Paul Bass Photo
Mayor Harp.
Primary the disloyal Dems. And let the governor make the tough decisions.
That was Mayor Toni Harp’s latest message to her former colleagues in the state legislature.
On her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program, Harp, a former state senator, endorsed a move by freshman Democratic State Rep. Joshua Elliott to support primary challenges to incumbent legislators of his own party who fail to commit to progressive positions.
And she supported a threatened veto by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of a bipartisan bill passed Monday to restore $54 million that had been cut in the current state budget to cover Medicare costs for 113,000 seniors and people with disabilities.
Elliott, a 33-year-old freshman legislator from Hamden, ruffled feathers by distributing a questionnaire to his colleagues with the aim of supporting challenges to those who don’t commit to a $15 minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, increased income taxes on millionaires, and legal marijuana, among other left-of-center provisions. The move drew criticism even from some liberal members of his party, who warned that the Democrats can’t risk losing seats in moderate or conservative districts and therefore risk losing control of the legislature. Elliott responded that the Democrats need to stand for a coherent progressive vision to which voters will respond.
Harp Monday sided with Elliott. She cited the defection this past session of a handful of conservative, suburban Democrats — who included Branford Rep. Lonnie Red and Milford Sen. Gayle Slossberg — to help the Republicans pass their version of a budget and reject the Democratic budget. She also cited a vote on which those same Democrats voted with Republicans to change the state’s Affordable Housing Statute (and override a gubernatorial veto) — a change that immediately led to efforts in Milford to kill new affordable housing.
Yankee Institute for Public Policy
The Yankee Institute’s take on Elliott.
“I would agree with” Elliott, Harp said. “It’s hard to do business when people in your own party see things differently than you do. I don’t want to target any one person. But the truth of the matter is these are people who don’t represent our values. Why should they be supported?”
Harp was asked about the argument that Democrats need to have a big enough “tent” to include people who diverge on some issues in order to govern.
She noted that the State Senate is currently evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats have seen their majority in the State House shrink as well, to a narrow 79 – 72 tally.
“It doesn’t matter if there are enough [Democrats] to overcome” defections on major issues, Harp argued. “But when it is even, and you have four or five people who really are conservative and in any other world would be Republican, it creates a problem for the vision being implemented.”
She also criticized legislators who, only after the state budget was passed, decided to vote in a special session to restore the Medicare money. Gov. Malloy has criticized Monday’s vote as using the kind of budget gimmicks that have gotten the state in such deep fiscal trouble, such as double-counting expected revenues. (Legislators denied it.) He also noted that the cuts don’t take effect until July 1, so legislators should have waited until the new session beginning in February to find the money as part of a more thoughtful, honest approach.
“The conservative members of both parties … made cuts without really knowing that it affects everybody, and not just people in urban areas,” Harp observed.
“There are some people who don’t care what happened to cities. They don’t care what happened to poor people. As long as they think they can make cuts and it just affects poor people, they do it. When they turn around and find out, ‘Oh! There are people in my town that are affected by this!’ they want to solve it right away.
“Why? Because they’re running for reelection! Give me a break.”
She argued for waiting until the regular session to address the cuts. In the meantime, she said, “I think the governor will do the right hting. The governor understands how important urban areas are to the state. The legislature doesn’t at this particular time.”
Click on or download the above audio file or the Facebook Live video below to hear the full episode of “Mayor Monday” on WNHH FM. Topics covered include response to the snowstorm, priorities for the mayor’s third term, and the Sierra Club’s “Ready for 100” campaign.
This episode of “Mayor Monday” was made possible with the support of Gateway Community College and Berchem Moses P.C.