In The Loop- January 10, 2025
He’s Still Not Throwing Away His Shot
Governor Lamont’s State of the State speech delivered on Wednesday came with a lot of anticipation and speculation from the public given his aggressive stance taken on maintaining fiscal guardrails for the state budget. Those who were anticipating a casual and diplomatic opening of the legislative session were certainly disappointed and those look to the Governor to present directives to the legislature were pleased.
The Governor began his tenure in 2019 with a speech where he famously quoted the musical Hamilton with the phrase, “Not throwing away my shot”, as the overarching theme of his sentiments for the legislature. That message was certainly reminiscent in this address where the Governor laid out very bold requests to improve the regulatory environment in the state:
Returning State Employees to In-Person Work
Governor Lamont express his strong desire to have all state employees end remote work and return to an in-person schedule but did not offer details on (1) If this would include all types of employees and (2) The timing on executing the vision. The agreement struck during the Pandemic was that unionized employees would be allowed to work remotely for up to four days a week depending on approval from their direct supervisory state agencies. This privilege has been granted through 2027, so in order for Lamont to be successful, his administration will have to think of a valuable item to use as part of the negotiations with SEBAC.
Decreasing the Cost of Energy
Two years ago in the Governor’s speech he asked the legislature to work on maintaining the cost of producing power. The same sentiments and frustration was shared by the Governor on a much different perspective. He stated in his speech, “Every business thinking about expanding in Connecticut or moving here asks about – no, not incentives – but the reliability and affordability of our electricity, as everything we do gets more energy intensive.” There are a number of proposals already being filed by the legislature to address this but overall the largest priority will be to address the controversial “public benefit” charge on power bills that made power bills last July hit record numbers.
Controlling the Cost of Prescription Drugs and Health Insurance Premiums
The “affordability” theme of the speech this year focused on not only energy costs but also the cost of medical care for Connecticut residents. Everything from the price of prescription drugs, which is being evaluated in a large task force with the state, to ways to keep health insurance costs more controlled was tasked by the Governor to each of the health care facilities this session. As a solution, Governor Lamont outlined his desire to tie pharma price increases to the rate of inflation for generic drugs which he believes will cut costs overnight by 50%.
Higher Education Expenses
Governor Lamont outlined a “tale of two college systems” in his mind where UConn continues to grow and maintain balanced budget approaches but the Connecticut State College University system is seeing a large decrease in enrollment and increasing costs. Citing a decrease in student enrollment by 30%, the intention to develop, “a balance between traditional classroom experience, and more dual enrollment, stackable credentials, and flexible, online classes” will assist CSU to adapt to this necessary change.
A Memorable and Appropriate Way to Begin Work
I think while many of these charges are ambitious, it’s important for an effective leader to open the session with a blank canvass and try to solve the largest problems in front of residents in the state. Governor Lamont deserves a positive score for setting an appropriate tone for legislators to begin their legislative session.