At the May 1, 2024, Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, Bill Morrison and Rick Hartenstein were on their own as Kurt Vail is also Stafford’s State Representative and the legislative session is underway, ending on May 8. With that in mind, First Selectman Morrison spoke about several issues before state legislators that will impact Stafford.
Before we dive into those items, take a minute to consider that Connecticut expects a $1 billion surplus, and legislative leaders are calling for an easing of “an aggressive savings program that critics say is choking core programs.” Now, onto the issues Stafford’s leadership has its eye on.
Early voting reimbursement
Morrison says that he has been working with Representative Vail and Senator Jeff Gordon to improve reimbursement for early voting. Towns must pay poll workers to enable early voting, but the state did not increase funding to enable the expanded early voting and it has many municipalities upset during a tight budget year. Morrison says he has been in close contact with our legislators and that as of their last report, there was no money in the state budget to help enable early voting.
On a related note, Morrison said he was exploring the idea of consolidating voting into one location. He says the Registrar of Voters suggested the Senior Center, though one citizen in the audience who did not state her name said the Senior Center parking would not be big enough during a Presidential election and that the high school might be a better location. Consolidating the polling places means the town would have to pay fewer workers, and ultimately reduce the cost by thousands of dollars.
Morrison said he is interested in feedback about whether this is a good idea or not. He said it would ultimately take a Town Meeting to make the change, giving Stafford’s citizens a chance to be heard.
ADA improvements at Town Hall
With Congressman Joe Courtney's help, the town secured $500,000 to begin improvements at Town Hall to bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). The town was sued and cited by the Department of Justice over its lack of accessibility.
The compliance work has begun, and small changes are happening around the building. There’s now a small metal plate inside the entrance on the North side of the building that allows for a smoother descent, and cabinets are being moved to provide more accessibility, along with other small changes. However, the overall project could cost in the neighborhood of $1.5 million and includes the installation of an elevator to get people to the second floor.
Morrison is looking for more money from the State Bonding Commission to continue bringing Town Hall into compliance with the ADA.
Medicaid reimbursement for ambulances
One of the big topics of interest during the budget process was Stafford Ambulance, and part of that puzzle is the rate of Medicaid reimbursement. Stafford is not the only town with a bone to pick with the state over this. As CTNewsJunkie reported in March, “The senate chairs of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Human Services and Public Health committees said that the state must keep its word to emergency transport workers, and push back on the Lamont administration’s plan to eliminate a planned $5.36 million increase for emergency transport responders.”
Additionally, CT Mirror reported, a “study analyzed Medicaid reimbursement rates for more than 11,000 physician specialist, dental and behavioral health services. The findings reveal that Connecticut paid less than a peer state benchmark for 85% of services analyzed and less than a Medicare-based benchmark for 94% of services analyzed.” Meanwhile, some 40% of emergency medical transports are for Medicaid patients.
Back in March, the Public Health Committee advanced a bill that would require insurance carriers to pay the full authorized state rate for ambulance services. However, The Monroe Sun reported:
“Last year, Schietinger said EMS advocates tried to get Medicaid to be on par with Medicare. While the legislature did not pass anything to accomplish that, it did agree to increase it by 20 percent, which would be effective by July of 2024.
However, during this year’s budget process, Gov. Ned Lamont took that out of the budget due to spending caps and an ongoing study, according to Schietinger. Now a lobbying effort is underway to put it back in.”
A change in meeting notice requirements
Guess how much it costs the town to publicize the most recent referendum notice in local newspapers? About $1,000. Now imagine how quickly that adds for every public hearing.
CTNewsJunkie reported, “During a Friday hearing of the Planning and Development Committee, Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett told the panel that her town spent roughly $100,000 per year on publishing notices in a local newspaper. The town also posts the information on its website, she said.”
Historically, all towns are legally required to publicize legal notices in newspapers, but a bill is underway to change that. This all stems from a court case out of Old Saybrook, but, essentially, dwindling subscribership to newspapers is putting this policy quickly in the realm of the obsolete.
Predictably, the newspaper industry opposes the bill as it is a substantial source of revenue for struggling publications. But advocates say the old law is antiquated and, judging by the Old Saybrook lawsuit, not working. Instead, the bill would let towns publicize meetings in other ways such as the municipal website, where most towns are likely also posting these notices, or even in smaller papers with higher readership among locals. In Stafford, some notices are also often shared on social media and digital signage in front of prominent municipal buildings.