MARK PAZNIOKAS :: CTMIRROR.ORG
West Hartford’s Mark Walsh, a retired Hartford firefighter who is a frequent critic of Governor Ned Lamont on talk radio, holds up a sign mocking the governor’s $ 1,000 job seeker incentive. The Capitol Police estimated the crowd at 250.
With the help of talk radio hosts, Republicans attempted Monday the political worth of remaining resentment against Governor Ned Lamont over COVID-19 restrictions, which largely went away in May when infections hit.
A lunchtime rally outside the State Capitol to protest a proposed two-month extension of the emergency powers drew an estimated crowd of 250 and an appearance by Bob Stefanowski, the Republican who lost to Lamont in 2018 and is aiming for a rematch in 2022.
“They try to control every single piece of our lives, Democrats,” said Stefanowski. “They want to check whether our children are wearing masks. They want to control whether we go to our house of God. They want to check whether you can go out in the evening and have a beer. “
The challenge for Republicans is to find a way to get voters excited about a two-month extension, which Lamont, who generally gets high marks for his handling of the pandemic, and Democratic legislators say it is largely precautionary and comes after Lamont ended almost all COVID restrictions denounced by Stefanowski.
Exceptions are the requirement that unvaccinated persons must wear masks indoors in public facilities and special conditions that landlords must meet before terminating a tenant for non-payment of the rent, the latter a holdover from an eviction moratorium that ended on July 1.
The government has yet to state whether unvaccinated children should wear masks in school as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week. No vaccines are currently approved for anyone under the age of 12.
“Unmask our children” was the most popular message on Monday.
Rep. Lezlye Zupkus, R-Prospect, told the crowd that wearing a mask was causing her daughter a chronic headache, and she has told her local school principal that the child will not be wearing a mask this fall.
“It’s not fair for these kids to have headaches,” said Zupkus. “You should learn to wear those masks instead.”
The General Assembly, which this year passed a provisional law tightening legislative oversight of executive powers in emergencies, will vote on the two-month extension on Wednesday. With solid democratic majorities in both chambers, passage is almost certain.
House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, and Senator Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, The Senate deputy minority leader said Lamont had been careful in exercising his emergency powers, but that did not warrant another delegation of legislative powers.
“The general delegation of extensive executive powers is, in my opinion, a threat to our democracy,” said Candelora. “I think that’s going too far. And our governor may have been sensible about it in the past, but the facts just don’t speak for a power delegation. “
Similarly, Formica said his opposition is about the principle of continuing to delegate powers to the governor, rather than a desire to overturn executive orders that are still in force.
“I have no objection to what is already there, any more than expanding what appears to have to do with a subsiding or somewhat subsiding emergency,” said Formica.
Neither Candelora nor Formica were among the 10 Republican lawmakers who spoke at the rally. In an interview, Candelora was more critical of the Democratic legislative majority than the governor, saying the legislature was happy to postpone difficult decisions on Lamont.
MARK PAZNIOKAS :: CTMIRROR.ORG
Bob Stefanowski, the 2018 GOP candidate for governor, said Lamont is declaring an ongoing emergency where there is none.
“If I am a democrat in the legislature, I would like to delegate that authority and let the governor make the controversial decision on whether or not children wear masks in school,” said Candelora. “It’s a legislative opportunity to delegate all of the decision-making to this governor who managed to get a high approval rating.”
One of the organizers of the rally was Patrick Sasser, a leader in the successful movements that defeated Lamont’s call for highway tolls to fund overdue infrastructure repairs and improvements, an issue that earned Lamont one of the lowest approval ratings in 2019.
He has recovered during the pandemic.
In a poll conducted by Sacred Heart University in April, nearly three-quarters of voters said they consider their quality of life to be good or excellent, and 69% agreed with Lamont’s management of the pandemic.
House spokesman Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said the expansion of the emergency powers should allow the governor to respond quickly to changes, including the possible availability of a vaccine approved for children under 12 and any recommendations from the CDC on wearing masks the coming school year.
Ritter said the Republicans wanted to create a controversy where there is none, at least not in public.
“The overwhelming majority of Connecticut residents right now are really very happy that Connecticut is not Missouri, that Connecticut is a state that has done an excellent job of keeping up science,” said Ritter. “And that includes wearing masks and treating each other with respect, as well as high, high vaccination rates – the third highest in the country.”
“What regulation do we have right now that is so worrying for people?” said knight. “I haven’t heard one yet.”
Ritter said Monday’s rally was about Republican politics.
“I understand that Bob [Stefanowski] is definitely trying to win a primary for the governor. And I know that he has to address a very right-wing base and Trump supporters. It was like that today. This was a political rally that was not based on what most Connecticut residents think. And it will backfire on them. “
In his remarks about the rally and then to reporters, Stefanowski turned to broader criticism from the governor and democratic lawmakers, accusing them of refusing to hold a special session dealing with a surge in car thefts and violence, a trend that which is observable in the United States states.
“The real emergency in our state right now is public safety,” Stefanowski told the crowd. “We have children who are hit by stray bullets. We have more murders in Hartford City this year than we did last year all year. Do you know what he’s doing about it? Nothing.”
Stefanowski also reminded reporters of an election promise Lamont made in 2018.
“He said he would cut property tax by $ 300 million. He didn’t do it, ”he said. “People are ready for change”
Stefanowski disagreed when asked if he would try to be that change. He was still exploring, he said.
“I’m still walking through the state. I get a lot of positive feedback from people I meet, ”he said. “You are not satisfied with the governor. If the governor had done what he said he might not do it. But people are ready for change. “
In the most recent Sacred Heart survey, Lamont had an overall admission rate of 55.7%. About 26.6% refused.
