Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

A tense final day as House GOP threatens filibuster

  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • June 5, 2013
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

The General Assembly’s House Republican minority threatened Wednesday to filibuster the final day of the session to protest last-minute revisions to key legislation, adding a dash of drama and tension as legislators worked toward their adjournment deadline of midnight.

House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, labeled as “outrageous” language that would accelerate the legalization of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants and would allow the state to spend the $750 million in new financing pledged to a special budget reserve.

Democrats said the drivers’ license language was a mistake that already has been deleted from the legislation.

House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, remained optimistic that an overall bipartisan deal could be struck. But Cafero threatened at 1 p.m. to effectively shut the session down.

“I’m just so angry,” Cafero told reporters outside the House chamber. “You talk about an outrageous power grab.”

Cafero balked at two pieces of legislation in particular:

An early draft on one of the major omnibus policy bills needed to implement the next state budget. This draft, delivered by the Democratic majority to the Republicans shortly after noon, runs 508 pages and “God knows how many sections,” Cafero said.

And one of those sections moves up the effective date of a bill legalizing driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants from Jan. 1, 2015, to next month.

Republicans overwhelmingly opposed the bill, but did appreciate the 2015 implementation date, Cafero said, since it gave time for a task force to study the issue and recommend ways to “fine tune” the implementation process.

“It is a violation of the spirit of what the original bill did,” the House GOP leader said.

The second measure involves a major bonding package approved late Tuesday in the Senate.

That bills orders $750 million in borrowing to help with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s promised conversion of state finances to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Unlike the modified cash basis system currently used, under GAAP, expenses must be promptly assigned to the year in which they were incurred. In the context of the state budget, that would end an array of accounting gimmicks that have pushed current expenses into future years.

If GAAP standards are used, state finances are deep in the red. State analysts recently pegged the GAAP differential at $1.2 billion.

Malloy originally planned to close that margin by setting aside $80 million annually for 15 years starting this July. But the governor and legislature had to close a big projected deficit just to balance the next budget, and the idea of paying cash to build the entire GAAP reserve was scrapped.

By borrowing $750 million now –- a move that adds $218 million in interest costs -– that leaves just $450 million additional that Malloy and lawmakers must reserve by 2028 to complete the GAAP conversion.

Both the governor and his fellow Democrats in the House and Senate have insisted that borrowing for GAAP has an advantage: It would force the state to save the funds it puts into reserve.

The state would pledge in its bond covenant –- effectively a contract with the investors who buy its bonds -– to use the proceeds only to address the GAAP problem, he said.

But Cafero noted that Section 69 of the bonding bill allows the state to spend the borrowed GAAP dollars if the governor declares “an emergency or the existence of extraordinary circumstances,” and if three-fifths of the House and Senate agree.

Democrats “are literally ignoring their promise to the people,” Cafero said of the backdoor access to the GAAP reserve. “It’s not going to go.”

Though Republicans hold just 52 seats out of 151 in the House, the minority holds considerable influence in the session’s final days.

Because of the mandatory adjournment deadline of midnight, and because legislative rules allow for unlimited discussion, the minority can sink any bill simply by continuing the floor debate.

After a long legislative session that begin in early January, there always is the desire to try to revive ideas left out of earlier bills, Aresimowicz said, adding he remains hopeful the conflicts can be sorted out.

“If there’s issues in there, we’ll see if there’s common ground,” he said. “We’ve worked very well together” in the past. “They have leverage in certain areas. We have leverage in certain areas.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Auditors: UConn Hartford campus construction cost $30M more than budgeted
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Construction and renovations combined originally were priced at $87 million. Final cost: $116.7 million.

J&J vaccine ‘pause’ complicates campus clinics, but the big question remains: Should colleges require vaccinations?
by Adria Watson

The COVID vaccines are authorized for "emergency use," making the legality of mandates murky

CT to start collecting family-leave tax from its workers next week
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state will begin deducting the new tax to support family and medical leave benefits from non-union employees this month.

Vaccine clinics canceled across CT after feds urge ‘pause’ on J&J vaccine
by Jenna Carlesso

The single-dose COVID shot is key to CT's rollout strategy, especially in cities.

CT’s prison population shrunk during the pandemic. Will it last?
by Kelan Lyons and Kasturi Pananjady

The historic declines coincide with a demand for equity as racial disparities in the incarcerated populate have widened during COVID-19.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Connecticut must protect vulnerable populations from biased and discriminatory healthcare practices
by William Smith

At a time of great uncertainty for the public health of our nation, the path to protect patients in Connecticut from unfair and even discriminatory healthcare rationing is clear. And it begins with turning away from European models that rely on controversial approaches to determine the price and value of new drugs.

Opinion Governor Lamont can negotiate a bold, equitable budget
by Callie Gale Heilmann

Last summer, after George Floyd’s murder sent a shock wave through our nation, people across Connecticut took to the streets to demand an end to systemic racism and inequality in our state. Residents in urban, rural, and suburban communities spoke in one unified voice demanding that in Connecticut, Black Lives Matter. This is a call for the liberation of Black folks -- for the removal of structural, institutional and economic violence that has thwarted the progress of Black people and the progress of our state.

Opinion Connecticut should have a one-house legislature — and fewer lawmakers
by Alan Calandro

In 2020, there were 35 out of 187 (19%) statehouse seats that were basically uncontested, which meant the election/balloting in these cases was a foregone conclusion. This is the norm, election after election. By definition then, we have too many statehouse seats in Connecticut.

Opinion Everybody in, especially those left out
by State Rep. Anne Hughes

In the wake of the spate of gun violence massacres, resuming again with deadly consequences, we are at a familiar crossroads: Do we revert to our usual, American individualized ‘othering,’, or do we reconcile that there is no ‘them’- only ‘us,’ that we refuse to claim? I’m campaigning to reframe the American ‘us’ from some of y’all to “ALL of us all!”

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO