As UConn prepares to welcome 23,850 undergraduate students to Storrs and its regional campuses for the school year, some high-profile projects have been delayed by the state's continuing fiscal crisis.
Last fall, UConn opened a gleaming, $105 million, eight-story dormitory and a $95 million engineering and science building is nearing completion, but other parts of the $1.5 billion Next Generation Connecticut plan have been put on hold.
"We're disappointed on the projects that are paused, but I have to say we've gotten a lot done," UConn President Susan Herbst said. "We've got a lot of major projects done and on schedule. I think we've got a lot done that needed to be done. I don't think it holds the university back too much yet."
The expected reduction in the state's block grant to the university — down at least $18.7 million since the governor's first budget proposal early this year and down $31.6 million with fringe benefit costs included — contributes to an operating budget that is too tight to hire the faculty and staff needed to accommodate growth in enrollment. UConn's aim has been to increase the number of students on campus by 5,000 during a 10-year period, but with the tight operating budget that expansion is on hold. Admissions Director Nathan Fuerst said the university will be admitting a smaller number of first year students — 3,650 compared to 3,800 last year.
"We are beginning to pace ourselves," Fuerst said. "It's fair to say that if we had the resources the state legislature had mapped out, we would have stuck with the growth plan. We're hitting the pause button is the most appropriate thing to say."
The state embarked on its 10-year Next Generation program three years ago with the aim of expanding the number of students by 6,580 in Storrs and Stamford campuses, strengthening engineering, science and technology programs and ultimately providing a spark for Connecticut's economy. Thus far, the university has added 1,500 students under Next Generation.
A drive around the Storrs campus shows much progress has been made. At the western end of campus is the Next Generation Connecticut Residence Hall, which opened last fall to 727 students, and includes a "learning community" for engineers and an Innovation Zone or makerspace on the first floor for invention and collaboration.
The Putnam Refectory dining hall, located nearby, received a $23 million makeover. The renovation doubled the number of seats, opened up the interior space to bring in more light, and added a juice bar and a "green wall" garden from which chefs can pluck fresh herbs.CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
On the first day of his second term, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made transportation one of the pillars of his administration.
He called for a “collective vision for the next 30 years” that would produce a “best-in-class transportation system” in his January 2015 State of the State address. He unveiled a 30-year, $100 billion plan just weeks later.
As Malloy, who will not seek re-election next year, heads into the final 16 months of his tenure, he’s concerned about the future of his 30-year plan after just four years.
In particular, he’s worried the next governor and the legislature will take a shorter view and curtail transportation spending.
“You’ve got to be able to think big to be able to design a transportation system for the future, as opposed to what Connecticut has largely done is they’ve looked backwards,” Malloy said during a recent interview with the Record-Journal.
He said the state is struggling to compete with its neighbors, particularly New York and Massachusetts, because it neglected needed investments for decades while those states made improvements.
Malloy said Connecticut is “better situated than some states” on transportation, but its lack of investment is magnified by its proximity to New York City and Boston.
Rep. Tony Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, said he’s hopeful the next governor “would want to follow in (Malloy’s) footsteps.”
“I’ve never heard one person say that infrastructure or transportation isn’t important,” he said.
Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, credited Malloy with bringing transportation back to the forefront after years of neglect, and he thinks lawmakers are ready to continue.
“I think the governor has done a good job every chance he has, and he should be applauded,” said Fasano, who also represents Wallingford.
Malloy credited former Gov. William O’Neill, a Democrat, with trying to increase investments in transportation, but repeated his frequent complaint that Republican governors before him neglected the state’s infrastructure.
It’s not just Republicans. Democrats have held control of the legislature for 30 years — except 1995 and 1996 when Republicans had a majority in the Senate — and they approved budgets that put off projects or raided the Special Transportation Fund to balance the budget, Malloy said.
“This is a problem that both Democrats and Republicans invented,” he said, adding that a constitutional lock box to protect the Special Transportation Fund, going to statewide referendum in November 2018, will help prevent the same issues going forward.
Legislative leaders say they have plans to keep transportation funds out of future budget debates.
Guerrera has been one of the legislature’s biggest proponents of tolling, an idea that has gained momentum among Democrats.
“As much as things, right now, how difficult it is — if you stop projects dead in their tracks, then this state is heading for a spiral that’s unstoppable,” Guerrera said about the need for new revenue.
Rep. Emil “Buddy” Altobello, D-Meriden, agreed that the state needs to “change our mix of revenue” designated for transportation projects. He also said tolls, or other similar user fees, are the fairest method because they charge those who use roadways.
“You can’t have it both ways,” he said. “You can’t have no revenues without potholes.”
Despite the gain in momentum, Democrats continue to have a mixed reaction to tolls. Guerrera admitted House Democrats, in particular, were shy of being able to get a majority for adoption, although by just one vote.
Republicans remain opposed to the notion. While most states on the East Coast have tolls, Connecticut doesn’t, Fasano said, because the state has the highest gas tax and gets extra funding from the federal government.
Other Republicans say the state is not in a position financially to afford tolls or other new revenue sources.
“I think it’s becoming more and more evident that Connecticut is in the midst of a full-blown budget catastrophe, and that pertains to both the General Fund and the Special Transportation Fund,” said Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden.
