CT Ranks 5th in Charitable Giving, Analysis Says

The residents of Connecticut are the fifth most generous in the nation, according to a new analysis.  The review of charitable giving by the financial website WalletHub, across the nation’s 50 states, found that Connecticut ranked:

• 3rd – Percentage of Population Who Donated Money
• 8th – Charities per Capita
• 18th – Percentage of Donated Income
• 19th – Volunteer Rate
• 25th – Volunteer Hours per Capita

Overall, only Minnesota, Utah, New York and Maryland placed higher than Connecticut in the ranking of Most Charitable States.  Rounding out the top ten were Virginia, Georgia, Washington, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

A year ago, Utah topped the list and Connecticut was just outside the top 10 at number 11.

The 18 key metrics used in the analysis were grouped in two categories weighed equally, Volunteering & Service and Charitable Giving.  Connecticut ranked 7^th in the former and 14^th in the latter.  The Volunteering & Service category included share of the population collecting or distributing food or clothes for people in need, volunteer hours per capita, and fundraising or selling items to raise money.  The Charitable Giving section included donating money and time, as well as the number of public charities, and share of the population donating time.

The least charitable states, according to the analysis, were Arizona, Rhode Island and Nevada.

Americans are among the world’s most generous people, WalletHub points out, ranking fourth out of 140 countries. U.S. donors in 2017 gave more than $410 billion to charity, with 70 percent of the funds coming directly from individuals, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.  In addition, nearly 63 million people volunteer in the U.S., serving a combined total of 7.9 billion hours per year, the equivalent of $184 billion of service.

https://youtu.be/t5lI9urlYkM

Impact of One Black Teacher Can Be Life-Changing, UConn Research Reveals

The influence of having a black teacher can significantly impact a black student’s life, and the effect begins early in an education.  Having just one black teacher in elementary school not only makes children more like to graduate high school – it also makes them significantly more likely to enroll in college, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Connecticut researcher. Black students who’d had just one black teacher by third grade were 13 percent more likely to enroll in college – and those who’d had two were 32 percent more likely.

The research paper, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, observed that “Black teachers provide a crucial signal that leads black students to update their beliefs about the returns to effort and what educational outcomes are possible.”  In addition, “role model effects help to explain why black teachers increase the educational attainment of black students.”

The findings, from researchers at UConn, Johns Hopkins University, American University, and the University of California-Davis, were published recently in a working paper titled “The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers.”  Another, related working paper by the same team titled “Teacher Expectations Matter,” also published by NBER, found teachers’ beliefs about a student’s college potential can become self-fulfilling prophecies.

In that research, every 20 percent increase in a teacher’s expectations raised the actual chance of finishing college for white students by about 6 percent and 10 percent for black students. However, because black students had the strongest endorsements from black teachers, and black teachers are scarce, they have less chance to reap the benefit of high expectations than their white peers, UConn Today reported.

“Black student students often don’t have parents or other black adults in their lives who have gone to college and gotten professional jobs,” Joshua Hyman told UConn Today.  Hyman, an assistant professor of public policy at UConn, who has a joint appointment in the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education, co-authored the papers along with researchers from the three other universities.

“All it takes is one black teacher to influence a student,” he adds. “They see someone like them in their classroom and start to believe they can go to college too, and get a good job.”

The paper appears to be the first to document the long-term reach of the role model effect, UConn Today reported.  The researchers previously found that having at least one black teacher in elementary school reduced their probability of dropping out by 29 percent for low-income black students – and 39 percent for very low-income black boys.

In a New York Times op-ed last year, a ninth-grade teacher who has worked for 10 years in high schools and middle schools in the New York City area, and is Black, wrote this: “Black students need teachers who understand that they’re capable of the full range of anxieties and insecurities, greatness and success, hilarious moments and generous surprises. The amount of melanin in my skin is neither necessary nor sufficient for this: It’s not a magic formula. But I can remember a time when I looked and sounded like my students. That helps me see myself in them, and all they’re capable of. I hope they can see themselves in me.”

The latest findings are based on data from the Tennessee STAR class size reduction experiment that started in 1986 and randomly assigned disadvantaged kindergarten students to various sizes of classroom.  The researchers replicated the findings with similar data for North Carolina students.

The study found that black students who’d had a black teacher in kindergarten were as much as 18 percent more likely than their peers to enroll in college. Getting a black teacher in their first STAR year, any year up to third grade, increased a black student’s likelihood of enrolling in college by 13 percent.  Black children who had two black teachers during the program were 32 percent more likely to go to college than their peers who didn’t have black teachers at all.

“What’s very interesting about this paper is that it looks later in a student’s life,” says Hyman. “It’s impressive that the impression of having a black elementary school teacher last that long. It helps reduce the race gap.”

Additionally, students who had at least one black teacher in grades K-3 were about 10 percent more likely to be described by their 4th grade teachers as “persistent” or kids who “made an effort” and “tried to finish difficult work,” the researchers found. These students were also marginally more likely to ask questions and talk about school subjects out of class.

“One of the lingering issues of this paper is that we have to entice black people to enter the teaching areas,” Hyman points out. “In schools where there is a large black population, that has to be addressed.”

CT Per Student Spending in Public Higher Education Saw 7th Largest Drop in Nation During Past Decade

The burden has shifted and grown during the past decade for students attending Connecticut’s public two- and four-year institutions of higher education. Between 2008 and 2018, average tuition at public colleges and universities (adjusted for inflation) grew by 38.4 percent in Connecticut, according to a new national analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The study found that average tuition increased by $3,437 during the decade – 13^th largest average increase among the states - as state spending per student dropped by $3,203.

