Sen. Formica: Greater bipartisan involvement will lead to a better final product

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Eastern Connecticut residents have long perceived their political clout as inferior to that of powerful interests in the capital region and wealthy western Connecticut. Some go so far as to say that state government habitually marginalizes our area or even treats it as a dumping ground.

But last week’s news that two local lawmakers will help lead one of the Legislature’s most powerful committees should help assuage those concerns as Connecticut enters its 2017 legislative session, which promises to again be dominated by tense budget negotiations.

State Sens. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, were named co-chairmen of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee by their respective parties on Wednesday, part of a new arrangement under which three chairmen – including two from the Senate rather than the traditional one – will lead legislative committees.

The change reflects the result of November’s election, when Republicans picked up enough Senate seats to create an 18-18 tie in that chamber.

Now Formica, a second-term senator whose party has long complained that their ideas were not being duly considered, has a seat at the head table. He anticipates that greater bipartisan involvement will lead to a better final product.

“Fostering that kind of conversation will lead to the better solutions, and that’s what we have to do,” Formica said Friday. “The key will be putting all these people together and having these conversations in a way that’s most fruitful.”

For her part, Osten, Sprague’s first selectman and a third-term state senator, said the committee chairmanships are a good thing for the region.

“I see it as a way to bring a higher profile to some of the issues that are facing Eastern Connecticut,” Osten said. “I think that people are starting to recognize the assets that Eastern Connecticut has.”

In Connecticut’s perpetual state of budget crisis – the state faces a projected budget deficit of about $1.5 billion in the coming fiscal year – leading the Appropriations Committee is a tall order. And for all the clout gained by Osten and Formica, and by extension Eastern Connecticut, each senator also picks up an equal measure of political liability: If the state’s fiscal woes continue unabated, residents, including their constituents, will hold them at least partially responsible.

On the other hand, Osten and Formica might prove a dynamic duo – Osten said she and Formica already work well together, and Formica was complimentary of his counterpart. If they can make more headway than their predecessors toward putting Connecticut on a more sustainable path, they will reap a windfall in popularity.