Herbst Makes Bold Entry Into Republican Gubernatorial Fray

By Scott Benjamin

Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst says if elected governor he will “lead by example” and not accept a state pension as he tries to thwart “the corrupt culture” at the State Capitol.

In a bold, 22-minute address on the 19^th anniversary of his graduation from Trumbull High School, the Republican first selectman told nearly 200 supporters June 8 in a corridor of his alma mater that he has not accepted a pension since being elected first selectman and that he will not accept lobbyist contributions during his gubernatorial run.

He added that he will try to revive Connecticut’s economy, which has had the worst job recovery of any of the six New England states, by cutting taxes and red tape, which he says is what he’s done in Trumbull over the last eight years.

Herbst has previously said that commercial activity has gone from 14 to 23 percent of the grand list during his tenure and the pensions, which were 27 percent funded when he took office are now fully funded. The state’s pensions are 35.5 percent funded.

He said in a recent interview that he supports state Senate Republican efforts for structural reform of state labor laws by eliminating or suspending arbitration, replace overtime with compensatory time, increase health benefit contributions from state employees and tripling their contributions to their pensions.

Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Stamford), who is not seeking a third term, has negotiated a less ambitious tentative concession plan with the state employee collective bargaining units.

Herbst said he also will ask state legislators to abolish their pension program.

“If they don’t want to give them up, I’m taking it to the people and they’re going to have to answer to constituents,” he said.

State Rep. Steve Harding (R-107) of Brookfield said he supports eliminating pensions for legislators.

“I think we should set an example,” said Harding, who supports Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton in the race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

“We’re doing this to serve the people, not for financial reasons,” he added, noting that the members earn just $28,000 a year and have not received a pay raise since 2001.

Harding said probably most members of the General Assembly plan to rely on the pension program at their full-time job instead of their state plan.

In an interview, Herbst questioned the General Assembly’s recent decision to allow Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, the two Native American casinos in the southwestern part of the state, to establish a third facility in East Windsor to compete with the establishment that will open soon in nearby Springfield, Mass.

“Any revenue generation is a crutch to balance the state budget,” Herbst said.

However, state Sen. Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) has said the two casinos have employees in 140 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities.

“I would want to see if we’re taking employees from one part of the state and replacing them with other employees,” he said regarding the satellite casino.

Herbst also noted that state Attorney General George Jepsen (D-West Hartford) has indicated the East Windsor facility could violate the compact established by former Gov. Lowell Weicker (ACP-Essex) in 1992 in which the Native American casinos pay 25 percent of their slot revenues to the state.

He lamented that legislators have proposed making recreational marijuana legal and reinstituting tolls on state highways to raise revenue.

Herbst said as first selectman, Trumbull now has fewer employees than it had when he took office and he has twice cut taxes.

In contrast, he said Connecticut’s economy ranks 49^th in the nation and is rated 47^th highest in the cost for doing business.

Herbst, who is not seeking a fifth term as first selectman, has said he hopes to reach the $250,000 threshold by early next year for the state Citizen Election Program grants. Qualifiers get $1.4 million through the primary and $6.5 million for the general election.

There is already of raft of candidates at least considering governor, which pays $150,000 a year. The salary was increased in 2003 from $78,000.

The current or prospective Republican contenders include state Rep. Prasad Srinivassan of Glastonbury, former state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney of Fairfield, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, former congressional candidate Steve Obsitnik of Westport, former Secretary of the State contender Peter Lumaj of Fairfield, former U.S. Comptroller David Walker of Bridgeport and Boughton.

Tom Foley, the Greenwich businessman who was the GOP nominee in 2010 on a ticket with Boughton as his running mate for lieutenant governor, captured 128 of the 169 municipalities, but lost the election by 6,404 votes.

They were clobbered by the Democratic ticket of Malloy and his running mate, former state Comptroller Nancy Wyman of Tolland, in such large cities as Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford and Hartford. The Democrats took at least 60 percent of the vote in 16 municipalities.

Herbst said the Republicans need to improve their performance in the major urban areas, but added that he believes the party also “underperforms in a lot of suburbs near the cities.”

He scored a narrow re-election victory in 2015, a year after he lost the race for state treasurer to Democratic incumbent Denise Nappier of Hartford by six-tenths of one percent.