That is the 7^th largest average drop in state per student spending in the nation, and the largest among the New England states.  The next largest state reduction in the region was in New Hampshire, ranking 24th.  Massachusetts ranked 28^th, reducing state spending per student by $1,295.

Tuition climbed as state spending per student dropped by 20.2 percent at Connecticut’s public higher education institutions - the 20th largest percentage decrease among the states.

Connecticut is not alone.

Overall state funding for public two- and four-year colleges in the school year ending in 2018 was more than $7 billion below its 2008 level, after adjusting for inflation, according to the study.

Of the 49 states (all except Illinois) analyzed over the full 2008-2018 period:

• 45 spent less per student in the 2018 school year than in 2008. The only states spending more than in 2008 were California, Hawaii, North Dakota, and Wyoming.
• States cut funding deeply after the recession hit. The average state spent $1,502, or 16 percent, less per student in 2018 than in 2008.
• Per-student funding in nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina — fell by more than 30 percent over this period.

The report also found that annual published tuition at four-year public colleges has risen by $2,651, or 36 percent, since the 2008 school year.  In Louisiana, published tuition at four-year schools has doubled, while in six other states — Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, and Hawaii — published tuition is up more than 60 percent.

“These sharp tuition increases have accelerated longer-term trends of college becoming less affordable and costs shifting from states to students,” the report, “Unkept Promises:  State Cuts to Higher Education Threaten Access and Equity,” stated.

The largest tuition increases, comparing public, four-year colleges in 2008 and 2018, were in Arizona, Louisiana, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Virginia, Colorado, Alabama, California, Rhode Island, Vermont, Georgia, Tennessee, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  Connecticut was fourth highest among the six New England states.  Maine had the smallest tuition increase.

Indications are that the trend has slowed during the past year.  Published tuition — the “sticker price” — at public four-year institutions rose by less than 1 percent nationally between the 2017 and 2018 school years, the report indicated.  Rhode Island increased average tuition across its four-year institutions on a dollar basis more than any other state, by $559, or roughly 4.8 percent. Connecticut - along with Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, and Oregon - raised average tuition by more than $300, according to data compiled for the report, published last month.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonpartisan research and policy institute which pursues federal and state policies designed both to reduce poverty and inequality and to restore fiscal responsibility in equitable and effective ways, according to the organization’s website.  The Center is based in Washington, D.C.

Failures in Federal Housing Policy Focus of Media Investigation, Hartford Concerns Highlighted

An NBC News investigation of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has found that more than 1,000 out of HUD’s nearly 28,000 federally subsidized multifamily properties failed their most recent inspection — a failure rate that is more than 30 percent higher than in 2016, according to an analysis of HUD records. When NBC broke the story last week of the agency’s dismal record of responding to conditions that at times have been described a “life-threatening,” the example cited most prominently was in Hartford.

The news report stated that “A federal housing inspection in February confirmed living conditions were abysmal … throughout the 52-unit Section 8 development known as the Infill apartments. The property scored only 27 points out of 100, far below the 60 points needed to pass the mandatory health and safety inspection.”  Infill is located in Hartford’s North End. 

“More than nine months after the inspection, federally mandated deadlines for action have come and gone, and residents say little has changed,” NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reported, despite “citations for exposed wiring, missing smoke detectors and bug infestations,” noted that “the Infill units racked up 113 health and safety violations — including 24 that HUD deemed ‘life-threatening.’”

“In one of Hartford’s poorest neighborhoods, a three-month investigation by NBC News found that HUD failed to comply with federal laws requiring prompt action against the owner of a property that authorities knew was unsafe, unhealthy and in disrepair, according to documents released through the Freedom of Information Act,” Gosk reported.

While the agency pointed out that 96 percent nationwide passed inspections, NBC reported that “HUD’s enforcement office, tasked with going after the worst landlords, now has the lowest staff levels since 1999, according to a federal watchdog.”

“In the case of Infill, though, HUD acknowledged that the landlord failed to deliver,” NBC News reported. “The owner provided certain assurances to our field folks that, in the end, did not happen,” HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said in an email to NBC News. “That hasn't stopped the federal subsidies,” NBC News reported.

"It's a flow of money that continues to come," AJ Johnson, a local pastor who has helped the tenants organize, told NBC News.  “Whether it’s indifference or incompetence, the Trump administration’s failures in Connecticut and around the country cannot be excused. Someone must be held accountable,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who led previous efforts to strengthen the HUD inspection process, NBC News reported. “Secretary [Ben] Carson owes it to these families to present a concrete plan for how he will make this better, and how he’ll make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”

Infill’s owner, meanwhile, is “set for years to come,” the NBC News report concluded.  “In July 2017, just seven months before the failed inspection, HUD renewed its contract with Isaacson for 20 years — a deal worth over $14 million.”

The NBC News investigation was reported, in addition to Gosk, by Suzy Khimm, Laura Strickler and Hanna Rappleye, and included interviews with numerous tenants of the property and other individuals in Hartford and Washington.

Blockchain Gains a Foothold on Connecticut Campuses

Blockchain is soon to arrive on Connecticut’s college campuses, with new initiatives imminent at Southern Connecticut State University, University of Saint Joseph, and the University of Connecticut’s Stamford campus. A six-week boot camp for individuals who would like to widen their computer programming skills to include Blockchain – a cutting-edge form of encryption technology – has been developed at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.  The SCSU Blockchain Academy launches on January 23 and runs though March 6.

