State leaders speak at Stamford Legislative Breakfast

The Stamford Chamber of Commerce gathered the state senators and representatives who make up the legislative delegation for the city and the surrounding communities to discuss their top priorities with the local business community on Feb 15. The legislative breakfast is a longstanding tradition for the Chamber, having run for 24 years.

The event was sponsored by AT&T, Philip Morris International, A&M Property Holding Corp., which provided the downtown Stamford venue, and Deloitte LLP, which provided the breakfast itself.

Marian Salzman, the senior vice president and chief corporate citizenship officer for Philip Morris International introduced keynote speaker Mayor Caroline Simmons while praising the state and city for being such an attractive place for major corporations.

“I was part of the group that selected Stamford as the location of our new global headquarters,” Salzman said. “We are now one of 14 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state, and I suspect that number will grow if their experience is anything like our experience.”

Salzman noted that the tobacco company planned to double its presence in the state, with 450 Connecticut-based employees by the end of the year.

In her keynote address, Stamford mayor Caroline Simmons thanked the delegation for securing hundreds of millions of dollars for the city.

“I know you’ve given us a lot,” Simmons said, “but we are coming back this year with another list of funding projects, so we do appreciate the continued partnership and advocacy.”

Moderator Harry Carey, director of external affairs at AT&T gave the nine legislators on the stage the opportunity to speak about their backgrounds and committee assignments.

He asked Democratic State Senator Patricia Miller of District 27 to weigh in on the banking committee, which he said is often overlooked.

“My reason for becoming co-chair of the banking committee is because we have individuals in the state who are underbanked and unbanked,” Miller explained, highlighting the importance of foreclosure remediation programs.”

Miller emphasized that she worked closely with the banking and credit union associations to address their concerns about low-income customers turning to pay day loans by expanding earned wage access programs. The programs allow employees to make purchases against money in their upcoming pay check, a vital service when unexpected expenses occur. Unlike payday loans, these programs typically have low or no interest attached.

“One of the things that we’re going to be working on this year,” Miller said, “which caused great angst in the state is earned wage access.” Licensing requirements in current earned wage access proposals have drawn opposition from financial institutions, but advocates consider them important for protecting low-wage earners. As a result, Miller said she was looking forward to convening public hearings in the coming year.

Democrat Corey Paris, the representative for House District 145 was asked by Carey about how the state’s work with UConn Stamford will impact the business community.

“While (UConn) is the crown jewel of Stamford in terms of our higher academic community our real focus this year needs to be on our Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system,” Paris said.

“The reason why that is so important is when we talk about workforce, or we talk about our budget, or we talk about the long term viability and sustainability of our state, all of that runs through the CSCU system,” Paris said, noting he is a proud graduate of Western Connecticut State University, though a native of Kansas City, Missouri. “I chose Connecticut because of its great institutions. While UConn does produce phenomenal leaders, 40% of those students end up staying in our state, and a large majority of those students end up leaving.”

In contrast, Paris noted that 80% of CSCU students stay in the state. He raised concerns about the governor’s proposed budget which redirects education funding to early childhood education programs, potentially at the cost of funding for magnet, open choice, and vocational agriculture schools.

“They’re the ones working at the companies and organizations that you are building,” he said. “So, for us to ignore the $160 million deficit that the (education0 system is facing, it not only hurts UConn and Stamford, it hurts Connecticut’s future.”

Spending became one of the most discussed topics at breakfast. Carey made the question of the state’s fiscal health open to all of the gathered legislators, noting that “the so-called fiscal guardrails are under some pressure from people who feel we have a surplus and we have people in need, so let’s spend it.”

Carey asked the members of the delegation for their thoughts on the matter and budgetary priorities, beginning with Ryan Fazio the Republican State Senator for District 36.

“A dollar spent is a dollar taxed,” Fazio said. “The fiscal reforms that were passed on a bipartisan basis were necessary in order to pass the tax cuts that we experienced in this past year.”

Fazio described the recent cuts as insufficient, but still welcome as a turning point for the financial burden faced by Connecticut residents. “Ensuring these fiscal guardrails stay in place and ensuring our taxes in the long run are being limited, and hopefully we can reduce them in the future for the middle class is very important for the long-term success of Connecticut.”

Hubert Delaney, Democratic State Representative of District 144 praised the work the state had done in delivering tax cuts, calling the state’s fiscal health “absolutely strong.”

Delaney said he hoped his colleagues would join him in acting as practical progressives who seek “fiscally sustainable solutions to socially equitable requirements as a state.”

“And by that, I mean address the cost of living. It’s great to hear in a centralized location, in a newsletter, that our economy is doing well. But what does that actually mean for folks that are on the ground that are going to the grocery store?”

“We’re in good shape,” agreed Paris, “but let’s make sure our people are in even better shape.”

State Senator Ceci Maher, a Democrat representing District 26 said she agreed with Paris but noted that there was also need to focus on wise medical spending going forward.

“Medicare reimbursement rates have not been adjusted, we’re underpaying our behavioral health-care workers, they’re not staying in our non-profits, and they’re not staying in their jobs because they know they can go and do telehealth,” Maher said, adding that from her years at nonprofits she’s familiar with the problems they face. “I’m all for fiscal guardrails but we also cannot keep cutting our human services, our Medicaid, and all of the people who are not being taken care of in our state.”

Senator Miller reminded the audience that she is the chair of the Senate Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, and that she personally knew what it was like to go to school hungry and said that Connecticut residents are already struggling to put food on the table.

“The guardrails, I think we need to take a look at,” Miller said. “Yes, it’s great that we paid down our pension, saved millions and millions of dollars in the long run. But let’s look at today, let’s look at now.”