Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, center, tours Greenwich Avenue on June 1 with Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo, left, and state Rep. Livvy Floren.
All things considered, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz says she is pleased with how Connecticut”™s public health and economic recovery efforts are going so far.
Noting that the Lamont administration is continuing to have regular conversations with a host of business sectors, and that several local long-term recovery committees are already hard at work, Bysiewicz told the Business Journal that “We are doing so well with respect to our recovery ”” and I think we should all be very proud of that.”
Not that she”™s being a Pollyanna. “We”™re really facing three crises right now ”” the public health emergency, an economic catastrophe and the racial injustice crisis,” she said, adding that there is a lot of work to be done in each area.
On April 29, Bysiewicz announced that the state, working with the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the state Council of Governments, was putting together the local long-term recovery committees, in an effort she is chairing.
Each municipality”™s mayor or first selectman will appoint someone to lead their committee, with that person in turn drawing from municipal officials, community-based organizations, nonprofit providers, philanthropic partners, and faith organizations to ensure the needs of their residents are met, not just during the height of the current crisis, but for the long term.
“It”™s a fluid effort,” Bysiewicz said of the progress being made. “The idea is similar to what we did during the recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Maria and other disasters ”” very grassroots and diverse approaches to meet each community”™s needs.”
Diversity has become something of a governmental watchword in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, the lieutenant governor acknowledged.
“It”™s not just about meeting the general community”™s needs, but the different needs within a given community,” she said. “We cannot recover unless we are all part of that recovery effort.
“The local recovery committees, especially if they”™re diverse and inclusive, can address a number of inequalities ”” in health care, education, economically and when it comes to systemic racism,” Bysiewicz said.
“One positive aspect of the COVID pandemic has been seeing how generous individuals and companies have been,” the lieutenant governor said. “They”™ve stepped up and made donations to a number of food-share programs and the Connecticut Food Bank.” She noted that during a recent visit to Norwalk, there were over 1,500 cars waiting in line to get a week”™s worth of food.
Some municipalities such as Stamford already have their committees up and running, while others are still in the organizational stage.
Bysiewicz has also taken a handful of town tours around the state to get a firsthand view of how businesses ”“ especially restaurants ”“ are going about reopening. She said she was especially impressed by Norwalk”™s closing off parking spots to allow more room for outdoor dining along Washington Street, and Greenwich”™s closing off parts of its fabled Greenwich Avenue to vehicular traffic.
The lieutenant governor”™s tour of the latter with Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo found “Servers and customers who ”¦ wearing masks, tables six feet apart, certifications from the state (attesting they had met public safety guidelines) posted. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people outside.”
Similar results were observed in Waterbury and her hometown, Middletown, she said. “People are beginning to get their confidence back.”
Both Bysiewicz and Gov. Ned Lamont have taken advantage of outdoor dining, she said. “It was great to have a pizza outside” in Middletown.
Even with the governor”™s decision to move up the second phase of Connecticut”™s reopening from June 20 to June 17, Bysiewicz cautioned that, “We”™re still putting public health first. In Texas, which reopened on Memorial Day, they”™ve had a 42% increase in COVID-19 cases, and they”™ve seen a new surge in Georgia as well.
“We”™re doing our best to understand the economic pressures out there,” she said, “but you have to put public health first.”
Census efforts on target
Bysiewicz is also overseeing the state”™s census efforts and is encouraged by the response so far. While the national self-response rate stands at 60.9%, Fairfield County has recorded a 64.5% response rate, more or less in line with the statewide figure of 64.6%. Leading the way are Darien (74.9%), Fairfield (74.5%), Westport (72.2%) and New Canaan (71%).
Connecticut remains the leader among the seven New England states, Bysiewicz noted. She also predicted that the state will realize its self-imposed goal of 69.5% ”” the same figure as 2010”™s census ”” by Aug. 11.
That is the date when the U.S. Census Bureau will deploy thousands of “enumerators,” who collect household and demographic information by canvassing their assigned areas. Earlier this month, Bysiewicz announced that the U.S. Census Bureau is restarting the hand delivery of census paper questionnaires to households with P.O. boxes ”” an effort that was curtailed after just three days on March 18 in the face of the pandemic ”” to further increase participation.
Participation “is so important to businesses on a number of levels,” Bysiewicz said, “whether it”™s a small business, a mom and pop operation or a Fortune 500 company. Companies look at census data to determine where to locate a retail operation or a new branch.”
In addition, there is significant money at play, she said. Last year the state received $11 billion from 55 different federal programs based upon 2010 census data.
That data is also used to determine funding for highway construction, Medicare/Medicaid, and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, among other items, Bysiewicz said. The state estimates that Connecticut will lose about $2,900 for each person undercounted in the census ”” a cumulative $29,000 until the next census in 2030.
The lieutenant governor also took pains to stress that reluctance by some residents to participate due to privacy concerns should easily be overcome.
“The Supreme Court ruled last year that the census cannot include questions about whether you”™re a U.S. citizen or not,” she said. “The form only takes a few minutes to fill out ”” basically your name, the number of people in your home as of April 1, their ages and genders, dates of birth, ethnicity and whether you own or rent your home.”
Violators of privacy provisions can face a fine of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to 10 years, she added.
“They”™re not very detailed questions ”” but filling the questionnaires out is very important,” Bysiewicz said.