Blockchain refers to the technology behind the development of secure digital databases that are accessible to the public, but cannot be altered by anyone other than the person posting the data. It is a shared, distributed ledger that improves the process of tracking and recording a transaction.  Blockchain can be used for a variety of purposes, including financial transactions, supply chain management, luxury goods or anything of value. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies use this technology.

“Southern intends to become a leader in educating people about the ‘Internet of Value,’ which is the fastest growing market the world has ever seen,” said Colleen Bielitz, SCSU associate vice president for strategic initiatives and outreach. A promotional video posted by Southern (below) has already been seen more than one thousand times.

“Blockchain is going to be increasingly important to businesses, and during the next decade is expected to have a major impact on the economy and the world. The goal of this academy is to grow the community of decentralized application developers and to make New Haven a hub for Blockchain technology and innovation as companies look to take advantage of this growing market.”

The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) announced last week that it has developed the Greater Hartford area’s first two-part certification program for future blockchain technologist, in collaboration with DappDevs, which is also collaborating with Southern and UConn.

President Rhona Free, Ph.D., remarked, “With this certificate program, USJ continues its commitment to providing educational programs aligned to our regional economy. The Greater Hartford community will benefit from this newly-created training program that offers skill development and career advancement in blockchain application development.”

The USJ pre-certificate program geared toward faculty, current college students, and college graduates in the Greater Hartford region, begins on Feb. 2, 2019, and runs over four weeks as one three-hour evening session per week. The full certification program is a six-week session that runs from March 5-April 11, as two three-hour sessions per week.

UConn’s Connecticut Information Technology Institute (CITI) is sponsoring the creation of a blockchain chapter in Stamford in order to facilitate the development of an education-based micro community designed to connect decentralized application developers. This community, in hand with Stamford’s established financial enterprises, will play a key role in further establishing Connecticut as a USA crypto capital, according to the university’s website.  UConn is offering a two-day Blockchain Development course, with its partners, DappDevs and the Werth Institute.

UConn’s first-ever blockchain symposium was held in Stamford in August.  The conference drew top scholars and Ph.D. students Stanford, Princeton, Virginia Tech, and from 10 nations, including England, Israel, Switzerland, China and Norway. State-run news agencies from Vietnam and China also covered the two-day event, called “Blockchain Technology & Organizations Research Symposium.”

These initiatives reflect that blockchain is increasingly taking academia by storm, not only in Connecticut but across the nation.  This past summer Columbia University and Stanford University both launched blockchain research centers, following in the footsteps of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Digital Currency Initiative, which launched as part of the MIT Media Lab in 2015; MIT was among the first institutions to create such a program, according to industry publication Inside Higher Ed.

The Center for Blockchain Research at Stanford University launched in June.  Miami University launches a course in blockchain technology for undergraduates in the Spring 2019 semester.  Montclair State University’s center for continuing and professional education recently spearheaded the launch of three professional blockchain certificates -- one covering the basics, one for developers and one focusing on applications of blockchain in the financial sector.

https://youtu.be/_8X_wr1tCNI

Marijuana Sales Begin Tuesday in MA; CT Expected to Consider Legalization in 2019

Massachusetts begins the sale of recreational marijuana on Tuesday, in Northampton and Leicester, as Connecticut looks ahead to a new Governor and new legislature, taking office in six weeks, with the addition of recreational sales on the agenda to complement a thriving medical marijuana program. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have passed laws broadly legalizing marijuana in some form.  The District of Columbia and 10 states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington -- have adopted the most expansive laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use, according to Governing magazine.  The Massachusetts law was approved two years ago, but retail sales have not begun - until this week.

Governor-elect Ned Lamont told Connecticut Public Radio listeners, just a few days prior to his election, that “I think legalizing marijuana is an idea whose time has come…and I’m gonna push it in the first year” of the new administration.  He added that “maybe we should tax this, regulate it in a serious way, put some of that money toward opioid treatment.”

Most recently, Michigan voters approved a ballot measure permitting adults age 21 and over to purchase and possess recreational-use marijuana. Vermont became the first state earlier this year to legalize marijuana for recreational use through the legislative process, rather than via a ballot measure. Vermont's law allows for adults age 21 and over to grow and possess small amounts of cannabis. However, it does not permit the sale of nonmedical cannabis. Some other state laws similarly decriminalized marijuana, but did not initially legalize retail sales.

The Connecticut General Assembly's Regulations Review Committee agreed last week that chronic neuropathic pain associated with degenerative spinal disorders is eligible for treatment with the drug, adding that to the list of approved conditions.  There are now 31 conditions that have been approved for adults and eight for patients under 18 that can be treated with medical marijuana. Minors can be treated for eight conditions.

There are currently 29,543 patients in Connecticut's medical marijuana program and 1,000 certifying physicians, according to published reports. In recent months, DCP has launched a database listing medical marijuana brands registered with the state and added eight new conditions to the program. The eight new conditions for adults added this summer include: Spasticity, or neuropathic pain associated with fibromyalgia; Severe rheumatoid arthritis; Postherpetic neuralgia; Hydrocephalus with intractable headache;  Intractable headache syndromes; Neuropathic facial pain; Muscular dystrophy; and Osteogenesis imperfecta.

Connecticut’s nine dispensaries and four growers are reportedly discussing adding more storefronts and growers in light of an increasing patient count.

