Political Capitol

Overshadowed by the debate over gay marriage was a bill passed by the legislature Wednesday that commits tens-of-millions in state funds for post-winter road repaving/surfacing throughout the state.

The program is nothing new, but lawmakers and Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell wanted to start earlier this year to take full advantage of the construction/paving season and help create jobs during the recession.

And jobs are good. And I know there are taxpayers out there with nice, expensive cars who love to complain about pot holes and the wear and tear they cause their vehicles.

I love the end of winter. But one of the worst things about the warmer weather is knowing that all of a sudden my commute to the capitol is going to take that much longer because of all the road work the state crews are catching up on.

So although I’m sure Senate President Donald Williams figured the title of his press release trumpeting the road funds – “Senate Democrats: Pot Hole Patrol to Start Early This Year” – would get some people excited, I just have visions of being backed up in traffic, crawling towards those flashing Public Works’ lights in the distance while all of us commuters try to merge into one lane.

In reponse to the legislature’s passage last night of the same sex marriage bill, which included limited language to protect churches and religious organizations, the National Organization for Marriage sent out an e-mail congratulating state residents “on their victory for religious liberty.”

And a bit later Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, sent out his own statement calling it “a great day for loving, committed couples in Connecticut, their families and everyone who supports marriage equality.”

Democrats held a press conference at the capitol today to oppose a proposal in the GOP minority’s budget package to do away with the Citizens’ Election Fund.

But more importantly, a spokesman for Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she wants the fund to remain in place.

“The Governor feels strongly it was a landmark program and should continue,” spokesman Christopher Cooper said. “If there are funds well over and above what’s required to fund the next election cycle, that could be looked at. But the Governor believes that the viability of the program has to be protected.”

That’s important. Although the Democrats control the General Assembly, they need Rell to sign off on a two-year budget deal and its contents.

Rell is currently exploring a bid for re-election in 2010.

Lawmakers have dipped into the fund in recent months, using $13.5 million to try and stem the tide of red ink at the capitol. A balance of about $42 million remains.

You might think that the Senate’s approval of the gay marriage bill might not leave Peter Wolfgang, head of the Family Institute of Connecticut, in the best spirits.

And yet he seemed pretty up when he visited the capitol press room tonight.

Don’t get him wrong, Wolfgang said, he’s not happy with the bill. But he said the amendments providing some exemptions for religious organizations went a very long way to making a bad piece of legislation better.

He also credits the public relations blitz his organization and the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Church mounted this past weekend for pressuring Democrats into ensuring the bill did not pass without the amendments.

You’ve got to give them credit for creativity. One of the full page ads, which appeared in The Advocate and other state newspapers, took the form of a wedding invitation that read: “You’re Cordially Invited To Witness Your Rights Being Taken Away.”

It even had a fancy font for the date of today’s vote and, under RSVP, listed the phone numbers for the General Assembly.

A lot of speeches are being made during this evening’s Senate debate on the bill codifying the state Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage.

But I thought one of the most compelling was made by Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain.

DeFronzo said he was appauled by efforts to amend the bill to allow business owners who, for religious reasons, did not wish to provide services for same-sex weddings to claim they were “conscientious objectors” and be shielded from lawsuits.

Turns out DeFronzo WAS an actual conscientious objector during the Vietnam War.

“I have lived as a conscientious objector my entire adult life,” DeFronzo told his colleagues, recounting the long four month wait he and his wife endured in 1970 while the draft board considered his application.

“It was a difficult time for both of us,” DeFronzo said. “Fortunately the draft board ruled in our favor. I did two years of alternative service.”

DeFronzo said “conscience” does not “give you license to pick and choose what you like and discriminate at will.”

“Only rarely should something like that be practiced and implemented in our personal lives,” DeFronzo said.

Just in time for Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency has honored Westport and its Representative Town Meeting for implementing a ban on plastic check out bags at stores within the town’s borders.

Passed last year the ban went into effect a few weeks ago on March 18.

Lawmakers in Hartford are considering a bill that would levy a nickel tax on every plastic bag used by shoppers who have yet to jump on the reusable bag bandwagon.

Currently some stores like Stop and Shop give customers a nickel break on their final grocery bill for every reusable bag they bring to the checkout line.

Even as the state Senate is poised today to consider whether to allow business owners to, for religious reasons, be conscientious objectors and not provide goods or services for gay weddings, the House of Representatives passed a bill allowing students to opt out of dissecting animals in the classroom.

Sponsor Rep. Andrew Fleischmann, D-West Hartford, co-chairman of the legislature’s Education Committee, said if passed the bill would allow students like “a vegetarian who believes we do too much harm to animals in this society” to become conscientious objectors.

Fleischmann said in this day and age the technology is available for students to learn what they need to through computer simulations available on educational websites.

House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, unsuccessfully argued the bill should at least require written notice from a parent or guardian about the student’s wishes to forgo a dissection. Otherwise, he argued, the bill could prove a major disruption to the academic process.

“A whole bunch of kids in a class can say ‘ewwww, gross. (We’re) not cutting the frog’,” said Cafero, who in a previous political life was a member of the Norwalk Board of Education. “At least write a note to the teacher saying ‘Little Johnny has a problem cutting the frog’.”

The bill passed mostly along party lines by 114 to 32 votes.

Rep. Bruce Morris, D-Norwalk, was one of the very few Democrats on the legislature’s Judiciary Committee to oppose the bill I referenced in the below Blog post about gay marriage. And he continues to argue that businesses and religious organizations should be able to, on religious grounds, deny service to same sex couples.

Morris brings various perspectives to the debate.

As a reverend at Macedonia Church in South Norwalk he appreciates the concerns religious groups and individuals have about being required to recognize same sex marriages.

But Morris is also Director of Human Relations for Norwalk Public Schools and he’s black, so he is sensitive to issues of discrimination and of singling out a certain community of individuals.

I had a conversation with Morris earlier today about his job with the school district that I thought gave me a little insight into the juggling act he has to perform by wearing all these hats.

“I teach we have to respect people – kids – that are gay,” Morris said. “But on one occasion a young lady stood up and said ‘yeah, but in my church we’re taught it’s a sin’ … At the same time I’m validating the human rights of kids that are gay I have to affirm and validate the religious rights of kids who are taught something totally different.”

I do think it would make for a very interesting class if a student stood up and asked Morris how as a lawmaker he could support legislation allowing businesses to turn away gay couples but be paid to promote “human relations” for a public school district.

I’m not mocking Morris’ position and I’m sure he could make a thoughtful argument. I just honestly think that would be a fascinating classroom discussion.