You are not the only one marking Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s final budget address with some happy relief. The governor is throwing a festive luncheon at the residence to mark the milestone that includes more of his trademark tax increases and punishments for working families.

The celebration is for family and friends.

State Representative Joseph Verrengia (D-West Hartford) will return lobbyist contributions solicited while the legislature was in special session last week. Verrengia, a veteran police officer and co-chair of the legislature’s public safety committee, had a campaign fundraising event scheduled for January 31st from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Wast Hartford. The House had been called into special session and was scheduled to meet that day. That morning, lobbyists received solicitations to donate and attend the Verrengia campaign event.

Legislators may not solicit lobbyists while the legislature is in a regular session or a special session with the exception of even years after the regular session adjourns. When contacted by Daily Ructions, Verrengia explained that the event was on an email reminder program that had been set for January 31st before he realized the legislature would be in special session. He has notified the State Elections Enforcement Commission of his error and will return lobbyist contributions from the event.

Geoff Luxenberg, the controversial political consultant who briefly served as chief of staff to Middletown Mayor Dan Drew last year, is running for the House of Representatives. Luxenberg took to social media to announce he will try to win the Manchester seat being given up by his ex-wife.

Luxenberg won the seat when Ryan Barry declined to run for re-election in 2010. Luxenberg, facing some headwinds, did not run for a third term. He was succeeded in office by his wife at the time, Kelly Luxenberg, who has returned to her maiden name, Kelly Juleson-Scopino.

Public policy has never been in Susan Bysiewicz’s comfort zone.  The Middletown Democrat has been emphasizing her preference for politics over substance as she explores a race for governor. The former secretary of state made a plan to raise impose $3 billion a year in tolls a staple of if her thin platform.

The Bysiewicz billions would mean so many tolls drivers would be paying them at the end of their street. To collect $3 billion a year in Connecticut would require a charge of more than 10 cents a mile. The regressive tax would strain the finances of working families and low income residents. The Bysiewicz burden means drivers–most of them Connecticut residents–would pay $8.2 million a day in tolls to reach the $3 billion annual take. The plan would also result in a reduction of federal highway assistance the state receives under the formula that  compensates states without tolls.

As talk of tolls escalates into cloud cuckoo land, candidates and voters should remember that border tolls are not permitted. To raise $3 billion a year in tolls will require toll collection devices throughout the state.

Bysiewicz appears to be about to embark on her third race for governor, her eighth statewide campaign. She ought to know more about the consequences of her proposal to impose a regressive tax on millions of Connecticut residents.

The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, Inc.’s long litigation odyssey ends with the Supreme Court’s rejection of CCJEF’s motion to reconsider the court’s January decision.  The high court rejected CCJEF’s challenge to the state’s funding of public education and overturned a far-reaching, convoluted 2016 lower court decision. CCJEF leaders had claimed victory when the lower court decision was released through an unusual and prolonged reading from the bench. That victory dance was followed by CCJEF appealing the decision, causing many to wonder why winners would appeal a decision they claimed to have won.

Connecticut spends more per pupil than nearly any other place on earth. The decisions that brought that distinction will remain with the public’s democratically elected representatives.

Early Trump supporter Themis Klarides announced to the House Republican caucus this morning that she will not seek the party’s nomination for governor, Daily Ructions has learned. The House Minority Leader will stay put and try to win enough seats to replace her close friend Democratic incumbent Joseph Aresimowicz as speaker of the house next January.

On her first full day as a Republican candidate for statewide office, New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart can check a box. She’s been trolled online by the bizarrely petty David Walker. The Democrat-turned-Republican took to social media to offer his critique of Stewart’s campaign.

Walker has never been elected to public office, ran third in his 2014 primary race for lieutenant governor, and has yet to keep his promise to leave Connecticut if Tom Foley is not elected governor.

Stewart’s next online challenge: get fellow potty-mouth Ma Herbst to swear at you on Facebook.

Jayme Stevenson has been talked about as a candidate for statewide office for several years. Watch for a fast start in fundraising and eventually an alliance with Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mark Boughton, who knows more than most candidates about the tricky relationships between running mates in a system that keeps them separate in critical ways until after the August primary.

She’s in–sort of. It’s late to begin exploring a race for governor, but New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart embarked on the quest Monday. Stewart, who is in her third term as mayor, confronts a formidable fundraising challenge at the starting gate. Stewart will need to raise money at a recording-breaking rate if she’s to get close to collecting the $250,000 in small contributions to qualify for the state’s generous public financing program before Republicans convene in May to select a nominee for governor.

As candidates are discovering, it takes a lot of lists with plenty of names to reach–or fall short–of the $250,000 plus a buffer. The pattern has become fundraising in the year before the statewide election followed by intense wooing of town committees delegates once the money is in hand. Stewart will have to do both in the next three months while also honoring her commitment to serve full-time the people of New Britain. There’s also the task, common to each candidate, of explaining how you would address a $4 billion deficit a year from now or find a convincing excuse to avoid the question. So far, no one has been able to do either.

Quinnipiac University announced its new president Monday afternoon, Judy D. Olian, dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management and John E. Anderson Chair in Management.  The new leader possesses deep experience in academia, a broad view of the world, and notable fundraising success. A new era begins for Quinnipiac.

The new president succeeds John L. Lahey, who has served as president for 31 years.