Last month, Rhode Island’s Department of Health this week approved medical marijuana use for people who suffer from some severe manifestations of autism, most of whom are children.  But before doctors can recommend marijuana, the health department has implemented several safeguards "to ensure that patients are being treated safely." Seven other states have made autism a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, according to advocacy group #cannabis4autism: Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

At the University of Connecticut, Professor Gerald Berkowitz will teach students about marijuana growing, a burgeoning industry as more states legalize cannabis use for medical and/or recreational purposes. The UConn class — called "Horticulture of Cannabis: from seed to harvest" — is a lecture course, and it's attracted about 270 students who will begin studies in January, Hartford Business Journal reported this month.

In Colorado, the adult-use marijuana market continues to surge nearly five years after the launch of recreational sales in the state, according to a recent news report.  Through August 2018 – the most recent data available from the Colorado Department of Revenue – recreational marijuana sales topped $800 million and the state is on pace to surpass $1.2 billion by the end of the year. That would represent a 12 percent increase over total sales in 2017. As of August 2017, 498 recreational stores were licensed throughout the state; that number grew to 541 by September 1, 2018 – a 9 percent increase

PERSPECTIVE: Connecticut at the Start of this Decade

by M. Jodi Rell At the start of this decade, the beginning of her final year as Governor of Connecticut, M. Jodi Rell addressed a joint session of the House and Senate and delivered her State of the State address on February 3, 2010.   Her remarks that day:   

We gather today to mark the opening of the 2010 legislative session and we do so at a time of continued challenge, continued anxiety.

None of us need to be reminded of the unparalleled struggles that we have endured over the last 22 months.  Our nation has been in the grip of an economic crisis unlike any witnessed in generations.

The stark reality of our struggles is all too real.  Housing prices are down; unemployment is up.  The value of savings and retirement accounts are down; mortgage foreclosures are up.  The amount of debt at all levels of government is up.

Yes, the statistics are real – and our emotions are raw.  People are uncertain about the future.  They are frustrated and angry about the present.  And they have every right to be.

The people of Connecticut are looking to us to help them.  They are looking to us to lead.  They are looking to us to right our ship of state.

They don’t want to hear shallow lamentations of sympathy or understanding from their elected officials. They want action and assistance.  And they want an end to the theatrical histrionics of political press conferences and partisan pinball.  They want us to act like adults.

President Obama spoke eloquently about this last week in his State of the Union address.  He spoke of the nature and nastiness of politics in our nation’s capital.  Frankly, he could have been speaking of our own State Capitol here in Hartford.

I will echo his sentiment and be a bit more blunt:  we need to stop the game-playing and name-calling and constant bickering that has come to consume too many at the Capitol.   There is no room for such pettiness on the playground; there certainly shouldn’t be in the Legislature, the Governor’s Office or the courts either.

None of us are blameless in this regard.  All of us must accept our responsibilities to treat one another with respect and to listen, truly listen, to those whose views or proposals or policies may differ from our own.

In the end we may not agree with one another, but we should respect one another.  We need not speak glowingly of each other or of each other’s ideas, but we must speak civilly.  Let us replace acrimony with accommodation, let us set aside the difficulties and divisions of the last year and commit ourselves, truly commit ourselves, to working with one another.

For we have much to do – and our work begins in earnest today.

Thousands of trees will be felled for the hundreds of bills that will be filed on dozens of topics.  But our efforts, our energies, this session should be focused on just two core issues: creating jobs and balancing our state budget.

Too many people have lost their jobs and a lost job means a lost paycheck, lost security, lost dignity and lost hope for the future.  Families across our state are hurting and suffering and struggling.

We need to get to work to put the people of Connecticut back to work.  Today I am announcing new proposals that will allow us to spur job creation now and chart a course of economic vitality and growth for years to come.   The most critical problem facing businesses today, particularly the small and medium businesses that are our main engines of growth, is credit availability.  Employers need loans and financing to buy equipment and inventory, expand space or just to meet daily cash flow demands.   As we all know the credit crunch has crippled a great many employers.  Financing that was readily available in years past is difficult, if not impossible, to find.

This is a national problem but we need to find a Connecticut solution to it.

I am calling for the creation of the new Connecticut Credit Consortium - a $500 million dollar partnership between the state --and Connecticut banks to substantially boost credit availability. I propose canceling $100 million in old bond authorizations and instead use the funds for the Consortium.  Our $100 million dollars will leverage at least $400 million dollars from banks all across our state. That’s $500 million that will immediately be put to work to help businesses save and create jobs.  And here’s one key provision: $25 million of the state’s $100 million will be targeted strictly for small businesses for micro or small loans.

As I have said before, small businesses are the chief job creators.  That is not in dispute.  And neither is their need for credit.  Their lifeline is credit – and that lifeline has been cut off.

Work with me to open up that lifeline to create jobs and pass into law the Connecticut Credit Consortium.  I also ask you to help in passing other proposals I am offering to reinvigorate our economy and create jobs.

The first one modifies the relatively new, but little used job creation tax credit.  It was aimed at large corporations but they are not availing themselves of it.  So I am proposing that we change it to benefit small businesses with twenty-five or fewer employees.

Because most small business are limited liability corporations - LLCs - and S corps, we will, under my proposal, allow, for the first time, a credit against an employer’s personal income tax liability.  The credit will be for $2,500 per year for three years for each new job created.  $10 million dollars is already in the budget for this proposal – and up to 4,000 new jobs could be created this year alone.

One area where we see a large number of new start-ups of small businesses is in green technology and clean, renewable energy.  Kermit the Frog had it wrong all these years, I’m afraid.  It is easy to be green.  Solar, fuel cells, wind turbines and geothermal – all hold the keys to economic and energy prosperity.

