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The Year in Public Policy December 25, 2008 If you’re a Connecticut taxpayer with distressing memories of 2008, take solace in the fact that next year … will be worse. But before we trudge into a scary 2009, a look back at The Year in Public Policy is in order. Connecticut’s political and media elites continued to do their best to ignore the causes of the state’s many problems, in favor of trendy crusades such as “income inequality,” “sprawl,” and “global climate change.” But there were a few bright spots, and some developments were so staggeringly depressing, it’s better to laugh than cry. In February, the whiz kids at the taxpayer-subsidized “Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis” claimed that the state would dodge a recession in 2008 and 2009. Connecticut’s “eternal optimist” job-development bureaucrat agreed, predicting “positive job growth numbers” in 2008 and “probably small job growth in 2009.” Better luck next time, boys. An unlikely defender of taxpayer interests emerged early in the year. Speaker of the House James Amann, serving in what would later be revealed as his last regular legislative session, put the kibosh on both pay hikes for the state’s solons and a new tax on delivery services pushed by fellow Democrats. He also used the power of his office to appoint a task force charged with studying fatherlessness in the Nutmeg State. Nothing will come of the group’s work -- the liberals who control Connecticut’s public discourse and government will see to that. But Amann deserves credit for the effort anyway. (Will the Democrat run to the right of Governor M. Jodi Rell in 2010?) As the year drew to a close, drivers in western Connecticut received the good news that, according to the state, the I-84 widening project between Cheshire and Waterbury is now “substantially complete.” It was a mere three years late and $40 million over budget. Multiply that overrun by a factor of 20 and you’re in the neighborhood of the figure for the planned upgrades to the New Haven Rail Yard. Originally budgeted at $300 million, this spring taxpayers learned that the cost of the Rell administration’s marquee transportation project will be $1.2 billion. For Fiscal Armageddon, though, no single project tops Connecticut’s unfunded long-term liabilities. The burden of bonded indebtedness and wildly generous commitments to current and former “retirees” needs its own federal bailout. The latest estimates put the total tab at $57.6 billion, up from $54.2 last year. (That’s not accounting for the last few months of Wall Street chaos.) No one knows, or seems to care about, the cost of unfunded pension, healthcare, and paid-leave benefits at the local level of government. Here’s a hint: It’s not small. “Public servants” kept up their crime wave this year, with bureaucrats on both the state and municipal payrolls getting busted for the usual offenses: battery, larceny, fraud, forgery, drugs, arson, kidnapping, stalking, DUI, and sex with minors. “Cops Gone Wild” was a recurring theme -- most notably in Madison, where eight officers were recently fired, suspended, or indicted. (In October, the New Haven Register reported that the FBI has taken an interest in the department’s corruption.) Redevelopment madness continued unchecked in 2008. The New London Development Corporation, which gave the nation the Kelo decision three and a half years ago, remained a disappointment to “urban revitalization” enthusiasts. The NLDC’s “preferred developer” missed a May deadline, putting the Fort Trumbull project once again in limbo. Good news, though -- a colony of feral cats has made the property home. “New England’s Rising Star” plummeted again, as the residential portion of “Front Street” (part of Hartford’s “Adriaen’s Landing” boondoggle) vanished. Stratford’s pols agreed to spend another $600,000 on the town’s Shakespeare theater. State and local authorities haven’t made any headway on getting the facility back in business since it was shuttered in 1989, but hey, these things take time. Finally, Connecticut’s Republican Party maintained its march toward complete irrelevancy. With “leaders” like Rell, State Sen. John McKinney, State Rep. Lawrence Cafero, and party boss Chris Healy, it’s easy to see why. In November, the GOP’s stalwarts praised themselves for losing only eight slots in the Connecticut General Assembly. Tell that to the GOPs of states -- including Arizona, Montana, Tennessee, and New Hampshire -- that gained legislative seats in the alleged Obama “tsunami.” Rest assured, Connecticut’s Republicans will still use their “We’re for Big Government, Too!” playbook in 2009. There’s no sugar-coating it: If you were one of Connecticut’s makers, 2008 wasn’t a good year. Takers, as usual, thrived. Anyone interested in changing that in 2009? D. Dowd Muska is a writer, commentator and lecturer. His website is www.dowdmuska.com. # # # # #
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