The Malloy-Legislature Honeymoon Is Over

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's relationship with the General Assembly is showing the first signs of strain as legislators and the administration begin the inevitable scuffling over the governor's budget and plans to reorganize government.

As legislative committees reach their deadlines for reporting out the governor's reorganization legislation, some legislators are balking at the new administration's request that the bills be passed along unchanged, even if they are works in progress.

In some cases, the differences have led to a flurry of lobbying by administration officials, some annoyed or even angry pushback by legislators, and a conciliatory phone call or two.

"It's getting to know each other," said House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, who minimized the conflicts. Like most Democrats, this is his first experience serving with a governor of the same party.

Everyone is keenly aware Malloy is the first Democratic governor in 20 years, but a more relevant distinction may be that he is the first governor in 40 years to arrive in Hartford without having served in the General Assembly.

The last governor without legislative experience was Thomas J. Meskill, a congressman and New Britain mayor elected in 1970, when the legislature was in the early stages of asserting itself as an equal branch of government by hiring a professional staff and holding regular annual sessions.

"It's a learning curve for me," said Malloy, who was elected last fall after 14 years as the mayor of Stamford, a city far from the political tides of Hartford.

And the learning began in his first hours in office, when the administration notified the State Capitol Police of plans by Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman to hold an open house at the Capitol the Saturday after their inaugural.

It was then the new governor learned the Capitol police work for the legislature, not him. In fact, the legislature runs the Capitol complex. In effect, that makes lawmakers the landlord and him the tenant.

Beginning last week, Malloy truly began to learn about legislative prerogatives.

As part of his first budget, Malloy has proposed a massive reorganization of higher education and the consolidation of 87 agencies into 51. His administration has acknowledged many details remain to be worked out before elements of his plan come to floor votes in the House and Senate.

He thought those discussions would come later. Some committees insisted on making changes now, before sending the bills to the floor.

"We just see it as our job as legislators," said Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, the longest-serving member of the House. "No disrespect. We like our governor."

The Environment Committee deleted a provision of a bill that would have consolidated an autonomous watchdog, the Council on Environmental Quality, into the Department of Environmental Protection.

Mushinsky, a member of the committee, said legislators objected to the idea of making a watchdog part of the agency it is supposed to watch. With a paid staff of two, the change was hardly a blow to Malloy's budget, but the administration strained futilely to restore the bill.

Sen. Andrew Roraback, R-Goshen, the ranking Republican on the committee, said the fight was inevitable between the Democratic governor and legislature, just as every honeymoon ends.

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