That is why I am proposing that we expand our sales tax exemption to include machines, equipment, tools, materials, supplies and fuels used in the renewable energy and green technology.

This is in addition to the work of my Electric Vehicle Council that is preparing the way for green business opportunities for the arrival of zero-emission, electric vehicles.  And there’s one more component we still need to address – and it’s a critically important component: our workforce.

We are recognized around the nation for the high quality and talent of our workforce.  The best and brightest are found right here in Connecticut.  But we need to do more to keep them here.  We want our children to be educated here and start their work life here and then raise their own families here.

And our companies will only succeed if they have the qualified, trained employees they need.  That is why I am proposing a new loan forgiveness program for students who stay and work in Connecticut after they graduate from college with a degree or certificate in green technology, renewable energy, life sciences or health information technology.

They will receive a $2,500 annual forgiveness for each of four years if they have a baccalaureate or higher degree or $2,500 a year for two years with an associate degree.  Join me into making this loan forgiveness program a reality.

And there’s something we can do – must do - for all businesses and for all of our citizens:  bring certainty and sanity to our state’s fiscal situation.  The protracted discussions and negotiations, along with the fevered partisan debate that characterized last year’s budget, cannot be repeated.  It was hardly state government’s finest moment.

Today marks a new session, a new start and a new effort to work together to honestly confront the undeniable realities of shrinking revenues and ever-rising costs.  A little more than seven months into a two year budget and we are already facing a $500 million dollar plus deficit.  A deficit due in large part to drastic reductions in the collection of the income tax and sales tax.  Why?  Because if you do not have a job you do not have any income on which to pay tax and you have no money to spend on items that carry a sales tax.  We have 94,000 people in this state who have lost their jobs since the recession began in March, 2008.   94,000.

The recovery will be long and painfully slow and there will be a "new normal" when it does take full effect.  We in state government need a "new normal" as well.  Because we have a state government that has outgrown the ability of our citizens to pay for it.  We need to recognize that not every service, not every program, not every function is absolutely essential.  We need to acknowledge that higher taxes are not the solution to our problems.

It’s common sense:  the taxes we already have on our books are not bringing in the revenue we thought they would, so why would new and higher taxes be the answer??  They’re not.

So I say no.  No on behalf of the 94,000 people who have lost their jobs.  No, on behalf of the businesses that are struggling to keep their doors open.  No, on behalf of all the families who struggle to make ends meet day in and day out.   We do need to say yes to some basic structural reforms, however.

People look at Washington and the spending spree they have been on of late.  They see weekly stories about borrowing a few hundred billion for this, a few hundred billion for that… and they react with horror.  They worry about the bill that will be handed to their children and grandchildren for all that borrowing.  We have our own concerns here in Connecticut since we have one of the highest debt rates in the country.  That’s why it is so critical that we tackle this year’s deficit head-on and honestly deal with it, not borrow to cover it.

I am proposing that we put into place a new protection: any bond authorization that has been on the books for five years or more without being allocated by the State Bond Commission will automatically be canceled.  We have billions and billions of dollars of bonds that have been authorized by the legislature over the years.  Some, are for worthwhile statewide needs; many are not.  But all could bankrupt us and all are counted by credit rating agencies as liabilities.   If a project is not worthy enough to be approved after five or more years then we probably shouldn't bond for it and pay twenty years of interest on it.

And there is another financial Sword of Damocles hanging over the state’s head that we literally can no longer afford to ignore:  our unfunded state employee pension liabilities and unfunded retiree health care costs.  The tab for our unfunded pension liabilities is a staggering $9.3 billion.  The price tag for health care benefits for retired state employees is an almost incomprehensible $24.6 billion.  This mounting debt has been virtually ignored for decades. Ignorance may be bliss, according to the old adage, but that bliss carries a price - too high a price.

For that reason I am establishing a working group, with representatives from the Treasurer’s and Comptroller’s Offices, OPM, SEBAC, accountants, actuaries and others to propose short and long term plans for addressing our unfunded liabilities. Their first report will be due by July 1st.  I am also offering a proposal today that  contains an automatic requirement that half of any budget surplus declared by the Comptroller in her January or May report be automatically deposited into the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

When I was sworn in as Governor on July 1, 2004 our Rainy Day Fund had a zero balance.  Zero.  I made it a priority to restore the fund, the state’s nest egg, and working with you, it was filled to its largest balance ever by 2008 – nearly $1.4 billion.  I am proud of that effort.  And it’s a good thing that we took that action because we are now in the midst of our "Rainy Day" – we’re using all of the Fund’s assets this year and next to balance our state budget.

But the Rainy Day Fund is a tempting, too tempting, target.  There is never a shortage of people who enjoy spending money and never a dearth of people who are asking for it.  Each dollar of surplus spent is one dollar less that can go into the Rainy Day Fund.  So, let’s reduce temptation and ensure that half of any surplus declared in January or May be automatically deposited into the Fund.  No diversions.  No short-sighted thinking.  No excuses.

We need to pass these proposals and to act now -- because the outlook for the future is fiscally challenging, to say the least.  Early revenue shortfall projections for the outyears are in the billions of dollars.

The Rainy Day Fund will be empty.  Federal stimulus grants will be gone.  All our outside funds will have been swept. And yet employee, insurance, heating, fuel and other costs will continue to increase appreciably.  Quite frankly, the dire circumstances we are facing today will pale in comparison to the challenges that will face the next Governor, the next Legislature.

Every action that we take this year, to finally get state spending under control will ease the budget pain that all will be feeling for the next few years.

