On June 30 the legislature, the people’s voice at the state Capitol, loses significant power over the state budget. As of July 1, Gov. Malloy has sole authority over the budget up until the legislature can approve an alternative.
If we allow Gov. Dan Malloy to lead by executive order, Cheshire, Wallingford and Southington are in serious trouble.
The governor has been clear about his budget plans. He presented the budget back in February and updated it this month. In fact, I vehemently opposed it in front of the legislature’s Finance Committee.Gov. Malloy’s budget would cut $700 million to cities and towns. That may save money on the state budget, but it will directly impact your property taxes, playing a shell game with your hard earned dollars.What does that mean for our towns? A nearly $22 million cut in state money coming to Cheshire over the course of the two-year Malloy budget. A more than $28 million cut over two-years to Wallingford. And a more than $12 million cut for Southington ... And that includes money for schools, money for seniors, and money to reimburse for state property (PILOT).
The governor’s budget includes his proposal to make towns fund a chunk of teachers pensions. In his proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1, Cheshire would be on the hook for $3.4 million; Wallingford, $5.1 million; and Southington, $6.1 million. Shifting the burden of the state budget crisis to property taxpayers is not a real solution.
A month-by-month budget would equal the end of bonding. $1.5 billion in current bond obligations will disappear and there will be no state funding for school construction. Cheshire is looking to build a new middle school; we can kiss it goodbye, or foot the entire bill ourselves.
This is not fiction; this is what will happen if the General Assembly does not approve a two-year budget by June 30. We all need to understand the very real consequences ahead. It is critical that leadership meet on the budget, day and night, before we lose all control on July 1.
A failure to reach a budget is tacit submission. And staking out ideological ultimatums is equivalent to giving up.
Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz and House Majority Leader Matt Ritter have set the right tone. They tell us to take the “D’s” and “R’s” off our jerseys and replace them with a “C” for Connecticut. We must do what is right by our state, by our taxpayers, by our children, regardless of political party.
Budgets are a reflection of our values. I’m fighting for a budget which reduces the overreliance on property taxes, eliminates wasteful spending and includes a long-term vision for our state while preserving education funds for our children.
I will be holding an emergency state budget meeting, open to the public, in-district before June 30, where we can share ideas and strategize. I need your input. I will post to my Facebook page @RepLinehan when I have the details.
Liz Linehan represents the 103rd House District of Cheshire, Southington and Wallingford in the Connecticut General Assembly.
In the final days of a legislative session that ends at midnight Wednesday, some members of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus have emerged as swing votes on what had once been three clear options: Allow the tribes a casino to compete with the MGM Resorts casino under construction in Springfield, accept MGM’s inducements to deny the tribes and instead open competition for a gaming resort in Fairfield County, or reject any expansion.
By a 2-1 margin on May 24, the Senate voted for a bill authorizing the tribes to open a satellite casino off I-91 in East Windsor, a community of about 12,000 people between Hartford and Springfield. It is a bid to slow the loss of gaming jobs and revenue as the two tribal casinos, Foxwoods Resorts and Mohegan Sun, face new competition in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, and House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, say they do not see votes in the House to pass the Senate casino bill unless the Senate first passes a companion bill — sweeteners sought by some urban Democrats, such a “boutique casino” in Hartford and slots machines at off-track betting facilities in Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury.
“This is a complicated subject. Gaming is lucrative, so people see opportunities to be part of it, and the Senate was able, maybe, to contain it a little bit. It’s been harder for us down here” in the House, Ritter said.
The sweetener bill represents its own problems.
There is no guarantee it could pass the Senate, where some supporters of the East Windsor casino made clear they were disinterested in any further expansion of gambling. Legislators and lobbyists on the both sides of the issue say the sweetener could drive away as many legislators in the House as it attracts.
Rep. Chris Davis, R-Ellington, whose district includes East Windsor, said he and many other legislators see a satellite casino in the I-91 corridor as a limited and well-considered expansion of gaming that competes for a share of gamblers who otherwise would go to Springfield. He is unlikely to support gaming in Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury.
