A day after his state of the state address, Gov. Lamont talked about his agenda items for this legislative session, including electricity rates to housing issues.
Governor Ned Lamont said his goal of making Connecticut more affordable will require long-term solutions to fix long-standing problems.
Still, he also hopes to find short-term relief for families struggling to make ends meet.
“You want to bring down the price of electricity,” Lamont said during a one-on-one interview with NBC Connecticut. “You need more supply, you want to bring down the price of housing, you need supply.”
Lamont’s State of the State address focused on the price of many essentials, including electricity, housing and prescription drugs.
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He admitted the state can do little to help with groceries, though.
" I don’t want to over promise,” he said. “There’s not much I can do about eggs.”
Lamont did make energy prices a major focus, noting the frustration customers had after surging electricity bills during the summer.
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Lamont reiterated Thursday that the state needs to focus on increasing supply - something that could take years.
He defended purchasing more expensive green energy to boost supply in the short-term. Lamont also said he’s trying to get hydropower from Canada.
“That's something that worries because I don’t have control over it,” he said. “I’m talking to the energy generators, I'm talking to the Trump administration. I'll be seeing what we can do to get more energy here.”
He also defended the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) and Chairman Marissa Gillette, who has been the target of criticism from energy suppliers and Republicans who feel she’s been too heavy-handed.
“Marissa’s really good,” Lamont said. “She holds Eversource accountable. They don’t like that.”
He also said the state needs to boost its housing supply.
He’s made funding for housing – including grants for construction and help for first-time buyers – a priority, but now, he’s pushing lawmakers to speed up local permitting processes.
Lamont said that’s not an invitation to mandate zoning reform.
As Lamont crafts his budget proposal for lawmakers, he’s watching what happens down in Washington, D.C.
The governor’s proposal is due in February, but the current federal spending plan expires in March.
Lamont and lawmakers are worried the Republican-held Congress and President-Elect Donald Trump will cut funding for Medicaid, education and other federal aid.
While he waits, Lamont will receive pressure from Democrats to relax the state’s fiscal guardrails. The governor said he’ll listen, but doesn’t think the state is ready to make major changes.
“Look, we’ll see,” he said. “We've paid down by the end of this year, say, $10 billion of pension. We’ve gone from the worst-funded pension system in the country to below average. Below average is not good enough to me.”
Lamont said he plans to work with the Trump administration but vows not to budge on certain policies, including immigration.
America First Legal, founded by Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Miller, recently sent a letter to Lamont pressuring him to comply with Trump’s deportation plan.
The letter said the group had identified Connecticut as a “sanctuary jurisdiction," something that “subjects you [Lamont] and your subordinates to significant risk to criminal or civil liability.”
Lamont said he doesn’t want to see changes to Connecticut’s immigration policy. The Trust Act states Connecticut agencies do not cooperate with federal deportation efforts except for undocumented immigrants who are charged with Class A or B felonies.
“If you want to get that 16-year-old dreamer out of Guilford High School, go look somewhere else,” Lamont said.
Lamont also wants to see changes at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, focused on attracting more students.
For now, that’s a task for Chancellor Terrence Cheng, who was the subject of an audit last month questioning his spending and expenses.
Lamont said he will talk with Board of Regents Chairman Martin Guay before deciding whether to reappoint Cheng.
“I'm going to let him make the call, making sure we’re making the changes at Connecticut State we need to keep it on the right path,” he said.
Lamont is halfway through his second term in office. He said Thursday he’ll make a decision after the session about running for a third term.
“I don’t want to get pushed around politically either,” he said. “So I'm going make up my mind after the session, see how people think we’re doing.”
