2010 legislative session gets underway

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, the 2010 legislative session commenced at the Capitol. It was unlike any other opening day I had experienced in during my 11-year tenure serving in the General Assembly. With the state facing a $500 million budget deficit this year, and projections of $3 billion budget holes on 2011 and 2012, the mood was understandably subdued among legislators.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell addressed a joint convention of the state House of Representatives and the state Senate. In her speech, the Governor outlined the state’s current budget deficit and outlined some ideas for dealing with the shortfall. Here are a few of the highlights:

- No new taxes or fee increases
- No cuts to major town aid grants. However, there are reductions to smaller grants, such as school transportation and Magnet Schools.
- Deferring $100 million payment to state pension fund.
- Enhanced sales tax exemption for Green energy producers
- An estimated $20 million in additional revenue from Keno.

The Governor laid out a proposal that requires any budget surplus must go to Rainy Day Fund in January and May of each year. This makes a lot of sense, on many levels.

According to the latest revenue estimates, the state exceeds the bond cap by $242 million. The Governor proposes to de-authorize $388.7 million, including de-authorizations of bonds over five years old. This would make room for potential new bond authorizations.

To saves costs to the state, the Governor also proposed co-pay and premium increases in the HUSKY insurance program.

Keno could be one of the more controversial proposals among legislators. According to the Connecticut Lottery Corp., lottery-style keno is a betting game in which players pick a set of numbers from 1 to 80 by buying and filling out a play slip from a retailer, such as a bar or restaurant.

Bets typically range from $1 to $10. Payouts can range from $1 to $1 million. The state lottery draws 20 winning numbers, publicizing new results every 5 to 6 minutes, by television, for instance. Winnings are determined by the amount of the wager and the number of drawn numbers that a player matches.

The Governor also proposed a Loan Forgiveness Program, of up to $2,500 a year for state school graduates, and a $2,500 per new job created for businesses of 25 and fewer employees. There is a 10 million cap for the new-jobs credit.

The state’s budget difficulties are unprecedented, and I am hoping to work with my colleagues on both sides of the political aisle to reach a solution that does not include increased spending and higher taxes. I am hopeful that we can accomplish this by working together.

For this legislative session, I will serve as the ranking member of the Program Review & Investigations Committee. I will also serve on the Public Health and Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committees, along with playing my role as appointee to the Speaker’s Domestic Violence Task Force.