This week is kinda like super bowl week, but entirely for political junkies. This is the week that both the Republicans and Democrats convene up for their state conventions, where they get together to catch up under the guise of nominating who will be candidates for the state offices. Let me take a step back and say, why is this system any better than just having a statewide run off race to determine candidates. What exactly are the political parties bringing to the table? When we look closely, we see things like the city of Hartford, population circa 124k, according to Courant columnist Colin McEnroe, who in 2007 elected Mayor Eddie Perez with a vote of around 6500 from a total of 14,000 votes. Did the two party system serve Hartfrod particulary well at the municipal level? We certainly know the answer at the state level now, just look at the crap that was passed as a “balanced budget.”

But all that’s for another post. Today we check into the race to be run races.

Today Republican Gubernatorial candidate Mike Fedele announces his running mate, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.

Earlier Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont announced Mary Glassman as his running mate. And Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy announced Nancy Wyman as his running mate.

All the running mates, are currently in office, and essentially running for the spot that Mike Fedele occupies as Lt. Governor. There are other candidates running for Governor who have not announced running mates. Notably Republican Tom Foley. At this rate, we might be running out of currently in office candidates who aren’t running for something else.

The fourth annual Democratic pizza and politics event hosted by Ted Hoffstatter, Martha Aasen and members of various DTCs from Westport, Weston, Wilton, Greenwich, and Fairfield. Despite the room being packed with a few hundred people it was still difficult to not run into someone running for governor, or had run for governor or would like to one day grow up and be governor.

As usual the Norwalk Democratic party provided the usual ample fodder for me write stories for the entire month of February. But what happens at Fat Cat stays in Fat Cat, so we’ll just have to wait how things all shake out. But in the interim, because I know you were all hoping for all those tantalizing morsels of� Norwalk DTC drama, let’s just say that the likelihood of someone challenging the Democratic party rules again, as in this will be the third time in 4 years, is pretty high. Not because of any one egregious action, but three separate events are rallying cries for change.� My response; just fix the rules and stop with this nonsense.

The battle for who will be the next chair of the Norwalk Dems is shaping up to be delightful. Of course that’s what precipitating all the drama between people who won’t let go, and people who want to be part of a real Democratic party. There’s a healthy amount of jockeying between the people who are rallying around the campaigns of the gubernatorial candidates, which as represented last night are Dan Malloy, Ned Lamont, Rudy Marconi and Mary Glassman. The prize, as it is in all these primaries, is who gets to pick the delegates that go to the state conventions and otherwise enjoy the potential of administration jobs in Hartford. A word of advice, an old bear is not nimble and rather clumsy in its movements, but an old bear lies in wait in the bushes and can ambush the more nimble with a swipe of� its paw. Just saying.

Meanwhile, the under representation by the “official” Norwalk Democratic party in their home turf, was noticeable.

Dick Blumenthal, as Senate candidate got the most attention. Jim Himes spoke passionately about getting things done in Washington. Nancy Wyman, Denise Nappier and Susan Bysiewicz spoke as well as Ned Lamont, Dan Malloy, Rudi Marconi, Denise Merril, Andy Garfunkel, Gerry Garcia, Mary Glassman and not in that order at all and I think I missed a few people.

Duffy, the little white dog, was rescued by his owner, for those of you who were concerned after the brief announcement made by Tony Ancona at the outset of the speaking program.

Each year I bemoan the voodoo budget the state legislature manages to formulate out of fantasy numbers. This year, sadly, the same. The legislature must adopt GAAP. Connecticut is still using a modified cash accounting system which allows the legislature to “balance” its budget while actually spending beyond its means. The chief trick? Recognizing revenue prematurely. Even with the huge deficits we see today, there are still expenses put off to future that shouldn’t be.

Since 2007, when State Comptroller Nancy Wyman made a play to get the Governor and the Legislature to adopt GAAP, Wyman has been quiet on the subject. Yet, buried within her monthly press releases about the state of the budget, are gems like this:

Wyman said she is also concerned that $473 million in expected state agency savings built into the 2010 budget might be overly ambitious because the budget does not specify how those savings are to be achieved.

“The policy changes required to produce that level of savings are, for the most part, not addressed,” in the budget, Wyman said.

