Malloy A Lame Duck? Or Free Bird?

If he completes his second term, Dan Malloy will be governor until January 2019. His announcement not to seek a third term has set off an ambitious scramble for coveted state constitutional offices in 2018. Dozens of contenders will now emerge for a variety of offices as pols seek to qualify for the state’s public financing program that will equal a payout of tens of millions of public dough. It begs the question, is Malloy the typical lame duck office holder, or shackle free from dubious political decisions?

The Hartford Courant’s Daniela Altimari has more:

Despite this week’s unexpected declaration that he will not run for reelection, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pledged to continue tackling his ambitious agenda, including reformulating the way education aid is dispersed, overhauling the criminal justice system and closing a $1.7 billion state budget gap for the upcoming fiscal year.

But given the Democratic governor’s often rocky relationship with the legislature, including leaders of his own party, his lame-duck status could embolden lawmakers to ignore some of his less popular initiatives, such as cutting money for cities and towns, or allowing cities and towns to assess a new tax on hospitals.

“He has an opportunity to throw caution to the wind and the freedom to make bold decisions,” said Rep. Themis Klarides, the Republican leader in the state House of Representatives. “But I don’t think that that erases the fact that the governor’s philosophy is not in lockstep with the very small majority in the legislature. If the Democrats don’t feel that same sense of freedom and boldness, it’s not going to make a difference.”

Full story here.