Instead, Republicans say the state should prioritize its bonding to focus borrowing for transportation projects and school construction. House and Senate Republicans presented a plan in 2015, called “Prioritize Progress,” that they project would generate $67.4 billion over 30 years for transportation, using bonding and federal aid.
Republicans also note that figure covers projects the state Department of Transportation has identified as necessary, allowing for the state to spend less than Malloy’s plan.
“This is a wonderful dream, but we have to be realistic,” Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, co-chairwoman of the Transportation Committee, said of Malloy’s plan. She also said Connecticut should be more realistic in its planning because “we don’t even know” how people will commute in 30 years.
Malloy defended his $100 billion plan, saying it’s necessary to address neglected projects and prepare Connecticut’s infrastructure for the future.
“If you had done your job, we wouldn’t be playing catch-up right now,” he said. “And we’ve got to play catch-up, otherwise we’re not going to see job growth commensurate with our neighboring states, period.”
Aside from expansions in rail and bus services and increasing highway capacity, Malloy’s plan also seeks to improve access for pedestrians and bicyclists around the state.
“These systems are interdependent, they work off one another,” he said.
Malloy said the business community will need to continue backing his plan once he leaves office.
Both the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association have embraced Malloy’s plan, saying infrastructure improvements are needed to support the state’s economy.
“Congestion on the highway hinders commerce,” said Joe Scully, president of the transport association, which represents the state’s hauling industry. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Connecticut's current prevailing wage thresholds are $400,000 for new construction and $100,000 for renovations. If a project falls below that threshold, then workers only have to be paid the minimum wage. When CCM proposes an increase to the thresholds, they're proposing that more construction workers be paid the minimum wage rather than the family sustaining prevailing wage.
The truth is CCM's proposal will make Connecticut less competitive. Our neighboring states, Massachusetts and New York, have a zero threshold on prevailing wage, meaning that the wage protection is triggered on dollar one on public works projects. Rhode Island's prevailing wage threshold is $1,000, which is less than the federal threshold of $2,000. And New Jersey's threshold is $15,444. We don't want to lose skilled workers to our surrounding states.
Opponents to prevailing wage perpetuate a misconception that the wage protection somehow only benefits union workers or union companies. But that is not true. Non-union contractors also perform work on publicly funded projects. And all construction workers, regardless of union affiliation, benefit from the prevailing wage law. Prevailing wage rates are based on surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor of what local contractors actually pay workers on public works projects in the state.
CCM has argued that the state and municipalities could save up to 30 percent if there was no prevailing wage requirement. That is simply not true. Labor costs account for only 22 percent of total construction costs.
In fact, Indiana State Rep. Ed Soliday, a Republican whose state repealed its prevailing wage law in 2015, was quoted this past April referencing the claim that opponents made that repeal of the law would save taxpayers 22 percent in construction costs. "[They claim] there's some magic state out there that's going to send all these workers into work for $10 an hour and it's just not going to happen. There's not 22 percent savings out there when the total cost of labor is 22 percent. It's rhetoric. So far, I haven't seen a dime of savings out of it."
Twoprofessors of economics at the University of Utah, Peter Phillips and Cihan Bilingsoy, conducted a study in 2010 entitled "Impact of Prevailing Wages on the Economy and Communities of Connecticut," which found that repeal of the prevailing wage law would result in the loss of $21.6 million in income tax revenue.
Other studies have shown that every dollar spent on a prevailing wage project generates a $1.50 in economic activity — that's money spent at local businesses such as restaurants and auto body shops. Prevailing wages keep workers off public assistance and allow them to contribute to our local economies.
In April of this year, the Midwest Economic Policy Institute conducted a study entitled, "Prevailing Wage and Military Veterans in Connecticut," which found that a weakening of prevailing wage would hurt our returning veterans, which account for 6.6 percent of Connecticut's construction workforce.
The study found that if we increase thresholds, the average income for veteran blue-collar construction workers would decline by over $5,100 annually, and that approximately 270 employed veterans would lose their employer-provided health plan and another 160 would fall below the poverty line and qualify for food stamps. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Gov. Cuomo Opens New Tappan Zee Bridge
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo opened the first span of the newly constructed Tappan Zee Bridge in a ceremony Aug. 24. In his remarks, Cuomo compared the bridge project to the likes of the New York subway system and the George Washington Memorial Bridge, which the government hardly ever pursues, the Times Union reported.
“Today says the New York blood still runs in our veins,” said Cuomo. “We lost the daring we had in 1931 when we build the George Washington Bridge. Today is different.”
The opening celebrations included a marching band, school children, a media bus tour of the bridge, and national, state and local politicians. Cuomo and 96-year-old WWII veteran Chick Galella crossed the bridge in a 1955 Corvette, the very same model Galella drove across the bridge in when it first opened in 1955.
Who Will Pay?
It is still unclear who will pay for the $3.9 billion project, however, according to State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox. So far, the project has received a $1.6 billion federal loan, $750 million in bank settlements and $850 million in bonds. The difference may come from bridge and Thruway tolls, which Cuomo has said could happen. Although the $5 ($4.50 for EZ-Pass) fare is frozen until 2020, some worry that the tolls would need to be raised to cover the cost.
Traffic is slated to start westbound from Westchester to Rockland county Aug. 25, but the project won't be fully complete until sometime next year, the Times Union reported.