| When Gov. Rell called for a special session to address the rising state budget deficit, her press release said, "Some will question why I am calling the Legislature into session five days before the next regular session is slated to begin." She is right about that. I am one of those people who question this. To paraphrase a different press release from the Governor's office, "This is an overtly political maneuver by the Governor. At a time when our state faces significant economic challenges, it is unfortunate that Governor Rell is spending her time on a partisan political ploy rather than trying to help create jobs or help Connecticut families."
The second press release was actually about Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz's proposal to discourage commerce; the trading of open U.S. Senate seats behind closed doors. Yet the concern with the how open U.S. Senate seats are filled is closely related to one of the larger concerns with Gov. Rell's call for a special session, both are about citizen participation.
Special sessions do not require public hearings. Information about the special sessions might leak out in the press, if we have any press left in the state, but bills being considered for special session do not appear on the General Assembly website with as much time for public comment as bills considered during the regular sessions.
At a special session, the bills are introduced by the Speaker of the House and the Senate President. If the proposed special session is called, the bills will be introduced by Rep. Amann, who will cease to be a member of the house five days after the session. It seems as if the only person excited about the special session other than Governor Rell is Speaker Amann.
There are the special costs of having a special session. These are compounded by having the special session in January. Lobbyists badges expire on December 31st. Either the ethics office needs to grant some sort of waiver allowing lobbyists who had registered for 2008 to lobby at the special session, or the ethics office needs to open early enough to let any lobbyists that want to register before the session to do so. I suspect that the same applies for members of the press.
If this were such an emergency, Governor Rell could have called a special session to start much earlier and provided time for citizen input. Yet it seems as if the real issue, like with how an open U.S. Senate seat would be filled, is that Governor Rell appears to distain citizen input. Perhaps that is part of the reason she is seeking to raid the Citizens Election Programs funds as part of her special session.
If you believe that citizens should be involved in our state government, if you believe we should be spending tax payer money on things other than a special session for the Governor, then I urge you to contact your state legislators and urge them to just say no to a special session starting five days before the regular session is scheduled to begin. |
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