Connecticut Lawmakers; 106

The following is a sci fi TV original. I'm Bob Douglas welcome to this week's edition of Connecticut lawmakers. The outcry against much of Governor Weicker is proposed budget continues at the state capitol as lawmakers struggle with a billion dollars of cuts recommended by the administration. Representatives from the cities and towns. Senior citizens welfare interests human service advocates students and educators have filled the public hearing rooms to protest budget cuts. On our first report the focus is on the legislature's Education Committee which this week heard from speakers who pleaded their case to restore education funding. The forum was a public hearing room and what has become

of the midyear pattern at the state capitol. Boards across the state are being forced to consider program cuts a larger class sizes layoffs building closings other program cuts such as the elimination of tag which I was interested to see just last night. What are the Democratic presidential candidates in their mailing debate. So is a program that he wanted to see expanded nationally. It may be eliminated totally in my town this year after having been recognized nationally on the CBS Evening News and in the New York Times. We will not be moving ladies and gentlemen to America 2000 but instead to America 1980 to America the make do once again. If in Torrington we are hit with the budget cuts that I fear I'm prepared to ask my colleagues to do with away with things such as sports to stop our hot lunch program and more before I'd be willing to call out one more education program or teacher in the last two years we've already laid off 90 people including 40 certified staff. And

that's not why I ran for the board 13 years ago. It's not why I volunteer my time and why I appear here this morning. We cannot keep this up. Last year grand list grew by a paltry 1.8 percent. This year it is expected the grand list growth will be less than 1 percent. For example it was just announced yesterday Saturday that Harvard's groundless will decline by 1 percent. This will not be this not be atypical. The second question is issue is how much of property taxes increased over the last four years. I mean one thing one. One issue out there may be every property taxes have an increase maybe there's fiscal capacity to do that and statistics just on a clearly do not show that property taxes have increased by 5 percent or more in each of the last four years a

compound increase of 30 percent this is the increase in the middle rates the property tax bills that the homeowners that the businesses have had to pay. If the governor's proposed budget were approved unchanged by the General Assembly the average tax bill of the average homeowner in Connecticut increased by over two hundred dollars. We've heard testimony I think that dealt with the statistics on a variety of different things that are taking place through the budget ways of raising revenue things of that nature and I think one of the things that we missed through statistics being a mathematics teacher is there are indicators there are truly indicators of what is to come or what has passed and one of the statistics that we have seen that Jim Finley alluded to which was the backing away from or the lack of funding over the previous years from a level of forty four point seven percent in 1990 to a low now of if this budget is adopted to thirty eight point four percent which is bring us prior to

1945. We also see. Just by reading newspapers is the continual erosion of programs including gifted and talented that you've heard quite a few people testify about today including special education where they're trying to find ways of getting around the mandate of special education without the money. Two ways of dealing with the all inclusive type of education model for for special education students which at best is debatable as to whether or not it benefits the child individually or collectively. So what we're looking at here is a situation relative to the educational future of our state and I say that because I believe it's a as last year the governor took a scalpel to the budget I will say that relative to education he has taken an axe to education spending. And what we are going to be dealing with here is how does the body function educationally as a state should these should these cuts be allowed to exist and I will tell you that we will exist but we will not

exist as one of the leading states in education pertaining to the program offerings of our children and pertaining to the now dominant role we play nationally among our education leaders as being a forerunner in education a scant couple of years ago the sliding scale for adult education was reduced from thirty seven to 10 seven. And our constituents all suffered. The present proposal in the Senate bill 47 would further reduce funding from 10 70 to 0 70. I fear this would actually make many programs throughout the state. One is that we are in a deep recession perhaps a deep perhaps a deeper recession than any we've seen in a very long time. And even as the state must deal with tremendous fiscal deficits so much local government and the people who help to support state government

also support local government. So when we in fact shift the burden we have not gained anything. The second point I would make is that the magnitude of the cuts proposed are so enormous they're almost unimaginable. I don't know when I've ever seen these kinds of cuts proposed in education. Not only are the cuts of tremendous magnitude they're also of great suddenness and we're asking towns and education systems to adjust in an inordinately quick time. The third point is that we cannot just look at the cuts in SB 47 by themselves because they occur at the same time that we're making cuts in aid to municipalities. In other ways and we're also cutting sought social services in other ways which will make it very difficult for us to deal with the students that we have had the most difficulty in teaching and helping learning to

pass the fifth. Perhaps the most important point is that I have come to appreciate the state's role. Be the partner to provide quality education. And I want to emphasize that that's best understood I think in the Horton case. Left to property taxes. Some towns don't really have the ability to provide good support for education. We have a constitutional requirement to provide suitable program for each child. And without the state's contribution both in the amount of money it contributes and the way distributes it we would not be able to provide excellence in a manner that's equitable. All industrialized countries in the world are competitors advance people an education according to their abilities. In our country we have equal opportunity for all and that is good. But we have done and continue to do in our Connecticut schools is water down our classroom

