Political Capitol

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield and House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk held a press conference at the capitol today to urge the Democratic-majority to suspend a handful of unfunded mandates on municipalities struggling with their budgets.

City and town leaders have been asking for the mandate relief since the start of the year. Republicans today argued that the last chance to act is next week when the General Assembly reconvenes to essentially vote on the dirty details of the recently passed state budget.

One of those mandates, passed in 2007, required school administrators beginning this past July provide in-school programs for suspended students rather than simply sending them home for a few days off. It was supposed to take effect in July, 2008 but was delayed one year to give school districts more time to find the necessary money, personnel and classroom space.

“This is the wrong time to implement it,” Cafero told reporters, citing the estimated costs to cash-strapped cities ($600 annually for Bridgeport, $360,000 to $600,000 annually for Stamford and $250,000 annually for Norwalk).

During the press conference McKinney and Cafero displayed their differences over the necessity for the in-school suspensions law.

McKinney argued the legislature should not have butt into the issue in the first place.

“It is the easiest thing in the world to grandstand on policy … and then not put any money behind it,” McKinney told reporters.

Knowing he has served for several years as Norwalk’s expulsion officer, I asked Cafero his thoughts on the bill’s merits.

“I did vote for the bill,” Cafero said. “Sometimes it is easier and cheaper to just say (to students) ‘get out for ten days and we don’t have to educate you’. I’m not so sure that is the best policy.”

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities in a statement thanked the GOP for the support.

“Unfunded mandates are particularly onerous now, as towns are desperately trying to avoid property tax increases and service cuts caused by the economy and declining levels of state aid,” CCM head Jim Finley said in a statement.

One wonders if the cities and towns will EVER want to deal with the law or simply keep coming up with excuses to postpone it.

And I also wonder if it’s a little too late. Technically all school districts should have begun complying with the in-school suspensions legislation as of the start of the new school year a few weeks ago. I suppose a delay now would mean they could use the money for other things.

Back in February, when Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed delaying the in-school suspensions mandate as part of her first budget proposal, I spoke with Rev. Lindsay Curtis, president of the Norwalk NAACP. Curtis said he would be disappointed if the law was delayed.

“The kids who are going to be the most affected by delaying this will be African-American kids, kids of color,” Curtis said. “Those are the brunt of the suspensions … The delay means kids would be on the street. The whole idea was to keep kids who got in trouble in a learning environment. And if they are not educated, chances are they end up being incarcerated.”

But also in that same story Rep. Bruce Morris, D-Norwalk, who is black, said delaying the law was reasonable given the economic realities.

“I think what still remains of value is all school districts receive the message the legislature is still going in this direction,” Morris said.

The buzzwords in Hartford this year were “restructuring government” in the face of the budget crisis. And yet the budget passed a few weeks ago by the legislature’s Democratic-majority and allowed to become law by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell contains no real reforms or consolidations – just some nibbling around the edges.

One office that was eliminated is that of Robert Poliner, the state’s first Property Rights Ombudsman. The $214,667 office was created in response to a controversial 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision supporting New London’s use of eminent domain.

Rell appointed Poliner, a Middletown attorney and former chairman of the state GOP, in 2007. And although some lawmakers said Poliner was working hard at the post, others questioned whether he had all that much to really do other than maintain his website.

With eminent domain no longer the hot political topic in Connecticut and the recession putting the brakes on development, it was easy for Rell and the Democrats to agree earlier this year to eliminate the ombudsman job. But the stalemate over practically everything else in the budget kept Poliner on the payroll for the past several months.

Poliner had his backers, like Sen. Edward Meyer, D-Guilford, who over the summer said he would urge his colleagues to try and preserve the position.

Poliner in July told me in an interview “if one had looked at all the different proposals made from all sides, I think one would have been reasonable to have concluded (the office has) no chance whatsoever. But I think it’s all a matter of discussion, and there are a lot of tough decisions the governor and legislature have to make about what agencies should continue or not.”

The office closed Sept. 8 and he left a farewell note on his website.

Before the state had a budget, the legislature’s Democratic-majority spent several days this summer holding press conferences throughout Connecticut to highlight cuts proposed by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Their goal was to put public pressure on Rell to agree to tax increases.

Even though the Democrats’ passed a spending plan and Rell allowed it and the accompanying tax hikes to become law, House Speaker Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, is still hitting the road.

Tomorrow Donovan will appear at Westover Magnet School in Stamford and Cesar Batalla Family Resource Center in Bridgeport to highlight funding for Family Resource Centers that could have been cut by Rell.

Today Donovan held a similar event in Hartford touting his party’s protection of school based health centers in the budget.

Perhaps some sort of intervention where Donovan’s friends confront this addiction to budget press conferences is required so he can relax a bit and enjoy autumn.

The Hill today is reporting that Linda McMahon of Greenwich, CEO of Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment, is “primed to run” for Senate in Connecticut against Democratic incumbent Christopher Dodd.

While I was away on vacation the WWE sent me, via The Advocate, an unsolicited packet of information about the company which reads as if McMahon has already made up her mind to run and is attempting to diffuse any criticism about the kind of entertainment her company produces.

When McMahon was nominated by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell for the state Board of Education earlier this year, some state legislatorsquestioned the appropriateness of the choice because WWE has had a reputation for producing violent and sexually explicit entertainment.

Here’s what WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman wrote me in a cover letter accompanying the packet of company info: “Enclosed is a packet that gives an update on the company and the brand. Not sure if you will ever be writing about WWE or Linda again but thought it would give you insight as to where the company is now versus our old ‘attitude’ era.”

The packet itself contains a statement from COO Donna Goldsmith that WWE “is an integrated media and global entertainment company committed to creating family friendly PG content across all of its platforms including television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing.”

UPDATE: In a just concluded phone conference with Connecticut reporters I asked Dodd about his thoughts on a McMahon candidacy, given her name recognition and financial resources.

“I don’t have any comment. We’ve got a lot of work to do down here … I know there’s a process and a primary contest in the other party. That’s as it should be,” Dodd said. “I’ve met the family in the past (McMahon and her husband Vince founded WWE). They’ve been by my office over the years on various issues. There’s time for politics and substantive work. We’re in a time for substantive work right now.”

Today was my first back from vacation and I was asked to talk to freshman U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, a Greenwich Democrat, about the President’s speech to revive efforts at reforming the financial services industry.

Himes attended the speech in New York and hitched a ride back to Washington D.C. with President Obama and a few other lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. Himes is a member.

Several observers noted in coverage of Obama’s speech that efforts to reform the healthcare system have sidetracked his other initiatives, so I found Himes’ recollection of his time today aboard Air Force One amusing.

“We talked briefly, the chair (Frank) and I about regulation,” Himes said. “But it was mostly about healthcare.”