Gov. Dannel Malloy and his economic development czar, Catherine Smith, have logged a lot of hours and a lot of miles on their Jobs Tour. By some counts, one or both have made more than 70 stops to hear from business.
The result so far has been good rhetoric. Malloy speaks boldly about wanting to reduce regulatory delays and uncertainties that are hurting commerce. Smith speaks of working on a solution to a “jobs crisis.” Both speak of improving the climate for investment. In fact, Malloy’s recent speech to Stamford’s investment community offered little short of a blank check to some big players in an effort to keep one of the state’s most lucrative industries.
Good for them. Both are bright executives who understand the concepts. But the gulf between talking a good game and delivering meaningful reform seems wide as we head toward this week’s ‘Economic Summit’ and the special legislative session at the end of the month.
Smith’s comments to a Connecticut Tech Council audience in Wallingford last week spoke volumes. Look for a series of innovative proposals, she told the innovators. But also look for ideas that don’t cost much, she said, acknowledging the budgetary elephant in the room.
So now we have two barriers to thinking big. The administration’s bonds to labor take the idea of privatizing some state functions off the table. And budgetary concerns limit what can be done to make tax credits a bigger factor. Even the expected push for an expansion of the ‘First Five’ job recruiting initiative may be too costly. There’s likely room to tweak workforce development and education, which seems Malloy’s real next target. But there’s likely no appetite for major new programs.
Malloy has proven astute at managing expectations through this first year of his administration. But so far the build-up to the special session has been a mixed message. The governor’s ‘Economic Summit’ would seem a natural way to raise expectations and pressure legislators to get on board with this program.
But will that plan be more than minor tweaks and more rhetoric? It appears the state may have champagne taste and a beer budget.
The time is now for the governor to start showing his hand and managing expectations.
If he learned anything from his Jobs Tour, he must realize that the business community is weary of smoke and mirrors, of promises that never come and tax hikes that do.
Where’s the adult?
Ben Barnes, Team Malloy’s budget director, called a legislative committee’s plan to add $15 million to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program “a reasonable outcome.”
Really?
The state remains in a deep financial hole. The Office of Policy and Management is warning that it’s going to be difficult to stay under the constitutional spending limit. Nobody — including the administration — can prove the real savings from the concession agreement will meet expectations.
In that climate, it was wholly reasonable that the administration had drawn a realistic line on redefining the state’s ability to help subsidize heat. In the face of reduced federal assistance, the state, Team Malloy said, should focus on keeping people from freezing by barring utility shutoff orders during the winter.
But no, legislators couldn’t live with making that hard choice. They added money even though the source of that money is unknown.
Sure, $15 million in the larger picture is small change and the image of the elderly poor huddling to keep warm is touching. But where is the financial discipline?
Adding $15 million may be politically understandable but that doesn’t make it reasonable.