member of the family has played a progressively important role as they learned the business from the ground up.
It’s a story that’s as old as the nation. and an important part of Connecticut’s past. But suddenly the state has a problem with children working in the family business.
Certainly child labor laws are valid uses of state authority. Nobody favors the image of sweat shops where underage labor turns out products for pennies. The state needs to prevent exploitation of children. It has a duty to make sure no safety rules are being violated but beyond that, the state needs to get out of the way.
Certainly Grand Apizza owner and family patriarch Michael Nuzzo is playing semantic games when he says “My kids don’t work. They help out.’’ That’s a really slippery slope.
The more convincing case is in the fact that a family business is a unique animal. Here the children are part of the ownership class. The argument is that they are learning and growing their own asset. The parents are charged with supervising their well being and their on-the-job training.
Now the issue is headed to federal court after the Nuzzos filed suit. That’s too bad. This seems a matter for legislation not litigation.
Most states have specific labor laws that govern what can and cannot be done in the context of a family business. It’s hard to believe that overregulated Connecticut has missed this opportunity to legislate, but that’s a problem we know how to fix.
Now that the problem has been exposed, let’s back off the enforcement and the lawsuits and give the legislature time to fill the vacuum with a modicum of common sense.
