Lamont Stresses Need To Reduce Borrowing During Shelton Appearance

SHELTON — Gov. Ned Lamont told diners at a Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce breakfast Tuesday that government officials need to wean Connecticut off its reliance on borrowing money, fix its transportation system, and encourage talented college graduates to stay in the state.

“We always had the best trained, most productive workforce in the world,” Lamont said during the event at Brownson Country Club. ​“That’s why Sikorsky makes the best helicopters in the world. We are second to none, we have to keep that up.”

The governor said an educated workforce can keep companies in Connecticut and promote his goal of spurring the economy and growing the state’s revenue.

Lamont said the recently-approved state budget has money for training teachers in computer science at the elementary and high school levels, so students learn desirable business skills at a young age.

The governor wants to add tolls along interstates 84, 91, 95 and portions of Route 15 to raise an estimated $800 million a year for transportation infrastructure. The administration estimates as much as 40 percent of the revenue would come from out-of-state drivers.

It is a position that many public officials oppose in the lower Valley, where Republican administrations run Ansonia, Derby, Seymour and Shelton.

During a question and answer period, a woman asked Lamont if electronic tolls could be placed along the state’s boundaries to spare the middle class, working class and low income families from paying the bulk of the expense. But Lamont said it is against the law to have tolls on the borders.

Connecticut gave up its right to collect revenue from drivers crossing the border when it removed its tolls in 1983 and, in exchange, Connecticut receives more federal transportation money in an agreement that is still in effect, according to a 2009 report from the Office of Legislative Research.

Republicans in the Legislature oppose tolls and proposed an alternative plan that requires annual bonding to improve Connecticut’s highways, which the governor and his fellow Democrats oppose.

To get the state’s fiscal house in order, Lamont said negotiations on teacher pensions have made the retirement plans more sustainable. According to the past agreement, Lamont said if the market had a downturn, taxpayers would have to backfill the pension to what it was.

“We’ve taken out that cliff,” Lamont said.

He called Connecticut’s health care costs ​“unsustainable,” because costs are rising faster than revenue can keep up. Lamont said there is no correlation between quality of care and how much patients pay, adding it is something his administration is trying to change.

While trying to get a handle on fixed costs such as pensions and health care, Lamont said the state must end its addiction to borrowing.

“In this state we’re putting operating costs on our credit card,” he said, adding Connecticut’s borrowing increased by 60 percent over the last eight years, rising from $1 billion to $1.6 billion.
Lamont, who was a small businessman himself, also vowed to remove some of the state’s ​“regulatory underbrush” to avoid slowing down commerce.

After the governor’s keynote address, Stephen J. Hodson, of Hodson Realty Inc. in Trumbull, said he was interested in talk of improving the transportation system.

“I think we truly need to rebuild our transportation system,” Hodson said. ​“However, we must increase our rail capacity through more frequent train runs from Waterbury to Bridgeport. Getting funding to improve that should be a priority. He needs to reduce taxes for small businesses too.”

Robin B. Amster, the Northeast corporate developer for Express Employment Professionals, which has a franchise in Shelton, was impressed with the governor.

“It’s an ambitious agenda,” she said. ​“If everything can be the way he said, it will be a wonderful thing for Connecticut. He’s a smart man, who is appreciative of the business perspective and that’s what Connecticut needs.”