Wyman was of course discussing the loss of payroll jobs in the state, 70,000 between August 2008 and August 2009, and how that would affect the revenue of sales and income tax collections looking ahead. Her latest comments:

Wyman said receipts of the income tax remain weak, despite an increase in the tax rate for upper-income residents. Collection of the quarterly estimated income tax payments typically made by investors is down by nearly 29.4 percent, Wyman said, and revenue from the payroll-withholding tax dropped by 4.3 percent.

The state added 1,000 payroll jobs in October, Wyman said, but still has lost more than 70,000 jobs since October 2008.

“The extra revenue associated with the higher tax rate is being offset by a continued drop in overall receipts of the income tax,” Wyman said.

Wyman said the income tax was originally projected to produce about $6.6 billion by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, but is now expected to bring in about $6.4 billion.

The sales tax is now targeted to produce about $3.1 billion in revenue, or about $27 million less than budgeted.

Does Chris Donovan or Don Williams even read the Comptroller’s reports? Guessing by the reaction to Larry Cafero and Stweart McKinley’s bipartisan budget solving request letter, the answer would be no.

In a press release today, Connecticut Comptroller Nancy Wyman noted the status of the State’s worsening condition. Complete text of the release:

WYMAN SAYS DEFICIT RISES TO $1.2 BILLION AS REVENUES CONTINUE SLIDE

State Comptroller Nancy Wyman today said the projected state budget
deficit has risen to $1.2 billion as major tax categories continue to
slide.

The estimated deficit has risen by about $139 million in the last month,
driven mainly by drops in collection of the income tax, sales tax and the
tax that corporations pay on profits.

“As the final quarter of the fiscal year approaches, the decline in
these major tax categories is accelerating,” Wyman said. “Decisive
action to reduce this historic shortfall must be taken quickly to avoid
completely draining our $1.4 billion Rainy Day Fund.”

The income tax was expected to bring in $7.6 billion this year, but will
likely fall at least $900 million short of that target due to the
decline of the financial markets and the loss of about 29,000 jobs in
Connecticut. The state will also pay out about $140 million more in tax
refunds than was anticipated.

Collections of the sales tax are expected to decrease by about $352
million from original estimates, and the corporation tax is down by about
$183 million.

Wyman’s estimate, which includes close to $650 million in
deficit-mitigation steps approved by the General Assembly, is about $295
million higher than that of the Governor’s budget office.

The current projected deficit of $1.2 billion is based on a 2009 budget
of $18.4 billion.

Continue Reading

Governor Rell has had ample opportunity to do the right thing when it comes to the fiscal management of the State, and she has had all the political capital – and all the political cover – she could want to do it. She has refused to do so. An explanation is in order.

I refer to Rell’s patented evasiveness relative to the task of transitioning the State to GAAP accounting, despite the fact that Controller Nancy Wyman, a popular Democrat, has championed it for over ten years, and the Legislature has twice voted to support it.

Governor Rell has stood in the way of fiscal responsibility, not been its champion.
Excerpt:
A stand-off over generally accepted accounting principles, pitting Governor M. Jodi Rell against State Comptroller Nancy Wyman, has bubbled up in Connecticut. On July 6, Rell vetoed legislation that would have named the state comptroller as the key arbiter of GAAP and thereby given Wyman the power to switch the way she prepares financial statements. – CFO, July 9, 2007
Less than two years ago, the Governor had an ally in the Controller but, rather than use her political capital to craft a bill that would accomplish the objective more satisfactorily, Jodi Rell simply vetoed the bill, pitching it back to the Legislature.

Business as usual for the Rell Administration. All talk, no action.

The Governor’s is an office where someone who can lead and act like the State’s Executive may do so. Blaming the Legislature – or deferring to consultants and others outside the government – instead of taking decisions and running the business, is costly to the taxpayers and detrimental to everyone’s quality of life.

The fact is that the Office of the Governor has the ability to effect decisively the direction the government of the State takes. But we have an individual who’s strong suit is affect. In fact she seems utterly incapable of leadership, no matter what the political clime or fiscal circumstance is.

Why does Governor Rell refuse to do what is best for the State of Connecticut? Continue Reading