Lamont rules out tolls, waits for clarity in White House

Mark Pazniokas With the presidential race unresolved, Gov. Ned Lamont hedged Wednesday on what agenda he will push in January when the General Assembly convenes with bolstered Democratic majorities of 24-12 in the Senate and 98-53 in the House.

Lamont, an early backer of Joe Biden, said the nation was hungry for clarity about who will occupy the White House in January or the precise makeup of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Lamont celebrated Democratic gains in Connecticut, while confessing disappointment in the uncertain presidential results.

By Wednesday evening, Biden appeared to be narrowing the race, with wins in Michigan and Wisconsin, but the shifting political situation remained uncertain and tense. President Donald Trump’s campaign was seeking recounts and vowing to challenge election results in court, while at least one protest had broken out at a ballot counting center in Detroit.

Against this backdrop of uncertainty, a coalition of grassroots organizations and advocacy groups called Protect the Results is planning more than 100 protests and events around the country, including one in Hartford Wednesday, to stress the need to maintain the integrity of the election.

“Not just because I’m a Joe Biden guy,” Lamont said, addressing reporters in a post-election news conference outside the Executive Residence in Hartford. “But I was really looking for clarity. The last thing I thought this county needed was the confusion that you see with an absolutely deadlocked 50-50 race.”  

The Democratic governor gave few indications what a stronger Democratic majority in the General Assembly might mean next year, while offering a firm opinion of what not to expect: He will not seek highway tolls, the issue that instantly robbed him of whatever political capital he took into office as a new governor in January 2019.

“No, I’m looking at other alternatives,” Lamont said. “I’m going to put those on the table. And I’m going to ask the legislature to make a decision.”

More Democrats in the legislature is not a case for revisiting tolls, a transportation funding source viewed so warily by House and Senate Democratic leaders that even a modest version of Lamont’s plan never came to a vote.

“Let’s face it, my solution wasn’t very popular with Republicans or Democrats, nor do they have a solution of their own,” Lamont said.

Neither Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, nor House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, identified tolls or any other new transportation revenue as an immediate need to be addressed in January. Ritter is set to become speaker on the opening day of the 2021 legislative session, succeeding Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, who did not seek another term.

Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewiecz said they remain optimistic that Biden, who has proposed federal stimulus spending for transportation and other needs, eventually will be declared the winner of the presidential race.

With gas prices low and motorists driving fewer miles during the pandemic, Connecticut needs to find additional revenue for the Special Transportation Fund, which heavily relies on fuel taxes to pay debt service on transportation projects. 

In April, state analysts downgraded revenue projections for the fund by 10% for each of the next two fiscal years.

Connecticut’s transportation rebuilding program currently receives about $1 billion annually from state borrowing, and another $700 million-to-$750 million in federal grants.

But Lamont offered no encouragement to liberal Democrats eager to make the state’s tax structure more progressive by raising taxes on the wealthy, as Biden would push if he makes it to the White House.

An early backer of Biden, Lamont said the federal tax code is the place to raise more money off the rich.

“I thought the idea of Connecticut jumping forward raising taxes on our own puts our state at a terrible competitive disadvantage right when we have the wind to our back,” Lamont said.

Connecticut’s economy is hardly running with a favorable wind, but the state suddenly has become an attractive destination during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing transplants from New York City and other urban areas.

Looney said he would like to see the legislature instead tackle property tax reform in 2021.

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, who did not seek re-election, saw few lessons in the 2020 results in Connecticut, other than the obvious one: Trump is deeply unpopular in the state and was a drag on down-ballot Republicans, as was the case in 2018 when he was not on the ballot.

“I think 90 percent of this was Trump,” said Fasano, whose caucus lost two seats.

Lamont did not entirely disagree.

“I think it was a pretty strong mandate for the Democrats, building on what you saw in 2018, both in in the state House and in the state Senate,” Lamont said. “I’m not an expert on what that means, but I would presume it had a little bit of something to do with the presidential election.”

Two democrats in close Senate races conceded to their Republican incumbents Wednesday.Democrat Melissa Osborne of Avon conceded to Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, giving up on hopes that late-arriving absentee ballots would make a difference. Democrats had been watching the count in the 35th Senate District, but Lisa Thomas lost to Sen. Dan Champagne, R-Vernon, Wednesday night.

Thomas declined to comment, while Democrats said they saw an outside chance of a final count falling within the margin the would require a recount. Unofficial results showed Champagne leading Wednesday by fewer than 500 votes, 28,836 to 28,349.

Voters approve $159.5M Torrington Middle/High school building project 

Lance Reynolds TORRINGTON — Superintendent Susan Lubomski said residents’ approval of the $159.6 million Torrington Middle/High School building project in Tuesday’s referendum could be a turning point for the city’s future.

Residents voted 8,761 to 5,703 in favor of the project, according to preliminary results.
“Torrington is the hub of the Northwest Corner,” Lubomski said. “Torrington can once again be a thriving town where young families and alumni choose to set down roots, secure jobs, raise their children and become active citizens of the next generation. This is our time.”Jeff Putnam, a father of two elementary students, spearheaded the project’s political action committee, Vote Yes New School Bright Future. He stood outside the Torrington Armory, the city’s largest polling place, all day Tuesday with his children handing out cards in support of the new school.

“I could not be prouder for all the families and the people here in Torrington,” Putnam said Tuesday night. “They’ve done what they had to do. They came together to form a brighter and better future for everyone here in town. We are so grateful for all the voters today who did the right thing.”

The project will cost $159.6 million. City residents, though, will receive an $85 million state reimbursement, lowering the city’s share to $74.6 million.

With the approval, seventh- and eighth-graders will relocate from Torrington Middle School to the new school, and Board of Education offices at 355 Migeon Ave. will shut down and be part of the new school. TMS will become a grade 4-6 school. Forbes School, which is in need of renovation, is expected to close.

A preliminary cost-savings chart estimates the new school will save the district $478,535 in energy costs, $53,000 in annual maintenance at Forbes, $44 million from renovation of Forbes, and $700,000 to $1.1 million if the district retains 30% to 50% of students who attend area magnet and vo-ag schools.

The new 268,641-square-foot school will be on the same campus at 50 Major Besse Drive and have a small portion overlapping the current 225,558-square-foot structure. The school’s square footage is based on the largest projected enrollment within an eight-year window. A New England School Development Council study determined 2021-22 will have the largest enrollment in that time frame at 1,571 students. Total district enrollment this year is 3,935, up from last year’s 3,744.

If the project failed, the school board would have pursued a $112.2 million renovation project to alleviate some of the existing problems at the 57-year-old building. That project would have received a much lower $33.9 state reimbursement, raising the city’s cost to $78.3 million, $3.7 million more than the new school.

Mayor Elinor C. Carbone stated in emails to the Republican-American that renovating the current THS would not have happened automatically, and any alternative project would have needed to be presented to city voters.

However, Cappabianca said in a public forum last week that wouldn’t have been the case.
“There is no time left to keep kicking this,” she said. “The board, in good conscience, has to begin looking at some of the major repair items that need to be addressed. That would not be done in the form of a referendum.”

The largest items would have included revamping the school’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems for $14.8 million; doors and windows for $10.3 million, and electrical systems for $6.8 million. Some items were not eligible for state reimbursement.

The anticipated opening date of the new school is September 2024. Construction is expected to commence in March 2022 and conclude in August 2024.

Anna Reynolds School referendum passes easily in Newington

Steven Goode  NEWINGTON — Long-sought improvements to Anna Reynolds School have been approved by Newington voters.