“I think the only one that makes sense to me, public-policy wise, is in East Windsor or a facility in that area. It would ultimately, potentially, save revenue from going up to Springfield and protect those jobs,” Davis said. “The idea of them spreading it out to four of five more places, I think is a true public policy question for most people. It opens up gaming across the state.”
A small boutique casino in Hartford, where Ritter and Mayor Luke Bronin oppose placing slots at OTB parlors, would only have table games, envisioned less of a revenue generator than an entertainment attraction to bolster convention business. It is a model that seems untested.
Ritter said he was not demanding the Hartford casino provision, and if it is included in the sweetener bill, he would insist it would be an option subject to local approval.
The demand for slots in Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury is a puzzle. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Kolakowski orchestrates KBE's construction pipeline
Michael Kolakowski said he was nicknamed "Rambo" by actor Paul Newman when Kolakowski oversaw construction of Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for seriously ill children, which opened in 1988.
Kolakowski, about 25 when he was made project manager, said he got the name for getting the job done, a big project that included constructing about 30 buildings in nine months on the Ashford property.
Getting it done defines Kolakowski, 54, president and CEO of Farmington-based commercial construction company KBE Building Corp., and one of its principals.
"When we make a commitment, we need to honor our commitment and if we said we're going to do it, we are going to figure out a way to do it," Kolakowski said from KBE's Farmington headquarters.
Meeting commitments and being more prepared than the next guy help build trusting relationships, which is vital in business, he said.
"Being a trusted partner, whether that's with our employees, vendors and contractors and our owners, I think trust is the underlining theme on what helps businesses become successful," he said.
Kolakowski has been with what is now KBE his entire career.
He landed an internship with the company, then known as Konover Construction Corp., in summer 1983 doing estimating, was offered a job before he left, graduated in December and joined Konover full time in Jan. 1984. He launched a career that would take him through multiple levels of the business, eventually becoming president at age 32.
He got an opportunity to buy the business in 2007 with Eric Brown and Simon Etzel Jr., now senior vice presidents of operations and procurement, respectively. They renamed the company KBE in 2009, its 50th anniversary. Four other managers became principals in 2016.
The company has done countless projects throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic — it has offices in Norwalk, Columbia, Md., and New York City through a new affiliate, KBENY, as it works to build a foothold in the boroughs. Sectors it focuses on include senior living, retail, higher education and government.
Some local projects include the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley International Airport; core and shell work for the retail/office portion of the G. Fox & Co. building at 960 Main St.; core and shell work at Constitution Plaza, including the UConn business school; and a new 727-bed STEM dorm at UConn. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trump transportation plan would privatize Bradley’s air traffic controllers
Washington – President Donald Trump is rolling out his infrastructure plan this week, and the first proposal would privatize the nation’s air traffic controllers, including the 17 that direct takeoffs and landings at Bradley International Airport.
“We live in a modern age, but our air traffic control system is stuck, painfully, in the past,” Trump said on Monday. “Americans can look forward to cheaper, faster and safer travel.”
Privatization has long had strong support among the nation’s airlines. It also has been promoted by congressional Republicans for years.
Trump’s proposal would transfer federal assets, including control towers, routing centers, and several billion dollars in tracking systems to a private, nonprofit corporation — free of charge.
The controllers also would work for that private corporation. They are all now federal employees under the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon said his agency does not have a position on the plan to privatize controllers, but hopes airports “will have a seat on the board of the new entity,” that runs air traffic operations at Bradley and other, smaller airports in the state.
Dillon is concerned with proposals in Trump’s budget for 2018, announced last month, that would cut grants that pay for local police in airports.
One program that would get the axe reimburses the airport when police are called to Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.
TSA officers do not have police authority and must summon local officers when issues arise.
Dillon said the federal government reimbursed the Connecticut Airport Authority about $170,000 this year for the policing service.
The airport authority would incur another $250,000 in policing costs by the elimination of TSA monitors at the exits of secure areas in the airport, including the corridors that passengers use when they leave a plane, Dillon said.
