nothin Mr. Lemar Goes To Hartford | New Haven Independent

Mr. Lemar Goes To Hartford

Paul Bass Photo

As a midnight deadline neared, New Haven’s freshman state representative was pushing a cherished problem-bar bill. He couldn’t get it past the goal line. Then he noticed some more experienced New Haven legislators start pushing buttons.

The legislators — state Reps. Pat Dillon, Juan Candelaria, Toni Walker — were pressing the request to speak” button to weigh in on bills before the legislature. Bills that had nothing to do with problem bars.

They didn’t really want to speak about the bills. They, like the freshman state rep, wanted the problem-bar bill to come up for a vote before midnight struck and the legislature adjourned for the year. By asking to speak on every other bill that arose, they were jamming up the last-minute rush of approval of bills cherished by legislators from other districts.

The legislature’s Democratic leaders noticed. They sent word: What do you want? The answer: Let the problem-bar bill come up for a vote.

At 11:48 p.m., the bill came up for a vote. And it passed.

Not only did the folks back in New Haven get a law they wanted. (Read about it here.) The freshman legislator, Roland Lemar (pictured at the top of the story), got another in a series of first-term lessons about law-making really works under the Capitol dome.

It takes if not a village, then at least a team.

It is really hard to move an agenda — not just as an freshman, as an individual legislator. Everything happens in coalition,” Lemar observed over lunch at Lulu’s European Coffee House on Cottage Street. “‘Mr. Smith Goes To Washington’ is a compelling movie, but isn’t necessarily how it happens.”

Lemar made the observation as he offered a report card on his first legislative session representing the 96th General Assembly District, which covers parts of New Haven (the East Rock, Fair Haven, and Wooster Square neighborhoods) and southern Hamden.

Mr. Lemar Goes To Hartford,” it turns out, makes for less riveting cinema, but perhaps equally instructive political instruction.

Lemar was following up on a list of seven goals he set as he embarked on his first session in early January. (Read about that here.)

Some of those goals were met, such as a more progressive tax structure and the creation of a state earned income tax credit. Others, such as red-light cameras and a retraining program for workers endangered by health reform, got nowhere in a year dominated by a budget crisis.

Lemar worked hard on these measures, he said. But even when they succeeded, a team made it happen. And he was not a senior member of that team.

Take promise 1: Progressive Tax Change. Democratic leaders moved that priority in concert with Gov. Dannel Malloy. Malloy didn’t fulfill the legislators’ complete goals; Lemar had hoped that multimillionaires would pay 7.5 percent on the top portions of their income. Still, in a year where other states merely slashed spending to meet budget crises, Connecticut did add new levels of taxation to raise the top bracket to 6.7 percent.

Lemar cosponsored the bill to create the state earned income tax credit, to mirror the federal law that makes work pay” for low-wage earners. Lemar and allies worked the bill through committee, but were outgunned. Even fellow Democrats planned to vote against it. It wasn’t moving ahead on the agenda for a vote on the floor of the full House of Representatives. Then New Haven’s Martin Looney, the state Senate majority leader, walked into a room one day. It was back on the table,” Lemar said. And it passed.

Lemar said he sought to play a key last-minute role in resuscitating a proposal New Haven has sought to have passed for years: state permission to install cameras on red lights to catch speeders. The ACLU, among others, outlobbied his side in the Judiciary Committee, so the bill stalled there. Lemar next sought to attach the proposal as an amendment to a popular bill, to put cameras on school bus arms” (the part that swings out from the driver’s side with a stop sign). Everyone thinks [cameras are] a good idea on school buses. Not at intersections,” he said. In the end, he and allies convinced 66 Democrats to support the amendment; he needed 76.

Another Lemar proposal — to amend the state’s public financing law in the wake of a devastating U.S. Supreme Court decision — got nowhere. Lemar said leaders told him it just wasn’t going to make the cut in a year with the budget preoccupying the legislature. His proposal would have changed the state’s law to allow candidates receiving public money to resume fund-raising beyond original limits if their opponents also continue to exceed limits. He promised to introduce such a bill this term. He said he’d reintroduce it next year.

I didn’t get far,” either, in an effort to get CT Transit to put bus routes near population centers like West Rock where people without cars need to connect to jobs at shopping centers. This is a longer-term project than I thought,” he said. CT Transit agreed to study ways” to make those connections, Lemar reported. It’s got to be more aggressive than that.” A study by the Connecticut Fund for the Environment helped start building support on this issue.

Lemar also promised to push the state to consider put a new station on State Street by the Hamden line (near the Department of Motor Vehicles) when a Springfield-to-New Haven commuter train comes online. The state currently plans to locate the new station in North Haven instead.“I will keep fighting for the Hamden spot, as it makes so much more sense given the mixed-use, already existing neighborhood and development that surrounds the potential site,” Lemar vowed. This was a much bigger fight that I was equipped to take on as a freshman legislator.” He added that he’s ready for round two.”

He’ll need another round as well to move his idea of setting up retraining for workers who might lose their jobs as part of federal health care reform. Labor leaders, for instance, understandably” had their attention focused elsewhere this session, he noted. That was a much bigger issue than I was prepared to move on my own,” he said. It took me a long time to find out who else was interested in this.”

While not all Lemar’s priorities moved this session, he learned that sometimes new priorities emerge with potential for success — such as the problem-bar bill.

His rookie session proved humbling, but also instructive: I wasted a most of January trying to figure out how things work,” he said. I understand the process a lot better now.” He said that means he’ll be able to accomplish more moving forward — as part of a team.

Sign up for our morning newsletter

Don't want to miss a single Independent article? Sign up for our daily email newsletter! Click here for more info.


Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments

Avatar for still with the cameras?

Avatar for Patricia Dillon

Avatar for Hot & Cold

Avatar for THREEFIFTHS

Avatar for rnarracci@pcparch.com

Avatar for Anderson Scooper

Avatar for cedarhillresident!

Avatar for mksipes@gmail.com

Avatar for streever

Avatar for goatvillemom

Avatar for One City Dump

Avatar for Steve Harris

Avatar for mksipes@gmail.com

Avatar for Steve Harris

Avatar for mksipes@gmail.com

Avatar for Steve Harris