Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New
York Times
June 11, 1999, Friday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column
1; Metropolitan Desk
LENGTH: 1134 words
HEADLINE: Connecticut Passes Sales-Tax Rebate as
Session Ends
BYLINE: By MIKE ALLEN
DATELINE: HARTFORD, June 10
BODY:
Reveling in flush times, the Connecticut
Legislature adjourned today after passing a $50 sales tax rebate for every adult
taxpayer in the state, with checks scheduled to begin arriving in October.
The rebate, the state's second in two years, was symbolic of the
bipartisan bonhomie that marked the five-month session, where the biggest issue
was how to spend a record $551.9 million budget surplus produced by the bubbling
economy. Democrats, who control both chambers of the Legislature, offered little
resistance to the rebate plan, which had been proposed by Gov. John G. Rowland,
a Republican. And Republicans went along with the Democrats' tax-relief idea,
voting to raise an income-tax credit for those who pay property taxes. The
credit, which will go to $500 from $350 in the next two years, will wipe out the
income-tax bills of 350,000 Connecticut residents, according to legislative
officials.
Last year, the rebate was sent only to people who paid state
income tax. But this year, it was expanded to any resident who files a state tax
return, including senior citizens and working poor people whose income is so low
they owe no tax. The rebate is expected to go to 2.1 million residents, up from
956,000 last year.
Meeting here in the nation's
insurance capital, lawmakers also passed what they call the
"pill bill," which requires health insurers to cover
contraceptives for women. Legislators imposed new mandates on
managed-care companies, including a speedier appeals process for patients and a
requirement that the companies cover Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness named
for an area of the Connecticut shoreline.
"It's easier to govern when
times are good," said Senator George C. Jepsen, a Democrat from Stamford who is
the majority leader. "Just look at what we were able to accomplish: providing
the citizens of this state with meaningful tax relief, paying down debt,
increasing funding for education, investing in our cities and reforming the way
managed-care companies in our state do business."
Governor Rowland
appeared shortly after midnight in the House of Representatives' chamber, which
was studded with balloon bouquets during the raucous final hours. He praised
legislators for continuing what he called Connecticut's fiscal winning streak.
"You've shown the rest of the country what can be accomplished when a
legislature puts partisanship aside," he said.
Beer kegs were wheeled
into the Capitol and lawmakers changed into jeans and partied past sunrise, with
legislative leaders joining an annual tradition of trying to toss Hula-Hoops
over a statue of Nathan Hale from the fourth floor of an atrium.
The
self-congratulation was a bit premature. Like the student who walks through the
diploma line at graduation but then must go to summer school, the legislators
were dismayed to learn they must return Monday for a special session that was
forced because they failed to act on three budget bills by midnight. The clock
passed the constitutional deadline for acting on this session's bills, so new
measures will be drafted for Monday.
Leaders said the problem was one of
scheduling and not substance, and so expect little wrangling during the special
session. However, one of the issues still in limbo is the state's schedule for
spending its share of money from the national settlement with tobacco companies.
Members of an antitobacco group said they hoped to win a commitment for added
immediate financing for smoking cessation and education programs.
Governor Rowland said he was considering vetoing only one of the more
than 400 bills that were sent to him -- and said he was leaning toward signing
that one. The proposed law would allow the police to get warrants to seize the
guns of people who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others.
Supporters said the measure would allow the authorities to act to prevent
tragedies that can be foreseen, but opponents called it the
"turn-in-your-neighbor bill" and said it could be abused through false
accusations in neighborhood or custody disputes.
The lawmakers passed a
two-year budget totaling $23.78 billion, which calls for an increase of 4.8
percent next year and 4.7 percent the following year.
Other major
measures included new protection for witnesses in criminal cases. The program is
to be named for Leroy Brown Jr., an 8-year-old Bridgeport boy who was killed
last year before he could testify in a murder case. Also, to discourage the
police from stopping motorists based on their race, the legislators voted to
require officers to record the race, ethnicity, gender and age of every driver
they stop.
The lawmakers turned back an effort to reduce the standard
for drunken driving from a blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent
but increased penalties for repeat offenders. And legislators voted against a
measure that would have banned banks from charging noncustomers a fee for using
automated-teller machines.
Governor Rowland said his biggest
disappointment was the Legislature's rejection of his plan to abolish the high
sheriffs, who are the last vestige of county government in the state. Governor
Rowland contends the sheriff's offices are rife with corruption, and wanted to
transfer to the state their functions of transporting prisoners, securing courts
and serving legal papers. He said he would try again next year.
This
year's legislature marked the ascension of the New York City suburbs to a level
of political clout to match their status as Connecticut's economic engine.
Representative Moira K. Lyons, a Democrat from Stamford, became Speaker of the
House and Senator Jepsen continued as majority leader, the No. 2 official
"upstairs," as the Senate is known at the Capitol.
The elevation of
Representative Lyons, 56, ended the long era when legislative leaders' deals
were cut in the men's room. She exercised her clout by demanding a bigger role
for the Legislature in overseeing spending for a football stadium for the
University of Connecticut that is to replace the failed plan to bring the New
England Patriots to Hartford.
Her staff said she read every bill her
chamber took up, and aides to Governor Rowland and Senate leaders complained
bitterly about what they asserted was her overly deliberate style. In an
interview today, she said she was proud of her role as a stickler willing to
take on power centers in both parties.
"Maybe they're just not used to
having someone say, 'Well, I don't agree with you,' " she said. "Because I
disagree with someone does not mean they are right and I am wrong."
The
Patriots deal, which collapsed in late April, was such a humiliation that
legislators could no longer bear even to look at the word "stadium," so the
UConn financing is officially for a "sportsplex" near the Capitol.
http://www.nytimes.com
GRAPHIC: Photo:
Congratulating Gov. John G. Rowland before he addressed the Connecticut
Legislature yesterday were Representative Moira K. Lyons, Speaker of the House,
and Kevin Sullivan, Senate President. (Associated Press)
Chart:
"AT A GLANCE: Spending The Surplus"
About one-sixth of
Connecticut's 1999 budget surplus of $551.9 million will be used for a sales-tax
rebate.
Sales-tax rebate for residents
$96.2 million
Set aside to pay salaries when there are 53 weeks in a year
$90.0 million
Medicaid payments
$78.0 million
Health insurance for state employees
$60.0 million
School construction interests
$55.0 million
$172.7 million
Others
(Source: Connecticut General
Assembly)
LOAD-DATE: June 11, 1999
