Fact checking Ryan Fazio on CT electric rates and taxes

After becoming the Republican-endorsed candidate for governor, state Sen. Ryan Fazio focused his acceptance speech on taxes, electric rates and immigration — themes likely to become central to his fall campaign.

The fifth-year senator easily won the Republican nomination after the abrupt withdrawal of Erin Stewart, the former New Britain mayor, following the release of a report on her spending on a city-issued credit card.  

In the fall election, Fazio will take on the winner of the Democratic primary between incumbent Ned Lamont, who earned the party nomination, and Josh Elliott, a state representative who earned enough support at the party convention to force the primary. 

CT Insider completed some fact checks of Fazio’s recent statements to about 1,100 GOP delegates as he accepted the GOP nomination for governor at the state convention on May 16. 

Fazio: “I passed over a half a dozen laws that reduce the cost and size of government, by finding common ground to do the right thing. But for the last eight years, Gov. Lamont and one-party rule have done anything but that. They centralized power, undermined freedoms, increased costs and broken their promises at every turn.”

This is a pretty subjective political-campaign statement. State lawmakers vote on hundreds of bills and resolutions every year and many end up with bipartisan support, especially those from two legislative panels on which Fazio serves as a ranking Republican: the Energy & Technology Committee and the tax-writing Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee.

But the 25-11 Democratic majority in the state Senate gives minority Republicans very little in the way of power, except to extend debates and introduce amendments that almost always fail.

A recent example is the legislation, approved 27-9 on the final day of the General Assembly session, aimed at promoting home solar systems. Senate Republicans led by Fazio introduced several amendments that were defeated before the final vote, where two Republicans joined the Democrats in approving the bill, which was signed into law by Lamont on May 20.

Of the nine bills introduced by Fazio during the recent session, none of them got out of the committee process.

Fazio’s claims of  “centralized power” and “undermined freedoms” were not explained to GOP delegates. But one bill opposed by Republicans who claimed it impinged on Second Amendment gun rights would ban the sale of a certain kind of pistol that can be converted into an automatic. The legislation awaits final action by Lamont, who proposed the measure in February.

The “increased costs” claim from Fazio could include inflation, which has soared to 3.8% in recent months with the war with Iran.

But since he was referring to Lamont, “costs” could include the rise in the state budget. In 2019, Lamont’s first-year budget was $20.6 billion, which included bridging a $3.7 billion deficit. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, billions of federal dollars came into Connecticut, helping the state both save money and invest in the underfunded pension programs for public school teachers and state workers. Annual increases in state spending have led to the latest budget adjustments with $28.6 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1, plus $900 million outside the spending cap that was approved back in 2017 and 2018, when Republicans had an 18-18 tie in the Senate. 

The “broken promises” could refer to Lamont’s budget proposal in February to give out $200 rebates to Connecticut taxpayers. It was abandoned during the legislative process, when majority Democrats in the House and Senate decided to invest another $300 million in the early childhood endowment, $170 million in additional public school support and $100 million more for town and city budgets. 

Fazio: “After eight years of the Lamont administration, Connecticut families are suffering under the weight of the second-highest electric rates, the third-highest taxes and the fourth weakest economy of any state in the country.”

For decades, Connecticut has had some of the nation’s highest electric rates, going back to 1998 when the General Assembly restructured the electric industry in the state, which at the time had the fourth highest prices nationally for electricity. Current rates could increase further under Eversource’s newly proposed 11% price hike. Attorney General William Tong has promised to oppose the request before the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

The state has limited options in generation, which prompted Fazio’s former rival for the GOP governor nomination, Betsy McCaughey, to recently file a lawsuit in attempt to force New York State to run a natural gas pipeline into the state.

Last month, PURA approved a rate adjustment that would lower costs for Eversource and United Illuminating customers by about $34 a month because of contractual targets with the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford and the Seabrook plant in New Hampshire. 

On the issue of taxes, a recent study by the General Assembly’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research found that Connecticut is about in the median compared to other Northeast states and California.

 A study last year of the Earned Income Tax Credit by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that the nearly two dozen states that have refundable credits, including Connecticut, help support low- and moderate-income families with kids.

Fazio’s remarks on the state economy align with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, which ranked Connecticut 46th in economic outlook and 47th in economic performance. That rating was based on more than 30 variables, from per-capita debt to personal and corporate tax rates, estate taxes and the minimum wage, which is currently $16.94 an hour.

Fazio: “We will end sanctuary for criminals, support our law enforcement and always put Connecticut’s citizens first.”

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the state for its immigration policies, charging that it is a so-called sanctuary state for allowing foreign-born people to live here without legal permission in apparent violation of civil laws.

Fazio’s use of the word “criminal” could imply that the state shelters criminals, which the governor and other officials such as New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker say is not true. They stress that all residents need to feel safe when they call police for assistance or go to the hospital, church and school. Related legislation, which awaits Lamont’s signature, passed in the Senate last month, which Fazio opposed.

“Support our law enforcement” could relate to a longstanding Republican grievance about a 2020 state law on police transparency. It passed the Senate before Fazio joined the chamber in a mostly partisan 21-15 vote after a 10-hour debate into the predawn hours during a July special session. It created the Office of Inspector General to investigate police-involved shootings and ended qualified immunity that had shielded police from civil awards for violent actions.

Since the passage of the law, no such civil lawsuits have been filed against Connecticut police, although a potential lawsuit has been announced by an attorney for a mentally ill Hartford man who was shot and killed earlier this year by a local police officer.