It’s been a quiet August at the state Capitol, but mayoral primaries in Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport are in full swing. In Hartford, the ex-mayor who was forced from office amid a corruption scandal is looking to get his old job back. Eddie Perez could look to Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim for advice. Ganim, in the midst of a re-election campaign of his own and facing a primary challenge, returned to office in 2015 after a seven-year prison term related to corruption charges during his first stint as mayor. Perez pleaded guilty to lesser charges in 2017 and avoided prison, but expect his past to play a role as the campaign heats up with the Sept. 9 primary rapidly approaching.
Want to get this in your inbox every Friday? Subscribe to Capitol Watch at courant.com/newsletters.
The big story
MGM sues over East Windsor casino: The complicated issue of expanded gambling in Connecticut took another turn Wednesday when MGM Resorts International sued the federal government over the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ approval of plans for a tribal-run casino in East Windsor. MGM isn’t happy the state decided to hand over a commercial casino license to the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes without a competitive bidding process. They spent millions lobbying against that proposal in the state legislature and also exerted their lobbying muscle in Washington, where the federal approval was delayed for more than a year. The lawsuit is the latest salvo by MGM as they seek to derail the East Windsor project and prevent it from eroding the customer base at their new casino in Springfield. Practically, this latest lawsuit means the East Windsor casino, originally envisioned to open prior to MGM Springfield, will likely be delayed by another year or more. Gov. Ned Lamont says he remains hopeful about reaching a “global solution” to expanded gambling that avoids litigation.
Five things you may have missed
Larson faces angry crowd: Some of Rep. John Larson’s constituents are growing tired of his opposition to impeachment, and they let him know at a town hall meeting in West Hartford Tuesday night. “Just impeach him!” several people who attended the event shouted, drowning out Larson’s attempts to speak. Larson is sticking with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who believes Democrats should focus on defeating President Donald Trump in the 2020 election rather than embarking on impeachment proceedings that will never win a conviction in the Republican-controlled Senate. He said Democrats should await the results of ongoing committee investigations before moving forward with impeachment. About half of the 235 Democrats in the House support an impeachment inquiry, according to a tally by CNN. The only member of Connecticut’s congressional delegation among them is Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District.
A novel gun control idea: House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Harford, briefly considered a novel gun control idea that shows the frustration among some state lawmakers with the lack of action in Congress on the issue. Ritter floated the idea of calling for a constitutional convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban assault-style firearms. That would have required approval from two-thirds of the state legislatures, which Ritter acknowledged was a “tall order,” but he said the “long shot” effort would give hope and energy to advocates. But Ritter quickly abandoned the idea after hearing pushback from constituents and others who said an unprecedented constitutional convention could open the door to unintended consequences, like changes to roll back the constitution’s civil rights protections. “You will not be hearing me mention it again,” he told the CT Mirror.
Hartford mayoral primary field set: The field is set for Hartford’s Democratic mayoral primary, where incumbent Mayor Luke Bronin is expected to face at least two challengers. Former Mayor Eddie Perez and state Rep. Brandon McGee both said they’ve turned in enough signatures to qualify for the Sept. 9. primary ballot. Author and publisher Aaron Lewis also turned in signatures for the primary, but said his goal is to meet the lower threshold to qualify for the November election. Perez, who left office in 2010 after he was convicted on corruption charges, has turned up his attacks against Bronin. He’s called for an investigation into an alleged “pay to play” scheme regarding the construction of Dillon Stadium because of campaign contributions to Bronin some of the contractors on the project made. Bronin denies anything improper happened.
State-aided firm goes bankrupt: Courant columnist Jon Lender has spent several years covering the story of Windsor Marketing Group, the Suffield company that received $3.5 million in state-backed loans and wound up filing for bankruptcy. On Tuesday, WMG said it didn’t see a path out of bankruptcy and would shut down operations, leaving more than 100 employees jobless. The saga has led some to call into question the state Department of Economic Development’s strategy of lending millions to companies to create jobs under generous terms. The new head of the agency, David Lehman, a former Goldman Sachs executive, said things will be done differently in the Lamont administration. Companies will receive tax credits after they’ve created jobs, rather than upfront loans. “The forgivable loan or grant is really not something that the Lamont administration is pursuing,” he said.
Additional scrutiny for Connecticut Port Authority: Lamont on Friday took additional action to right the ship at the Connecticut Port Authority, the quasi-public agency handling a major deal to overhaul the Connecticut State Pier in New London to make it a hub for the offshore wind industry. He has called for an independent review of the agency’s finances and management and directed his budget chief to oversee financial decisions at the port authority. The agency has faced weeks of bad press related to a decision to spend more than $3,000 on photographs taken by the then-board chairwoman’s daughter to hang up in the port authority’s Old Saybrook office. The chairwoman, Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder, resigned last month. Deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates, a port authority board member who signed off on the purchase of the photographs, resigned Friday.
Odds and ends
State Sen. Marilyn Moore turned in thousands of signatures Wednesday seeking to qualify for a primary against Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. Ganim, who spent seven years in prison on corruption charges following a bribery scandal during his first stint as mayor, was returned to office by voters in 2015. He challenged Lamont in last year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary but was soundly defeated. … A handful of Connecticut mayors were among more than 200 who wrote to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday asking the Kentucky Republican to have the Senate return from its August recess to vote on legislation to strengthen gun background checks. The letter followed the mass shootings last weekend in El Paso and Dayton where a combined 31 people were killed. It was signed by seven Connecticut mayors, including Marcia LeClerc of East Hartford, Luke Bronin of Hartford, Kevin Scarpati of Meriden, Toni Harp of New Haven, David Martin of Stamford, Shari Cantor of West Hartford and Joe Ganim of Bridgeport. McConnell said he expects the Senate to consider gun legislation when they return in September. … On the issue of gun legislation, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is once again working with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on a bipartisan proposal to encourage more states to adopt so-called red flag laws like the ones Connecticut has on its books. The laws allow for guns to be quickly removed from the possession of someone believed to be a danger to themselves or others. Blumenthal and Graham’s bill would include grants to incentivize states to adopt the laws. … Two lawsuits against the state prison system will move forward after a pair of rulings from federal judges this past week. One deals with the prevalence of hepatitis C in the state’s prisons and alleges not enough is being done to treat inmates. The other alleges medical malfeasance in the case of an inmate who had facial cancer that went undiagnosed for months. Both could lead to costly taxpayer-funded settlements. The legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal office estimated screening and treating hepatitis C in Connecticut prisons could cost up to $158 million. A prior medical malfeasance case involving an individual inmate was settled last year for $1.3 million. … The state Office of Health Strategy launched a new tool to help consumers compare the quality and cost of medical care at 19 of the state’s health care organizations. The new website, www.healthscorect.com, already features “scorecards” in a variety of categories and will be expanded in September to include a “cost estimator” tool so patients can see how much a particular procedure would cost at different health care providers. “High cost does not necessarily mean good quality, and this website helps consumers sort that out,” said Vicki Veltri, executive director of the Office of Health Strategy. The program was funded through a $45 million federal grant.
Russell Blair can be reached at rblair@courant.com.
