By Bill Slocum
Contributing Editor
The Connecticut General Assembly’s 2016 legislative session is supposed to focus on the budget alone, but Greenwich’s state House delegation plans on tackling other matters, too.
Livvy Floren (149th District), senior member among the three House members and first elected in 2001, has her wish list, including a lockbox for state transportation funding and firmer restrictions on campaign financing. “We spend too much money on the election process,” she said. “We should not allow the SuperPACs to have the power that they do.”
Mostly it’s what she can do for Greenwich that concerns her, as ranking member of the state’s Bonding Subcommittee. Two big bills are coming due for Greenwich. One is building a larger New Lebanon Elementary School; 80 percent of the $32 million budgeted by the town for that project is expected from the state.
Greenwich also wants the state to contribute toward ongoing renovations at Greenwich High School, including soil remediation costs. Floren says she plans to make sure both items move forward.
“There are a lot of important projects that we do get to move through bonding,” Floren says. “Especially with interest rates where they are, this has enabled us to get things done.”
For both Fred Camillo (151st District), now in his fourth term, and Mike Bocchino (150th District), a freshman legislator, one concern is the same: Improving operations at Connecticut’s weigh stations by transferring their management from the Department of Motor Vehicles to the state police.
“For the governor to discuss ideas like bringing back [highway] tolls and raising the gas tax without looking at weigh stations makes no sense,” Camillo said. “By not having state troopers man it, not only are we missing out on a vital public-safety component, we are not getting the money we should.”
Bocchino adds he wants to look at the DMV as a whole, as well as two other state departments he said need better scrutiny: The Department of Developmental Services and the Department of Children and Families.
“I think it’s time we go through those departments with a fine-tooth comb, not only to save the state money, but to examine whether they help those individuals who need their services,” Bocchino said.
Bocchino noted the case of Cos Cob’s Kids In Crisis having their state service contract cut last year by the DCF as an example of what he called possible “mismanagement” he would like investigated.
Bocchino has a personal stake in the New Lebanon funding situation: He is the father of two sons who attend the school. While not a member of the Bonding subcommittee and thus not eligible to vote on the matter until it reaches the House floor, he plans to “extensively canvas” his fellow legislators on the matter while it is being deliberated.
Camillo says he has a few bills he will introduce in committee, which must approve any bill in a budget-session year like 2016 for it to be voted on by the full House. One is a property liability law requiring payment for trees or limbs that fall on a neighbor’s lawn, a matter with which the Old Greenwich resident has had personal experience.
Another, he said, would set stricter penalties for assaulting off-duty police officers in cases where the victim is known to be an officer by the assailant. He said this is prompted by a case two years ago in which an off-duty officer was assaulted in Greenwich by three men.
“We have hate crimes on the book that have to do with race and the like,” Camillo said. “Here we have a police officer who was attacked, and his attackers knew he was a police officer. This sends a terrible message.”
As far as the budget itself goes, all three members, part of the Republican minority, said they expect discussion to center around tax policy, with many likely areas of disagreement. Senior Democratic leaders, and Gov. Dannel Malloy, chided Republicans for overzealous stubbornness after the end of last year’s special session in December. Republicans leaders have returned the criticism.
Floren said the rhetoric masks the fact there is comity between the parties, to a point.
“When you get to the next level, it’s very bipartisan,” Floren said. “It’s just at the very end when it’s about money. Then it gets sticky.”