expectations so all can handle it because of budget cuts we are eliminating the programs that challenge our brightest. Frankly I can't understand it if it took us 20 years to get in this mess that we have to take one year to get out of it. You know our town of Bethel we are now faced with approximately a 2 million dollar cut in stated from what we should be receiving next year under the current state. Under the governor's proposed budget would receive only an additional two hundred twelve thousand to make it even worse the governor would shift much of the burden for teacher retirement funding to the town in case that would mean a two hundred sixty nine thousand dollar contribution thereby wiping out our two hundred $12000 increase from the state. It's becoming increasingly frustrating to have the school funding law changed almost annually. These burdens make it more difficult every year to play and to meet our students needs. Under the proposed budget disobey virtually impossible. I know education is a priority for you. Please

be responsible to the towns and let the governor know. We cannot accept this drastic. I have three children and the Harvard School system before I go into the Urban League program I felt very inadequate as a person and as a mother because I had not finished high school. And when my children would come to me for help with their homework I was not able to give them sufficient help. But now the spilling of the inadequate see has changed. Today I am more capable of helping them with their studies. I am able to be a role model and able to stress the importance of education. I am four days away from taking the GED test. My children know this. They won't be able to see that if Miami did it so can. First of all as a legislator and educator your reaction to the testimony at the Education Committee today I think has been overwhelmingly against the governor's proposed Senate bill 47 the proposed cuts in education.

As an educator I know that Hartford would be devastated. It's kind of frightening to see the tremendous cuts into basic education that would happen to the city. And so that any additions like the old ache in the garden always become a moot point something that we need and it's wonderful. But are we going to staff something when when the our basic needs are not being met. Well I think that we all understand as to the people testifying that Connecticut's going to have to live within a very low budget bottom line issue here. On the other hand there are always opportunities to look to reallocate funding within that bottom line. I think that's what our hope is. Are those cuts now hitting home that people on the local level have had some time to try to understand and digest the proposed cuts that were in the governor's budget. I think people understand particularly in some of the largest and oldest and heaviest taxed communities in the state. And what the governor is proposing is not so much a trickle down as a thunderstorm and that the impact of that is going to be major cutbacks at the local

level or major did increases in local property taxes. Those are the communities I think we're concerned about it's the ones who are heavily taxed now who have the needs of the General Assembly has decided to keep polling hours for the upcoming March 20th presidential primary and other primaries intact. Secretary of the state polling Keizer wanted shorter polling hours to save money for local towns. Some lawmakers and the governor opposed shortening polling hours arguing it would shut voters out of the political process. It could be a very interesting primary here. The voters ought to have the opportunity to be out the full 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. I urge the chamber to support the conference committee and I hope our colleagues up stairs will do the same. So is compromise bill passed in the House and the Senate. It will keep polling hours from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. So for now the flap over primary polling is over.

CONCHA sure. Down. Next the Department of Motor Vehicles as one agency that much of the public comes close in contact with whether they like it or not. It also is one of those agencies that comes in for its share of attention and criticism while Landis has this report on the man named last year by Governor Weicker to head that department. It can be either this waiting to hear your name called out to get your photo ID at the Motor Vehicle Department office or you can speed right through using this specially equipped bus that comes right to your town. Taking advantage of this photo opportunity at the state capitol recently was Motor Vehicles Commissioner Lewis Goldberg. Well this is our new mobile photo license center its a converted a bus a retrofitted bus that we have equipped with a camera computer and a cellular telephone. When we travel around the state providing

photo laces renewals and shopping centers and in malls parking lots at seven locations right now and it's been a big hit how successful has it been. Well it's exceeded our wildest expectations we're now doing in some locations. Five hundred five hundred thirty five transactions a day that's one a minute. We are performing more than 4000 photo license renewals a month at this rate and we estimate that over the course of a year this bus this first year of operation will transact more than 50000 transaction might even go higher. Commissioner Goldberg says it's having a significant effect in unclogging the lines of Motor Vehicles. So this bus along with a several photo license centers which are also very successful located in shopping centers and government centers which generate about 80000 will generate about 80000 renewal transactions a year. That's one hundred forty one hundred fifty thousand transactions that are taken out of branch

operations. That's also one hundred fifty thousand cars and that's 150000 people who aren't bringing their friends to come to a branch to do something that can be done a lot easier with a lot less hassle in locations where people like to go and visit people who work at the state capitol seem to have an easy time of it getting their pictures taken. No hassle driving down to the main branch in Weathersfield or elsewhere. Everyone we talked to saying it was a breeze. No waiting no hassles. I read about it in the Bulletin and I came out because my license expires in two weeks and so I still like the picture. I like it I like it a lot. It's a little low but they're going to raise the camera a little bit so it came out that I like it and if I didn't like them they do it over a telephone. Yeah. So this has been pretty convenient for you very very fast. Like I said it saves me a trip so it's wonderful. Thank you so much. And other area where the commissioner has cut down the traffic at DMV branches is

registrations. It's all being done by mail now. It is our best judgment that that's a transaction that can in fact be done by mail. And right now we estimate that another 200000 people who heretofore would would walk in with their registration renewals are now mailing them in. And that's another couple hundred thousand transactions that we can do in Weathersfield with automated equipment optical card readers and the like automatic remittance machines and that's the volume that does not belong in the branch and that too just removes the traffic from branches and gives the examiners and the DMV employees a chance to perform those functions that just must be done in a branch operation. A recurring issue facing the new commissioner is so-called privatization turning over a government agency like his to private business resulting hopefully greater efficiency and less cost. Whether privatization of the entire motor vehicles department comes about is still an open question. But privatization in some key areas of the agency has already taken place.