The Trump budget would eliminate several TSA programs, put in place after the 9/11 attacks, to divert about $80 million to help build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction Employment Increases By 11,000 in May to Eight-Year High But Labor Shortages Likely Limited Number of New Jobs Being Added
Construction employment increased by 11,000 jobs in May to the highest level since October 2008 and average weekly hours set a series high for May as contractors struggled to find enough workers to meet demand for projects, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials urged lawmakers and other public officials to address the growing shortage of available qualified workers by funding and re-invigorating career and technical education programs.
"Construction firms continued adding new jobs at a faster rate than the broader economy during the past year as demand for their services remains strong," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "Even so, they had to keep employees on the job for more hours because they could not find enough qualified people to hire."
Construction employment totaled 6,881,000 in May, a gain of 11,000 from the April total and an increase of 191,000 or 2.9 percent from a year ago. The year-over-year growth rate was almost double the 1.6 percent rise in total nonfarm payroll employment, Simonson noted. The sector's unemployment rate in May was 5.3 percent, up slightly from 5.2 percent a year ago but one of the lowest May levels in decades.
The economist noted that average weekly hours in construction rose to 39.9, the highest May figure since the series began in 2006. Average hourly earnings in the industry climbed to $28.55, an increase of 2.2 percent from a year earlier. Construction pays nearly 9 percent more per hour than the average nonfarm private sector job in the United States, which pays $26.22 on average per hour.
Residential construction—comprising residential building and specialty trade contractors—added 7,100 jobs in May and 191,000, or 4.7 percent, over the past 12 months. Nonresidential construction (building, specialty trades, and heavy and civil engineering construction) employment increased by 4,400 jobs in May and 71,300, or 1.7 percent, over 12 months.
Construction officials said construction labor shortages were becoming more severe in many parts of the country after years of under-investment in career and technical education programs, which used to be called vocational education. They urged Congress and the Trump administration to enact a measure to increase funding, and flexibility, for the Perkins Act, which provides federal funds for career and technical education. And they urged state and local leaders to make it easier for construction firms and local associations to set up regional recruiting and training programs.
"It is time for elected officials to get the word out to students that construction offers high-paying jobs with upward mobility," said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association's chief executive officer. "The best way to deliver that message is to provide the funding and flexibility to set up programs that expose more students to the opportunities that exist in construction careers." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Tolls coming up one vote short
HARTFORD — House majority leaders today confirmed Democrats are one vote short of the 76 votes needed to pass legislation that could lead to electronic tolls on Connecticut highways.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, and House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, reported the latest vote count includes only one Republican representative.
“It is the closest possible vote you could have right now in the House,” Ritter said.
The Democrats have a 79-72 majority in the House, and Democratic leaders have acknowledged that a toll bill is unlikely to pass without more Republican votes.
“I have not given up yet,” Aresimowicz said.
The prospects of picking up any more Republican votes in the House is nil, House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, D-Derby, said.
She declined to identify the one supporter in the GOP caucus. She said she opposes tolls.
With Wednesday’s adjournment looming, she was unsure if Democratic leaders will be able to win over any of the four Democratic holdouts to pass toll bill in time, but she said they are trying hard.
“They have tried to call it every day for the past week almost, so I think it will be day-to-day,” Klarides said. “They’re whittling people down and trying to promise them different things to vote for it, but as you have seen the proposal that is on the table is completely different than where we started.”
The House legislation proposes to authorize the state Department of Transportation to plan the process of putting up electronic tolls and negotiate tolling agreements with the Federal Highway Administration.
Democratic leaders said the revisions to the Transportation Committee’s bill will include a requirement that the legislature approve the plan.
“To be honest, it is shocking to me that the other side of the aisle won’t at least support it to get the study. It is essentially study because the commissioner is going to come back to us and report, and then we vote whether it is yes or no,” Aresimowicz said.
Once given the go-ahead, the DOT has estimated that it would take three or four years to re-establish tolls on Connecticut’s highways. Toll supporters contend it could take only 18 months to two years.
If the House approves tolls, Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, has said he was uncertain if they could pass the evenly divided Senate, but he supports reinstatement of electronic tolls.
If there is no House vote before Wednesday’s adjournment, tolls could be still incorporated into the two-year budget plan that the legislature is now expected to adopt in a special session. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE