Legislative Leaders to Meet With Lamont Wednesday. Governor Wants Laws, Not Emergency Powers.

Democratic and Republican legislative leaders will meet with Governor Ned Lamont Wednesday afternoon to chart a way forward over Lamont’s public health emergency powers. The group will meet by Zoom at 4:30 p.m.

Lamont, mindful of his re-election campaign, wants his emergency powers enacted into law by special acts. A third year of extraordinary authority bestowed upon him by legislative leaders would signal to voters that his success in dealing with the Covid pandemic does not match the gentle narrative portrayed in the governor’s television commercials.

Some legislative leaders may resist the Greenwich Democrat. One faction does not want to extend Lamont’s authority in any manner. Others would prefer not to have their fingerprints on specific grants of authority that may raise a social media storm.

The meeting is closed because Lamont and legislative leaders have a narrow view of how far the public’s right to know extends into the conduct of the people’s business. Pay no attention to that original Norman Rockwell the governor likes to point to in lieu of transparency.

Posted January 18, 2022.