For example auto emissions testing for the past 10 years Hamilton Standard and now Hamilton test systems has handled the cyc locations the actual testing and the stickers associated with the program. Commissioner Goldberg says it's an example of where the department and private expertise can complement each other and the benefit of that program is that private industry built the facilities made the capital investment in the equipment and supply the labor with the state overseeing it. There's still significant oversight of that function on an operating basis by both the Department of Motor Vehicles under guidance from the Department of. Our middle protection that's a new program that's something that should have gone that way. And one of the reasons it's been so successful is that like this function is a single function being performed with nothing else being added. That is a function that only does emissions testing. If you look at the DMV you'd notice that over a year to period that every

year different things are added and those things if we were a private industry would have to be like a change order a work order that could not just be loaded into the normal workday. There would be a significant price increase to the state to perform those services on January 19 of 1983. A North Carolina truck driver slammed his Reagan to the Stratfor tolls on the Connecticut Turnpike killing seven people most of whom were in stationary cars waiting to pay the tolls. The driver it turned out had a bad driving record and was using different driver's licenses issued by different states to conceal his bad driving record. All this will change come April 1st with a new federally mandated commercial driver's license that will be the standard operating license for all 50 states. Connecticut again utilizing a private firm general system solutions out of Groton to do the testing. All states would be hooked up to a similar computer same computer so a driver would

not be able to get two licenses and a suspension and one state would carry over to another were here too for that didn't happen. That was outstanding legislation because studies have shown that accidents are caused mostly by driver not equipment failure. So the major effort that this department has taken over the last year has been in the commercial driver's license area as it relates to driver education driver licensing and driver training. The commercial driver's license program which has to be in effect by April 1st is a date that we chase to meet this program was in effect in 1906 when when this administration took over there was some work done but not enough. And that's one of the reasons we had to go out and contract for this particular service. The philosophy is of course if a driver is suspended in one state all state should know about it. The qualifications of the driver rig hazardous material air brakes tandems whatever

you have. Should be the same in every state. So as of April 1st we're going to have the assurance that drivers coming through the state all have the same requirements that Connecticut has had for a long time with his extensive background in private business commissioner Goldberg says his marching orders from alone like yours are clear. They use business sense to run motor vehicles as close to a business as he possibly can using business principles and that means looking at the operation from both the consumer side end and the transaction side out. A tough nut to crack. Maybe but this 55 year old Weston resident welcomes the challenge for Connecticut lawmakers. I'm on Lantus finally because you know gambling has moved front and center as an issue that lawmakers may be forced to vote on during this general assembly session. A casino has been proposed for Hartford and a powerful center proponent says the issue must be examined and dealt with. Even though Governor Weicker opposes any expansion of

legalized gambling. But this is not just eight at the question of a casino this is a question of tourism it's a question of new disposable income coming into the region. It's a question of jobs it's a question of expanding opportunities for people. It's not the ultimate solution to our economic problems. It is one factor it's one segment in in the total economic total economic package of the state of Connecticut. So that it's got to be viewed in that in that context it will not solve all our problems it will not create problems so that ultimately what we have to do is view it for what it is. It's one segment of economic development. And with that you have obviously talked to and you know Steve when bottom line from your perspective how serious and how serious is he about constructing a scene and the other mentioned facilities here in Hartford.

I think obviously from the discussions I've had with him he's very serious he's been here twice. He plans on coming back you know to appear before our committee and talk about the economics of gaming any understands that it's a controversial subject. Much of the much of the interest that will develop around here in the negatives and the positives respond to and we should use him as a resource but here's an individual that has voice an expression to invest money in the state of Connecticut and he's not the only one there are other people. I think the next step is to move these bills forward try to get them out voted out of committee Finance and I hope we'll be able to get them out to the floor and passed from your district grassroots reaction to this what can you tell us. Are you encouraged discouraged. I'm getting both messages I'm getting more encouragement than discouragement when you talk about basically bring in Elise a thousand plus jobs in the city of power for it. And if we if we structure this properly we can bring in over a

thousand jobs for the residents I'm looking at the economic impact getting a lot of people off of general systems and putting people back to work. I'm looking at the job opportunity. Next week more about the income tax and the neverending debate to repeal it or to make it better. And the effort to force a referendum on the income tax is gaining momentum. The deadline for the Budget Committee to make a final decision on the governor's proposed budget is less than a month away. As they struggle to come up with a budget with deep cuts and no tax hikes it remains the number one challenge in this current session. Stay tune for Connecticut lawmakers I'm Bob Douglas. We do thank you for joining. Us.

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