There was nothing special about the Connecticut General Assembly’s recent special session.
From the point of view of necessity and results it will not go down in history as memorable or important. It could be precedent setting, because the acrimony it has produced tends to infect the personal relationships that are so important to making government work. It’s hard to make a deal with someone you can not get along with.
The primary principle that seems to be driving current relations in state government is pure power. There is little evidence to suggest that hard line beliefs about policy are at the heart of the continuing deadlock between the executive and legislative branches.
The governor is viewed as a moderate Republican. The House Speaker is known as a conservative Democrat and the Senate President is known mainly as pragmatic. So what’s the problem? By any normal political calculus these three should be able to find common ground every day of the week.
Yet despite a billion dollar surplus it took extra innings for both sides to come to agreement on a state budget this summer and even more time to move toward agreement on a state borrowing plan. The most interesting aspect of the battle over state bonding is the fact that any borrowing authorized by the legislature can not happen unless it is given final approval by the Bond Commission which is chaired by the governor. So the summer-long stalemate over use of the state credit card — like the Seinfeld show — was about nothing.
So the special session was not a necessity. The legislature could have passed an irresponsible bond package back in June and the governor could have spent the next year refusing to give final approval to most of it.
Jimmying The Agenda
The agenda of the special session tells us even more about the partisan temperature at the Capitol. The second item placed on the agenda by majority Democrats was a contracting reform bill state unions have been fighting for since 2004. Previous versions had been vetoed by the governor. There are some who speculate Democrats placed such a high priority on the contracting reform because they are politically indebted to union leaders who have provided financial contributions and the sweat equity of their membership for Democratic campaigns. But that’s just speculation.
Not to be out done, minority Republicans tried to put parole reform on the agenda. Republicans knew full well Democrats would oppose the effort and that was the point. Republicans did not want to pass parole reform, they only wanted Democrats to vote against it so they could paint them as soft on crime in next year’s legislative elections.
You might excuse Democrats for the way they set the agenda. After all, they hold the majority so it is their prerogative. Republicans on the other hand can not be excused. They deliberately used the outrage over the recent multiple murders in Cheshire to try to score political points. We know this because the very afternoon the session was underway Republican lawmakers were taking a break from the business of the state to call radio talk shows to charge Democrats with putting union demands above public safety.
The latent virus of partisan advantage is always present, but once it becomes active, public policy is pushed to the bottom of the agenda. Winning and losing becomes all that matters. Decisions and policy positions are framed in terms of us vs. them and stalemate is the result.
This is not necessarily all bad. If you are of the view that the government that governs least governs best, then a government stymied by pettiness may be the next best thing.
Dean Pagani is a former gubernatorial advisor. He is V.P. of Public Affairs for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.
