Ethan Fry Photo
State Sen. George Logan at a Veterans Day service.
George Logan’s mom wasn’t having it.
Logan, who narrowly won a second term as a Republican state senator in Greater New Haven, had previously opposed raising Connecticut’s minimum wage. His 80-year-old mom, a retired administrative assistant who lives in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood, told her son that workers need to earn more.
“Mom,” Logan responded, “I will take a look at it.”
Logan heard the same plea from voters in Hamden, one of the towns in the 17th State Senate District he represents.
After almost losing his seat, Logan said he plans to listen more to Hamden, where he trailed his Democratic opponent.
Logan won reelection by a mere 85 or 77 seats (depending on whether you believe his count or the Secretary of the State’s official count). The margin was less than one-half of 1 percent. His was a lone Republican bright spot in an election that saw a “blue wave” produce Democratic victories in all statewide races and large new Democratic majorities in both houses of the legislature.
Logan in the WNHH studio Wednesday.
Logan said during an interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program that he knows he’s returning to a new reality in Hartford. This past session the State Senate was split 18 – 18 between Republicans and Democrats. That enabled Logan — a self-described moderate Republican — to participate in bipartisan lawmaking on issues ranging from the budget to a new law guaranteeing insurance coverage for prosthetic limbs, a cause he led with Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr.
Then the Republicans lost five Senate seats on Nov. 6. If not for Logan’s win, the Democrats would have had a veto-proof Senate majority.
Given the new Capitol math, Logan said, he expects a push for a $15 hourly minimum wage to pass in the new legislature. Rather than opposiing the idea, he said, he hopes to negotiate for a phase-in.
The same for paid family and medical leave, which progressive Democrats have been championing for years and which resonated statewide in this month’s elections. Logan said he hopes to influence the final legislation to exempt smaller businesses and scrutinize who will be responsible for paying all the costs.
Logan is aiming to participate in a renewed effort to stop governors from toying with the Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) formula that directs state money to local public schools. He argued that the state needs to stick firm to the formula each year — tweaked based on updated figures for student population, poverty, and English as a Second Language participation — in the interests of fairness and predictability.
He’s holding out hope for bipartisan lawmaking despite the Republicans’ shellacking. He noted that Democratic Gov.-Elect Ned Lamont included Republicans on his transition team and promised to govern with input from all sides.
“I’m going to take his word for it,” Logan said.
Click on the video for the full interview with State Sen. George Logan.