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It took three decades. Suddenly Martin Looney was able to shepherd ambitious ideas into new laws — and have the governor’s office help him, not stand in the way.
Pot decriminalization. Paid sick days for service workers. In-state tuition for undocumented workers’ children. A state earned income tax credit for the working poor. Stricter rules for eyewitness identification of suspected crooks. …
For years Looney (pictured) pushed for those ideas with his fellow state lawmakers from New Haven at the Capitol in Hartford.
For years Republican governors stopped those from becoming law.
Then, for the first time in 20 years, a Democratic governor took office this year. As majority leader of the state Senate, Looney was able to shepherd these and a long list of other backed-up bills to passage, and then see Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sign them.
It was the most satisfying state legislative year Looney has had since New Haveners first elected him to the state House of Representatives in 1980, then the state Senate in 1992.
“It was the the best and most productive session I can recall,” Looney said over coffee at the Long Wharf Greek Olive, a week after the session concluded. “A lot of things we were working on for a long time, we were able to get past the goal line.”
A self-effacing figure by nature, Looney, whh’s 62, hesitates to draw attention to himself. He noted that many others pushed this year’s bounty of bills past the goal line line, too, including New Haven colleagues such as “The Two Tonis”—state Sen. Toni Harp and state Rep. Toni Walker, who co-chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee — and grassroots activists interested in specific legislation. (he made a point of naming each New Haven legislator and a bill he or she championed.)
“I’ve never quite seen the [New Haven] delegation work with such shared purpose and such an aggressive agenda,” observed Mayor John DeStefano. “I think they were as effective as any group I have worked with in my 28 years with the city. They did a great job. You saw a real group of leaders emerge.”
For Looney the cascade of legislative victories was particularly sweet, and the longest time in coming: No one else in the legislature has served longer than Looney. (He and Wallingford State Rep. Mary Mushinsky are tied for most years in office.) As majority leader, he was responsible for making sure legislation made past opposition maneuvers and scheduling roadblocks.
And for more than a decade he watched Republican Gov. John Rowland, then M. Jodi Rell, thwart his top-priority proposals.
Last year he made an influential endorsement of Dan Malloy before the Democratic gubernatorial primary; Malloy committed to supporting many of Looney’s key projects, and Looney allies helped assemble a vote-pulling operation that put Malloy over the top in both the primary and the general election.
And in this year’s legislative session, the world changed.
New Math
Or at least the math. And the role of of the chief executive’s team.
When pot decriminalization came up, for instance. Looney and Harp first proposed the idea in 2009. It made it through the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, but no further; with support tight, there was no chance of assembling enough votes in the Senate to override an expected gubernatorial veto. In 2011, Looney no longer needed to worry about assembling a veto-proof 24 votes; 18 would suffice.
And as in the past, Looney was consulting on strategy with longtime colleague Mike Lawlor as the bill advanced. Only this time Lawlor wasn’t a fellow state legislator — he was a Malloy appointee, and a point person on criminal justice measures. In the end, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman broke a tie vote in the Senate, and Connecticut law changed: as of July 1, possessing under a half-ounce of pot will get you a $150 ticket, not a criminal record. (More details here.)
Lawlor also helped Looney shepherd to passage a controversial “risk reduction earned credit” law that enables inmates to reduce their sentences by participating in prison programs or treatment.
Looney and allies got a bill passed in 2007 to allow children of undocumented parents in Connecticut to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. Gov. Rell vetoed the measure. It didn’t have a chance again until this year — when it passed into law with Malloy’s support.
The earned income tax credit? Every New England and mid-Atlantic state that has an income tax — except Connecticut — offered that break to low-wage workers. Gov. Rell balked at the idea and killed it during a crucial last-minute negotiation in the past, Looney said. This year it passed, and Connecticut will join the club.
Medicaid coverage for diabetics’ podiatry visits? Gov. Rowland killed the idea when Looney and colleagues first pushed it. It passed this year. Same with mandated insurance coverage for ancillary medical treatment for patients participating in clinical trials for major illnesses other than cancer.
Those 18 votes were enough to pass the first-in-the-nation state law requiring some companies (service companies with over 50 employees) to give sick workers paid days off. (Read about that here.)
“It’s exhilarating and empowering,” Looney said of legislating in the new environment.
Plenty of other long-nurtured ideas passed because of the new Capitol calculus, even if they weren’t all proposals that Republican governors specifically killed in the past, Looney said. He cited, among other new laws:
• Permission granted to New Haven to allow the police chief to weigh in on new liquor licenses, in response to a local campaign against problem bars.
• A school bullying law.
• A measure requiring cops to present photos, and possible suspects at line-ups, one at a time when asking victims and eyewitnesses to identify criminals. The measure, cosponsored with Looney by New Haven State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, also establishes a commission to review other best practices. “The conventional wisdom for years has been that the victim will be a good witness,” when in fact witnesses are often so traumatized that the opposite is true, Looney says. He cited the landmark cases that sparked the legislation: the 18-year imprisonment of James Tillman on a rape charge until DNA cleared him. The victim had identified him as the rapist.
• A “custodial interrogation” measure requiring taping of suspects’ confessions.
• Expansion of the tax credit companies can claim — from $75,000 to $150,000, up to 60 percent of their tax liability — under the Neighborhood Assistance Act when they donate to not-for-profit agencies. (The expansion doesn’t add to the budget; the program remains capped at $5 million a year.)
• Allowing up to 30 percent of the teachers at charter schools to be non-certified.
• Giving the education commissioner leeway in interpreting an auditing requirement that could have cost New Haven up to $37 million. It covers reimbursement for school construction. Enrollment figures came up short in some of the newly built and rebuilt city schools in recent years, based on state auditing rules. But those rules are based on neighborhood schools; the new law, pushed by Looney and “the two Tonis,” will allow New Haven schools, which are citywide schools of choice, to be looked at more like magnet schools in this area, Looney said.
Unfinished Business
The new legislative calculus came up short on one bill Looney has supported for years. And that was a surprise.
That was the bill to abolish Connecticut’s death penalty. Rep. Holder-Winfield, a key early Malloy supporter, has led the fight to pass that bill. He succeeded in getting it through the legislature two years ago, only to have Rell veto it. Malloy promised to sign it if elected. But he didn’t get the chance: two former abolition supporters in the legislature decided not to vote for abolition this year because of the Cheshire Petit case.
The second trial in the Petit case should be over when the legislature next meets in 2012, Looney noted. And Dan Malloy will still be governor.