In September, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $24 million to entities in two-dozen states to promote electric vehicle development.
In the federal funding department, Connecticut appeared to still be charging its batteries.
That may have changed entering October, after Connecticut landed multiple awards from the U.S. government ”“ including nearly $10 million for a new health career academy under the direction of The Workplace Inc., a workforce development agency in Bridgeport.
As the Obama administration promotes its American Jobs Act that promises billions of dollars in new investments, a Fairfield County Business Journal review of federal agency awards through September suggested that Connecticut agencies still have yet to win their fair share under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. While the October wins cut into that gap, other states have been the beneficiary of billions of dollars in grants from various federal agencies in September alone.
During last fall”™s campaign and since, Malloy has stressed the importance of Connecticut winning every dollar it can in federal funding as a key to balancing its budget, along with renewing business growth and cutting excess spending.
Between January and September when Malloy made his first lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. to press the state”™s case, however, Connecticut won about 0.75 percent of some $7 billion in competitive awards announced by major federal agencies that play a big role in disbursing money to the states, including the U.S. Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Education.
Connecticut”™s 3.5 million residents amounts to 1.1 percent of the population of the United States.
Those amounts include funding for some projects awarded for work in other states that benefit Connecticut, such as rail projects along the East Coast; and excludes funding for disasters, legal settlements and moneys automatically apportioned to all states as part of ongoing federal support of various state and local agencies, as well as those for which Connecticut would be an unlikely candidate or which it would be unlikely to exert influence ”“ for instance, many Department of Energy awards. Additionally, many of those grants were possibly awarded as decisions made before Malloy took office.
“The implementation of a robust grants management program is underway to ensure that Connecticut is submitting strong applications for these highly sought-after federal dollars, and ratcheting up our pursuit of federal dollars in general,” said Juliet Manalan, press secretary for Malloy. “The governor has a close working relationship with our Congressional delegation and has established a strong office in Washington which will help us track the availability and progress of federal grants.”
The question of Connecticut”™s competitiveness for available federal moneys came into focus during the administration of former Gov. M. Jodi Rell, when New York, Massachusetts and other states elbowed Connecticut to the sidelines in the Obama administration”™s “Race to the Top” contest for millions of dollars in funding rewarding innovative educational approaches.
After taking office, Malloy assigned a lobbyist in Connecticut to represent the state”™s interests, and traveled to Washington, D.C. on multiple occasions to plead his case.
Malloy was soon to be schooled in Beltway politics, however, after publicly lobbying Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for more than $225 million in funding for a high-speed rail line connecting New Haven and Hartford, only to come away with $30 million.
Connecticut has had a few significant wins since, including more than $11 million it landed from the Department of Labor to train workers for careers in energy efficiency; and nearly $7 million to develop a health insurance exchange.
But more often, the state has seen major awards land elsewhere. The U.S. Department of Energy has issued huge grants for large-scale solar energy projects in the past month. DOT continues to award major funding for rail projects throughout the East and nation, from high-speed lines to streetcars. And New York and Maine were the lone Northeast states to win funding from the Small Business Administration to further develop budding industry clusters, among 21 states nationally sharing $37 million.
Connecticut will not get the industry cluster funding despite getting results only last week from Malloy”™s own push to pad the state”™s bioscience credentials. Jackson Laboratory, a major genetic research organization best known for breeding mice for experimental work, agreed to a $1 billion investment in Farmington, representing a major coup for Malloy ”“ without needing a nickel of federal funding to pull it off.
If Malloy has yet to imprint an effective reflex in the DNA of state agencies in the rat race to secure federal funding, the state will get its chances in the coming year. The Department of Education is planning a new “Race to the Top” competition that will award $500 million for early learning, on a competitive basis. And HHS plans to award $700 million to create community health centers.
And if nothing else, Malloy has proven he can move fast. It remains to be seen whether his department heads can keep up.
“Jackson Labs”™ desire to build a new facility was brought to my attention in late June,” Malloy said. “I”™ve been focused on it ever since.”
Editor”™s note: This article was updated from an earlier version that appears in the Oct. 10 print edition to reflect funding for The Workplace Inc. and Gateway Community College.