So let me be clear about this:  I intend to do everything in my power in my remaining months in office to make the changes that are needed to break insatiable spending habits and to make state government affordable once again.

It would not be fair to my successor – or yours -  to simply ignore the fiscal problems that we have today and that we all know lie just ahead.  We must deal with our current problems this session and develop a plan of action for new leadership next session.

So today I am proposing something rather unique – and rather necessary.  Something that will build upon the important work begun by my administration and the legislature in streamlining state government.  I am calling for the establishment of a 24-member commission to examine our government, top to bottom, to achieve efficiencies, eliminate redundancies and waste and reduce the size and cost of state government.

Every institution, every structure, service, program and delivery mechanism will be evaluated.  And it will be done in a non-partisan manner by all 3 branches of government.  Six members will be appointed by me to represent the executive branch.  Six will be appointed by the Chief Justice to represent the judicial branch, and six each will be appointed by the Democratic and Republican leadership of the Legislature.  There will be three chairs, one from each branch of government. The commission will have until August 30th to conduct their work, the nature of which is clearly spelled out in my legislation.  It includes:  agency mergers or eliminations; administrative overhead; outdated functions or services and better utilization of information technology.  That’s step one.

Step two is a separate four-person board which is established on September 1st.  So as to take the politics out of the equation, all branches and both sides of the political aisle are again equally represented.  They will review the work and recommendations of the commission.  They will also hold hearings and automatically accept those recommendations unless 3 out of 4 members vote to amend or reject any specific recommendation.  Their work must be concluded by December 1st.  Those recommendations that are administrative in nature will be implemented by the Governor or Chief Justice, as appropriate.  The Legislature will have 45 days once the regular session starts next January to vote on the final recommendations – without amendment.

And every step taken will be done in open session, with all documents, phone calls, meeting notes and correspondence open for public inspection.  The timeline is tight because we want the recommendations ready for the next Governor, the next Legislature.  They will need the recommendations to grapple with the great fiscal challenges we will face.  We owe it to them – and to those who pay for our government – our taxpayers – and those who are served by our government.  Let the creation of this commission be one of the first bills you act upon so that its work can begin immediately.

And act quickly to fix and preserve the public financing law that so many of us championed and that takes special interest money out of campaigns.  Dozens and dozens of candidates are running right now under one set of rules.  It is very likely they may find themselves running under another set if we lose our court appeal.

Don’t let us return to the ways of the past.  We have cleaned up government and we have cleaned up campaigns.  Help me keep them clean. Act. Lead.  I'm not scolding. I'm not lecturing. I'm beseeching you: Act. Lead --

On campaign finance reform, job creation and balancing the state budget.   Those are the areas I have focused on and most of my proposals are paid for with existing funds.  This is not the year for a panoply of expensive new proposals on a wide range of issues.  We cannot afford them and the public is not crying out for them.

They want us to fix our economy, fix our state budget, jumpstart job creation and then stay out of their pockets as they start earning paychecks again.  And they want us to do this while engaging, not fighting, one another.   It’s not too much for them to ask.  They put their trust in us – their public trust by electing us to office.

I am honored by that trust and I am proud to be the 87th Governor of this great state.  I am proud of all that has been accomplished since I became Governor.   Ethics and campaign finance reform.  Civil unions. The Charter Oak program for the uninsured.  A new hospital at our veterans’ home. New charter and magnet schools.  Hundreds of new and refurbished rail cars, updated rail stations and new buses. Thousands of acres of farmland and open space preserved. Dozens of dairy farmers kept in business. College campuses that have been transformed. The list goes on – and it will be added to before I leave office next January.

There is no time for reflection, however, for much work remains ahead, and much history is yet to be written.  You know, 2010 marks the 375th year of our great state.  We are planning a number of festivities to celebrate all the people and events that have made Connecticut such a special place.

375 years of incredible history, with remarkable people and achievements.   We begin the next chapter, the next 375 years of our history, today.   I foresee a bright future for our state, but we must first meet the many challenges of today.  We will continue to lead the nation in commerce, science, education, culture and so much more.   We will rebuild our economy.  We will create jobs.  And we will put our state back on firm financial footing if we work hard and confront our problems with courage and common sense.

Our foundations are strong, our commitment resolute. The State of our State is challenged but hopeful.   Extraordinary times call upon us to do our best.  To accept challenges and triumph over them.  And triumph we shall, if we work together, with respect and civility.

Before I conclude I would ask that we keep in mind some of our state’s newest heroes – the more than 600 members of the CT National Guard, who are heading to Afghanistan this week, for their deployment to that dangerous country.  They are part of the largest deployment of Connecticut soldiers to ever serve overseas.  I ask that you keep them and their families in your hearts and in your prayers.

I thank you for the honor of serving as your Governor and I ask you to join me as I say:  God Bless the Great State of Connecticut.

____________________________

M. Jodi Rell served as a State Representative (1985-1995), Lieutenant Governor (1995-2004) and Governor of Connecticut (2004-2011).  She was the second woman and first Republican woman to serve as governor of the state. 

Girls With Impact, Girl Scouts Collaborate to Increase Entrepreneurship Among Teen Girls

In an effort to get girls career-ready, Connecticut-based Girls With Impact, the nation’s only tech-enabled entrepreneurship program for teen girls, is launching a partnership with Girl Scouts of Connecticut to enable girls to parlay their cookies experience into their own businesses. “Entrepreneurship is one of the four programmatic pillars that comprise the Girl Scout Leadership Experience,” said Mary Barneby, CEO for Girl Scouts of Connecticut. “We welcome the opportunity to partner with Girls With Impact to provide our older Girl Scouts with a ‘virtual MBA’ in developing their own business plans. We are creating the next generation of female leaders and programs like this give our girls a real edge and help them become more confident and career-ready.”

