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News 12 Staff

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I'm Mark Sudall. Welcome back to Power and Politics. Joining me this week is State Senator Paul Ciccarello from North Haven. Welcome to the program. Thank you for having me, Ken. All right, well, first of all, let's start with this. A recent poll by the University of New Hampshire found more than 4 in 10 Connecticut residents want to move out of state. Why is that? Well, I'm always a little skeptical when it comes to statistics or polls, um, but, you know, I, I'm listening to my constituents, I hear it from everyone every day, um, whether it's young family, um, retirees, it's unaffordable. It is very expensive here in Connecticut, and we have a problem. And how can we make, uh, Connecticut more affordable, do you think? We've talked to Democrats and Republicans about this. What do you think? Yeah, it's just, it's, it's, it's not as simple as fixing one problem. There, there are a lot of things that need to be addressed, um, when it comes to housing, when it comes to our labor issues, um, you know, when it just comes to cutting the red tape, making it easier to do business. I was just at a grand opening of a restaurant that should have opened probably. 3 or 4 months ago, they were held up at the town level, then they got held up at the state level. Um, fortunate enough, um, it's a great part of, greatest part of upping the center in my opinion, is helping our constituents. But, you know, we were able to kind of push things along, but just sometimes things take way too long, and he was telling me that it costs money. Every single day he's not opening the door, it costs money. Therefore, the product going to the consumer costs money. It's. Just common sense, um, so there are a lot of fixes, and we've proposed a lot of legislation that would address, um, so many of these issues, whether it's the utility costs, whether it's the cost of labor, all of these things need to be addressed. It's a holistic approach. It's not just 11 area that needs to be fixed, and a lot of Republicans, uh, including, uh, Vinnie Candelore who talked about on this show, uh, felt that the, the governor's budget did not address property tax relief either. Absolutely not, absolutely not. And not only did I address that, we increase it. When we have unfunded mandates on municipalities, very much like ourselves or a local business, the more it costs, we have to find a way to raise more money. And municipalities normally have to do that in the way of property taxes, which also contributes to the unaffordability here in Connecticut. Um, so it's a huge problem. Now, on a personal note, I have to ask you this, uh, a state panel voted unanimously recently to revoke your disability pension, which is a taxpayer funded benefit that was on track to pay you $71,000 this year. How do you respond to that? Sure. So I got hurt as a correctional officer, um, years ago. And I am not fully disabled, um, I just can't do the job of a corrections officer. So I'm entitled to the, the benefit. If they wanna change the rules because individuals make money, then we have to look at that, um, but. Um, passive income or other income is not a disqualifier, so I hope it, it's going to be explained because they denied me, but they didn't tell me why. I guess they have 4 weeks to do so. And if it's in the law that people are not able to collect the pension because they make other money. Um, then so be it, and that's fine, but we need to fairly address that and apply it across the board. There are individuals that are retired and they make $700,000 for working a job. I don't have another job besides being a senator. I have passive income. I own a company, um, but, you know, if somebody signs a contract and they make a deal, they get hurt on the job, and they can no longer do that job. Then they should be entitled to it. Um, but that's something that we'll wait to see, and if I'm not entitled to it, then so be it. But I don't think the law says that. If you're not able to do that job. Then you're entitled to it. And I'm, I'm not better than anyone else. It's expensive to live in Connecticut, so every, every little bit could help for anyone. And respond if you would to reports two years ago that you collected about $123,000 in workers' compensation payments from 2008 to 2013 without disclosing that you had at least three other sources of income during that period. Yeah, um, one reporter, only one, did all of that journalism, um, if that's what it's called, or investigative journalism, and she had all of the facts but chose just to present very few, um, and actually twist the facts. Again, while on workman's comp, as long as you are not totally disabled, you could have your other income. And my other income was a rental property, um, which made no money, um, and we have tax returns and I showed another journal uh journalist all of this information and they didn't report all of um what I showed them, um. But um It, it was complete fabrication of facts. Um, I was, I didn't realize this, but I believe that um the DTC in my town called for an investigation and there was one. And they said that they looked into the area where I work, which is the Department of Uh, corrections, they looked into the comptroller, they looked into legislative management, found no wrongdoing, and then they said they were gonna discontinue the investigation because it was over the statute of limitations. But that same reporter, I believe, said, I got away with it because of statute of limitations. I did nothing wrong at all. Well, I'd also like to give you some time to talk about uh you being part of this uh bipartisan Futures Caucus and you just had a big meeting. Tell us about that. Yeah, perfect segue into this. Politics are polarizing. They're getting to be so divisive, um, and you brought up a great example of this. One reporter, um, writing articles based upon one, set of her opinion or a narrative that she wanted to portray, um. Politics are getting divisive. So the future caucus, uh, is something I feel strongly about. This is about individuals, um, that are like-minded, that wanna come together, more middle of the road politicians, right? People that want to solve problems and put politics. Um, aside and work for the people. That's what we're here for. We're here to, to address everyone's concerns, whether you're a Democrat, you're an independent, Republican. It doesn't make a difference. When you call my office, we answer and we help you. Same thing in, in, in, in Hartford. When we're addressing, um, legislation, we say, is this gonna help the majority of the constituents of Connecticut, not Republican, not Democrat, majority. Thank you so much for the time. We're out of time. Thank you. Thank you. After the passing of Senator Lindsey Graham, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is pushing Congress to pass legislation they crafted together.

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Senator Richard Blumhal is pushing Congress to pass a major bill to help Ukraine. He worked on it with Republican Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly last week, but as News 12 Kus John Craven reports, not everyone is on board. Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham didn't agree on much, but they did agree on one thing defending Ukraine. We joined in helping to lead the Senate in more military aid. Now Connecticut senior senator is urging Congress to pass the Blumenthal-G Graham bill. It would hit countries that buy Russian oil with massive tariffs. Those oil profits are fueling Russia's four year long invasion. In his memory, hypo Mike Talleys on both sides of the aisle. We unite behind this bill. Graham returned from Ukraine just hours before his death. Blumenthal was there last month. On Friday, both announced a deal to get President Trump on board with oil sanctions, but similar agreements have fizzled out before. This bill would be an important symbolism to say we're going to be with Ukraine, and I certainly hope the Senate moves it this week and we can put it on. The president's desk this week, but there's a problem. Sanctioning Russian oil could also drive gas prices even higher. Right when the war with Iran is heating back up, some Republicans want to press pause. I hope that it has a path forward, but today I'll spend more time thinking about Lindsey Graham and the impact that he's had versus the legislation that people are hungry to take his legacy and use it as a springboard for a legislative victory. But Blumenthal says now is the time to act, stopping Putin in Ukraine. Is absolutely vital to our own natural history. An interest that just got a lot more complicated. John Craven, News 12, Connecticut. Well, Connecticut is one of 12 states suing to block a major entertainment merger, the merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery. Attorney General William Tong says if these two companies do come together, they would control about a third of all US theatrical releases and cable programming. Tong is fighting the merger because he says entertainment will cost more for Connecticut families. Unfortunately, the Department of Justice and the Trump administration have abandoned the field. Um, they're not doing what they're supposed to do to stand with us and fight against these anti-competitive combinations. Tong also voiced concerns with what the merger would mean for the future of movie theaters and jobs in film and news. That's all our time. I'm Mark Sudall. Thanks for watching.

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Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes and Republican State Sen. Paul Cicarella join the show this week.

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