Connecticut Local Politics

Here’s the full text. And below are some statements that I found particularly interesting.

The budget I present to you today does not exceed our state spending cap and it does not raise taxes.

For once. But this should make her more popular with her own party than last year’s education spend-o-rama.

I will also again advocate for the enactment of a property tax cap.Homeowners, business owners and car owners are struggling under the weight of property taxes. They want relief real relief.

I ask you to work with me to design a cap that we all find workable.

A property tax cap has been implemented in 43 other states. It can and will work here.

I’d be interested to know more about those property tax caps in 43 other states.

I will be submitting legislation to require a mandatory minimum sentence for Burglary in the Second Degree and to change Burglary in the First Degree to include burglary of an occupied dwelling, day or night.

I would also like to put in place a three-strikes law for those convicted of three violent felony offenses.

And to satisfy those who thought mistakenly there was an “out” in the original proposal, I am removing the possibility of a case review after 30 years. Now it’s three strikes for violent felony convictions and you’re truly out.

Three strikes went down to defeat not because it was too soft on crime, but because Democrats argued that the law would take away crucial sentencing powers and leeway from judges. I don’t see that argument changing.

I want to require offenders to report in person to police and to provide the name and address of their employers and the license plate number and description of their cars.

And they will also have a special imprint on their driver’s licenses.

Do the crime, do the time, pay for it for the rest of your life. Will any of these things really make us safer?

And in the name of public protection, I am calling for another significant change: I want all persons arrested for an A or B felony the most serious of criminal charges to provide DNA samples immediately upon arraignment.Those convicted of lesser felonies and certain misdemeanors must provide a DNA sample at conviction.

These samples will be processed to see if there are any matches related to unsolved crimes.

Awful things have been done in the name of public safety. Taking DNA samples from people arrested for crimes, not convicted, is a step in the wrong direction. I suppose one could argue that fingerprints are taken for people who are arrested, but I think there’s a difference of magnitude here.

I am proposing the hiring of an additional 100 state troopers over the next five years for traffic enforcement, starting with 20 new troopers in the next training class. Their sole focus will be to crack down on unsafe drivers.

I am also proposing a pilot program on I-95 in the Old Lyme/East Lyme area for electronic camera radars aimed at catching and ticketing speeders. To those who use this congested highway as their personal speedway we’re going to see you and we’re going to stop you. And it will cost you.

Ooooookay.

…I am calling for an end to the old DOT and the creation of two new and focused departments: A Department of Highways and a separate Department of Public Transportation, Aviation and Ports.

In this way each agency will be able to focus on its own goals and the standing of public transportation, and all of its ramifications for responsible growth, will be enhanced.

I like the idea of giving public transportation better visibility and standing. DOT as it stands now is, in fact, too highway-focused. Now the only question is: which department gets to keep the big pink building on the Berlin Turnpike?

Right now small businesses are responsible for creating the vast majority of new and replacement jobs in our state. To help these entrepreneurs, my budget provides for the outright repeal of the business entity tax.

Agreed. That tax is a needless hindrance to small business.

I want our state to continue our leadership on climate change.To that end, I am proposing several initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I won’t list them all here, but at least some of the ideas sound workable, if not groundbreaking or innovative.

And that’s it. This is a very different speech from the one the governor gave last year, which proposed radical new increases in education spending. This budget is far more modest and less ambitious. It does, however, draw up the battle lines we’re likely to see throughout the session on taxes, spending and criminal justice reform.

What’s new and visionary here? Hardly anything. This is a governor who seems to be looking towards an uncertain economic future with trepidation, and it shows. The only thing in the speech that I’m really interested in is the breakup of DOT, which could either be good or bad, depending on how things shake out. The rest of the big ticket items on Rell’s agenda, including the property tax cap, criminal justice reform and a budget with no tax increases, probably aren’t going to happen.

And now, the session is underway.