Girls With Impact CEO Jennifer Openshaw says her goal is to train 10,000 young women as entrepreneurs, equipping them with the skills to start businesses or serve as innovators within corporate America.

Girl Scouts members will be entitled to participate in the Girls With Impact Academy – a 12-week “mini-MBA” program, valued at $2,000, that equips girls with business skills. The program, now in its third year, has helped some past participants to earn full scholarships at top colleges. Sessions are offered throughout the year, with various schedules. The reduced fee for Girl Scouts will be just $450, and scholarships are available.

It is both a skills-builder and confidence builder, critical for teenage girls as they navigate their teens and look forward to careers.  Openshaw points out that only 6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women and just 36 percent of entrepreneurs are women.  Those are statistics she hopes to change.  The after-school, extra-curricular program has seen exceptional results in confidence, empowerment, college prep and career readiness, including STEM areas.

“Girl Scouts is one of our nation’s most powerful leadership training grounds for young women,” said Openshaw. “We’re thrilled to support Girl Scouts as it seeks to modernize and remain relevant for young women in the new global economy.”

Girl Scouts of Connecticut serves over 26,000 girls and over 12,000 adults giving girls the skills they need to empower themselves for life. Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world, Girl Scouts learn five essential skills that they will carry with them for a lifetime: goal setting, decision making, business skills, money management, and people skills.

Through the Digital Cookie® platform, Girl Scouts are able to take their cookie businesses online, using their own personal website to reach customers across the country, experiencing true enterprise. Barneby called on girls to bring a friend to Girls With Impact and “build your network for tomorrow.” She says the tech delivery enables girls to connect with others nationwide and build that support system so critical to career success.

Girls With Impact, a nonprofit, is the nation’s only entrepreneurship program just for teen girls, delivered live from the home or road. Applications are accepted at  www.girlswithimpact.com.

Institutional Investors, Including Connecticut, Seek to Influence Firearms Industry

A coalition of global institutional and private investors, including the $35-billion Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds (CRPTF), has announced plans to be guided by a newly developed set of principles developed to encourage a “responsible civilian firearms industry.”  The guidelines, established as part of their “fiduciary responsibility,” aim to encourage the firearms industry to address gun safety issues. Since the 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy, Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier has engaged with companies in which the State invests that manufacture, distribute and sell guns and ammunition, raising the business case for reasonable regulation of firearms and ammunition sales in order to mitigate the potential long-term business risk posed by high rates of mortality that are attributed to the misuse of firearms, according to the Treasurer’s Office.

“The proliferation of gun violence is not only a public health issue but also a business risk issue, both of which are central to our fiduciary role as long-term institutional shareholders,” Treasurer Nappier said.

The launch of the Principles for a Responsible Civilian Firearms Industry by investors with combined assets under management of more than $4.8 trillion builds on the Treasury’s engagement effort.  Among the institutional investors signing on to the new principles are funds in states that have seen headline-raising mass shootings, including Florida and California, in addition to Connecticut.

The principles would apply to public and private companies that are involved in the manufacture, sale and distribution of civilian firearms, officials said.  They are focused on reducing risk, which is a priority for institutional investors who have a fiduciary obligation to invest pension assets prudently and to monitor and manage risks.

Over the past decade, shootings involving multiple victims have been on the rise with 2017 being the worst year on record. It is estimated that in 2017 alone, excluding suicides, more than 15,000 people were killed by guns in the United States including students, teachers, and law enforcement officers, according to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization that tracks media and law enforcement reports of shootings.

This year there have been several shootings resulting in multiple fatalities at schools, bars, religious institutions and other places where large numbers of people congregate.

“We must do better,” Treasurer Nappier said.  “We must continue to speak out, contribute constructively to the public debate over this important issue, and achieve the outcome for which we all strive: the safety of our communities and of all our citizens.”

The five principles serve as a conversation starter for investors to use when engaging companies to be active participants in protecting and enhancing long-term portfolio values by ensuring risks are being appropriately monitored and addressed.  The five principles include:

• Principle 1: Manufacturers should support, advance and integrate the development of technology designed to make civilian firearms safer, more secure, and easier to trace.
• Principle 2: Manufacturers should adopt and follow responsible business practices that establish and enforce responsible dealer standards and promote training and education programs for owners designed around firearms safety.
• Principle 3: Civilian firearms distributors, dealers, and retailers should establish, promote, and follow best practices to ensure that no firearm is sold without a completed background check in order to prevent sales to persons prohibited from buying firearms or those too dangerous to possess firearms.
• Principle 4: Civilian firearms distributors, dealers, and retailers should educate and train their employees to better recognize and effectively monitor irregularities at the point of sale, to record all firearm sales, to audit firearms inventory on a regular basis, and to proactively assist law enforcement.
• Principle 5: Participants in the civilian firearms industry should work collaboratively, communicate, and engage with the signatories of these Principles to design, adopt, and disclose measures and metrics demonstrating both best practices and their commitment to promoting these Principles.

“More companies are recognizing that we do not need to work through these issues as adversaries, because we are not.  We share a common interest in their future growth and success, and in promoting the sustainable health of the economic, social and environmental framework within which they exist,” Nappier said.  “Our investments and the future well-being of millions of American pension fund beneficiaries are dependent on responsible corporate governance and citizenship of the portfolio companies in which we invest, but we also can influence it.”

