Connecticut Legislators Map Out Critical 2007 Themes

State Legislators from the Northwest Corner agree that the first order of business for the new Legislature (its 2007 session opened on Jan. 3) will be to write a bill to control skyrocketing electric costs for Connecticut ratepayers.

Getting everyone to agree on what that bill should say could be more of a problem.

This year, Democrats are so dominant in the Legislature that they have a veto-proof majority in both the House and the Senate. But when asked if this would make it easy for party members to push their party’s agenda through in this session, Legislators from both sides of the aisle said they can all agree on one thing: It may be difficult to get Democrats to find common ground with each other.

"There are 151 members [of the House] and 107 of them are Democrats," commented state Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64). "It’ll be interesting to see if we can organize that many people."

Willis is in her third two-year term in the House. To override a veto by the state’s Republican governor, the house needs 101 votes. Of the 36 Senators, 25 are Democrats.

"The Democratic tent is a huge tent," observed state Rep. George Wilber (D-63),who is also in his third term. "To get all 107 of them on the same page... well, I don’t think it’s totally going to happen."

Or, as state Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30), diplomatically phrased it, "I think even within the ranks of the Democratic party there is a wide range of opinions."

Roraback is in his fourth term in the Senate. He previously served three terms in the House.

New England is, traditionally, a region that cherishes independence, so for many voters the divisions within the parties (and the fact that the state has a Republican governor) might not be a bad thing.

"The citizens of Connecticut, much like the people of the United States, enjoy having a divided government," Roraback said. "The checks and balances that are built into the system typically end up serving the public interest."Bringing Down Electric Bills

The Northwest Corner’s Legislators have different theories on how the state might be able to put a check on electric rates that have increased substantially in the past year.

The Department of Public Utility Controls has just granted Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P) the right to raise rates an average of 7.7 percent; costs already went up about 22 percent last year.

The decision to deregulate electic power beginning in 2000 is generally blamed for the skyrocketing rates.

"It was a failed promise," Willis said. "It was well intended — and it was done before I was here — but the fact of the matter is that it hasn’t delivered. We haven’t seen our rates come down, it did not spur competition or the influx of alternative energy sources, which is what was hoped for.

"Now the challenge for us as a state is to try and get some control over pricing and making it as in the past, where price was connected to the actual cost of production. As it stands now, CL&P is just the distributor. They bring the electricity to our houses and send us our bill, but they no longer produce energy. They’re buying electricity from unregulated sources, the power plants, and they have to pay whatever the market price is."

That market price has been rising steadily.

Wilber has ideas for alternate ways to create power within the state, such as distributive electricity generation, where energy is "recaptured" from large buildings (such as shopping centers) and generators.

As far as fixing the power production and distribution system, he said, "Humpty Dumpty has fallen off the stone wall and there’s no way to put Humpty together again."

The solution, he believes, is "see what you can do to ease the pressure."

Willis, too, believes that the ultimate solution to easing electric rates is beyond the control of the state or even of the power companies.

"I’m amazed by our consumption [of power]," she said. "That drives up costs. People don’t make the connection between use and the rising rates. Rates are going up because demand is going up. We have bigger houses, air conditioning, computers and stereos and televisions with ‘instant on.’ Plasma TVs are a huge energy drain."

One reason for the cost of electricity, she said, is that the state must now invest in building new power plants to meet demand here, especially at "peak use" times such as the dog days of August.

"Summer is the worst," Willis said. "We’re building all those plants for 10 days in summer. And rate payers are going to have to pay the cost of new generation. We sometimes don’t realize that we’re part of the problem. We have to come to grips with what we’re using and how much of it we’re using."

One solution might be a tiered rate system where, for example, rates are lower at night — making it more attractive for homeowners to do their laundry in the evening, for example.

Another solution: "We need to be more conscious and more conscientious about electric use. We have to bring back the Depression mentality."

As for possible solutions that might come out of the Senate, Roraback said simply, "It’s too soon to tell."Health Care, Open Space, Money

The Legislators agreed that the other two priority issues this session are likely to be affordable health care and open-space preservation.

Health care, like electricity, is a complex problem whose solution is made more difficult by the fact there is a powerful industry behind it, Willis observed.

"I’d love to see the state hire an outside actuarial firm to look at the figures and all the different proposals out there and come up with what’s best," Rep. Wilber said. There are already separate "task forces" set up to look at health care by the governor, the House and the Senate. "Let’s get the politics out of there and do what’s right for the state of Connecticut."

Willis and Roraback agreed that there is no shortage of options to look at. The challenge will be finding a plan that can actually work.

Committing more state funds to preserving open space and working farms in the state should be more straightforward. There is usually only one tough question on this topic: Where will the money come from?

Roraback wants to see a portion of that money come from the state’s more-than-$500-million budget surplus.

"I think we will be doing a grave injustice to future generations if we don’t commit a minimum of $100 million of that surplus to farmland and open-space acquisition," he said.

Of course, nearly everyone has somethingto suggest spending that on. How it is dispersed will largely depend on what expenditures are included in the budget for the coming fiscal year, which will begin in July. And, though other issues may top the priority lists of the legislators, setting the budget for the coming year is one of their main responsibilities.Wish List for 2007

Once electricity costs have been controlled, and once the Legislature has found a way to provide affordable health care to everyone in the state, and once the budget has been set and agreed upon, the lawmakers will have time to devote to projects that are important to their constituents.

Roraback, Willis and Wilber agreed that finding a way to provide affordable housing for Connecticut residents is a key and ongoing concern.

Roraback plans to introduce 15 to 20 new bills in this session, including one that will make it illegal for restaurants in this state to prepare foods in trans fats. He is also introducing a bill that will change the wording on license plates given to vintage cars in Connecticut.

"In Connecticut, if a car is 25 years old you get a special plate, and lower taxes," he explained. "The plate used to say ‘antique.’ Now it says ‘early American.’ One of my constituents from Goshen has a 30-year old MG, which is a British car. He asked if I could put through a bill that would change the plates back to ‘antique,’ which would cover all makes of cars."

Rep. Willis, who is chairman of the Higher Education Committee, is planning "an ambitious initiative on financial aid. It will involve our making a commitment to ensure that our students who qualify and are in need of financial assistance actually receive it. We have students in Connecticut who qualify but there is never enough money put in the fund. We need to reduce the barriers to higher education. There’s no question that’s the avenue to success."

Rep. Wilber has a long wish list, which includes:

• "Making sure that we have an economically viable dairy industry in the state of Connecticut."

• Changing priorities at the Department of Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles so that they are "more safety oriented and spend less time worrying about revenue generation."

• Improving the forest management of state-owned properties. Harvesting some trees could provide revenue to help pay for upgrades to state parks and preserves.

• Increasing the money given back to towns for education costs through the Education Cost Sharing program.

Although this is a "long session" for the Legislature (see box, A1), it remains to be seen how many of these priorities will be addressed.

"You always start the session very optimistically, with all these things you hope and want to accomplish," Willis said. "So we’ll hope for the best."