Live by the sword; die by the sword. It’s a concept as old as the Bible. And it’s a concept that’s alive and well today in the governor’s office right here in Hartford.
Recently, Governor Malloy received a bracing set of rebuffs:
• The state Supreme Court turned down the state’s takeover of the troubled Bridgeport school district, saying the state had not fulfilled its letter-of-the-law obligation to provide training to the new board. In doing so, the justices rejected Team Malloy’s argument that the procedural step was inconsequential to the larger issue of getting the system back on track as quickly as possible.
• That ruling follows a ruling by the same court that Malloy’s effort to fire a flock of state troopers is illegal because a specific minimum staffing number had been written into law some years earlier. In doing so, the court rejected Team Malloy’s argument that crime was down and the administration was responsible for deciding the appropriate staffing level.
• Now the feds are reminding Team Malloy that federal rules are made to be obeyed, not a list of menu options. The specific beef is the Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s directive that states turn over information on detained immigrants in police custody. Malloy told the feds Connecticut would handle the matter on a case-by-case basis. That puts the ball in the feds court, but the return volley likely will be hard and straight.
Regardless of where one stands on the merits of any individual matter, there’s an unsettling pattern here. We have a governor who is increasingly finding it hard to color within the lines imposed by law.
Political foes likely are to point at this as the kind of high-handed antics by a ruler that prompted the American Revolution. If Republicans had more muscle in this deeply blue state, some overwrought politician might even utter the word impeachment.
We see it a little differently. This series of setbacks is a well earned chance for Malloy to walk a mile in the shoes of the business community.
For years, business has complained that governmental regulation became red tape strangling business and stifling both development and creativity. There have been plenty of examples of enforcement actions taken over technical violations that did not go to the heart of the matter, with bureaucrats mindlessly enforcing the letter, not the spirit, of the law.
Welcome to our world, governor. The business community has empathy for your situation. We’ve been there, done that. We hope as you struggle against the maddening restrictiveness of overly specific regulations, you’ll be able to recognize the parallels. More importantly, there’s hope you’ll then apply those lessons in a renewed effort to remove red tape at all levels of state government.
It’s a step Malloy has long promised. And his administration has started the ball rolling in the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. But the backlog of red tape is much larger. And new bills making the rounds suggest the legislature didn’t get the memo.
This seems a good moment for Malloy to attack red tape, showing the business community that he’s learning on the job and really does understand the plight of business in Connecticut.
Of course, Malloy could send a positive message to the business community with another bold step — saying no to an increase in the minimum wage.
Passionate arguments on behalf of the working poor are fine. The high cost of living in Connecticut is a real problem for all of us. But making the state’s minimum wage the highest in the nation just makes matters worse.
This seems a good time for Malloy to send a positive signal to the business community. And he has ample opportunities.