Signatories, besides the CRPTF, include: the California Public Employees Retirement System; the California State Teachers’ Retirement System; the Florida State Board of Administration; the Maine Public Employees Retirement System; the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System; Nuveen, the asset manager of TIAA; OIP Investment Trust; the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund; Rockefeller Asset Management; the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System; State Street Global Advisors; and Wespath Investment Management.

The principles were conceived earlier this year when Harvard University Advanced Leadership Fellow Christianna Wood and Christopher J. Ailman, chief investment officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), convened a group of asset owners, asset managers, and financial institutions to design pragmatic principles for portfolio company engagement in the firearms industry that both gun manufacturers and retailers could embrace.

“The objective of the initiative was to mitigate reputational and financial risk in the investment portfolio. We believe these principles will help to ensure the long-term financial health of the civilian firearms industry and where possible, allow for continued investment/funding of companies within the industry,” the coalition said.

“These principles are an engagement solution to divestment and meant to stimulate productive dialog within the industry. Working together, we can build and leverage solid relationships as we make progress toward mitigating risks, not only to the civilian firearms industry, but also on behalf of our investments,” Ailman said.

Treasurer Nappier said that the Treasury will use the principles as a foundation for conversation and collaboration with the companies in the gun industry in which the CRPTF has investments.  Nappier will conclude 20 years as State Treasurer in January.  She did not seek re-election, and will be succeeded in office by Shawn Wooden, who was elected by Connecticut voters earlier this month.

State Sets Goals to Improve Oral Health, Already Third in the Nation

Connecticut ranks third for overall dental health in the nation, but there are still people who are at risk in the state, based on age, income, race, ethnicity, or education, among other demographic characteristics. Oral health is essential to overall health and quality of life, according to experts in the field, who point out that oral health is closely linked to physical health and well-being. Having good oral health means being free of gum disease, tooth decay, and tooth loss; as well as oral cancer, infection, and pain, officials note. That is because all may limit one’s ability to chew, bite, smile, and speak properly. Pre-term births and chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, and stroke, are also associated with poor oral health, data indicates. 

Looking ahead to determine the steps to take on a statewide basis, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) contracted last May with the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI), to develop and write the state oral health improvement plan. An advisory committee of experts assessed the needs, available resources and gaps related to the oral health of all populations, and formulated focus areas, goals, objectives, strategies, and identified potential partners.

The report, now complete, is the Oral Health Improvement Plan for the State of Connecticut, 2019-2024.  Over 60 interested parties submitted comments, recommendations and data resources. The data in this plan were taken from surveys and studies conducted in Connecticut. Throughout the process, COHI collaborated with DPH's Office of Oral Health, used a "health equity lens" to address oral health disparities, and ensured that the objectives were measurable.

The framework of the plan includes four focus areas - prevention, access and utilization, medical and dental integration, and data collection and analyses. The plan goes on to outline 16 objectives, suggested strategies, and potential partners. It is intended to “guide efforts of state and community programs that are dedicated to ensuring access to oral health services for all residents; regardless of race, ethnicity, education, or class background,” wrote State Health Services Commissioner Raul Pino M.D, M.P.H. in the report’s forward.

The four goals determined through the process that provide the framework for the report’s recommendations:

1. Reduce the incidence of oral disease among Connecticut populations by use of  evidence-based preventive interventions.
2. Ensure access to, and utilization of, quality, comprehensive, and continuous oral health care for all Connecticut residents, particularly at-risk populations.
3. Increase integration of dental and medical health care systems, policies, and programs.
4. Collect and analyze oral health data to measure outcomes and inform decisions to improve the health of Connecticut residents.

In the prevention area, the report determined four objectives:

1. Reduce to 35%, the proportion of Connecticut children in third grade who have dental caries (tooth decay) experience in their primary or permanent teeth.
2. Increase by 10%, the proportion of Connecticut third grade children who receive dental sealants on at least one of their permanent molar teeth.
3. Reduce to 0%, the five-year rate change in the incidence of Connecticut residents who experienced oral and/or pharyngeal cancer.
4. Maintain Connecticut’s statute for community water fluoridation

In the access and utilization category, the recommendations included:

• Reduce to 14%, the proportion of Connecticut third grade children with untreated dental decay.
• Increase to 31%, the number of Connecticut schools with 50% or greater participation in Free and Reduced Meals (FARMs) in which dental services are provided.
• Increase by 5%, the proportion of Connecticut children and adults who had a dental visit in the past year.
• Reduce by 5%, the proportion of Connecticut older adults who attend congregate meal sites who have untreated dental decay.
• Reduce by 5%, the proportion of Connecticut older adults in long-term care sites who have untreated dental decay.
• Increase by 5%, the proportion of Connecticut older adults who have dental benefits.

In medical/dental integration, the report set as the state’s goals:

1. Increase by 10%, the number of Connecticut’s federally-qualified health center (FQHC) locations that offer dental services.
2. Increase by 5%, the proportion of Connecticut HUSKY Health primary care providers who include an oral health assessment in child wellness visits.
3. Increase by 5%, the proportion of Connecticut HUSKY Health children under the age of 6 who received fluoride applications by a primary care provider in the past year.
4. Implement diabetes pre-screening and referral to a primary care provider in at least five Connecticut FQHC dental programs.

The report also called for incremental change in the area of data collection and analysis, including increasing to fifteen the number of data sources and indicators that are collected, analyzed, interpreted, and disseminated; and increasing to three the number of Connecticut agencies and organizations - beyond State Agencies - that implement a health equity checklist to inform oral health policies and programs.