Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1498970
10 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 15, 2023 Q. According to recent projections, the state is on pace to record a $2.9 billion surplus this fiscal year, thanks to strong corporation, pass-through entity and some sales tax collections. However, there was a $560 million drop in estimated income tax revenues, mostly tied to invest- ment earnings. Is that a longer- term concern or threat? A. There are some signs that what's happening on Wall Street, what's happening with the national economy, is beginning to have an impact here. I think it's something to pay atten- tion to, but I wouldn't call it a threat because of the fiscal stability we've had in Connecticut the last few years. (Connecticut ended last fiscal year with a $4.3 billion surplus and $3.3 billion rainy day fund.) And a lot of that stability stems from the fiscal guardrails (a bipartisan group of) legislators put in place in 2017, which have helped the state record surpluses, replenish its rainy day fund and pay down some long- term pension liabilities. (The guardrails include caps on bonding and spending tied to changes in inflation and personal income.) Q. How would you characterize the state's overall fiscal position? A. Compared to where we were five years ago, incredibly different in a positive direction. We're not out of the woods, but when you look back 10 years ago, in what I call the lost decade of the 2010s, we had out-mi- gration of companies and people, a persistent fiscal crisis that was killing our budget, no GDP growth, and no job growth. Last year, our GDP growth (2.4%) was 17th in the country. We've had job growth. We've had record revenue growth in the state. We've had people moving into the state and businesses coming here, so I think it's night and day to where we were. Now, the true test is, what's the next decade going to look like. We need continued economic growth. Q. Do you have thoughts on what the state should do with its surplus dollars? A. I think it's about finding the right balance between saving as much money as we can, paying down our pension debt, and then offering some real relief to the people of Connecticut in the form of tax relief, which is what the governor and both parties in the legislature are trying to do. But the question is, how much? Q. You were a strong supporter of the 2017 fiscal guardrails, including the spending cap, and extending them this January. So, what are your thoughts about some lawmakers wanting to work around the spending cap in order to spend more of the projected surplus? A. I am firmly in the camp with the governor that we should not be messing with our fiscal guardrails. Right now, for the first time in a long time, people have confidence in Connecticut's fiscal situation. And I think doing anything that messes with that would be damaging. Q. The Connecticut Partnership Plan, which is run by your office and provides health insurance to nearly 60,000 teachers, police officers and other municipal employees, lost about $37 million last fiscal year. What is your assessment of the financial viability of the Partner- ship Plan, and what measures can you take to curtail the financial losses this year and in the future? A. Like everyone else in the industry, we really got fiscal 2022 wrong from a claims' perspective. We were still in the middle of COVID, but people got confidence again to go back to their doctor and to have those surgeries. And the utilization of medical services skyrocketed, and it wasn't what we were expecting. We learned our lesson and changed our assumptions, and therefore we were very cautious and conservative this year (with our premium rates). One change that I've already imple- mented is that we've begun to offer a secondary plan, which is sort of like a narrow network plan. Plan partici- pants can save money by choosing to be in this plan because it limits the providers who are considered in network. You're saving money because you are not paying for services that you'll never utilize. For example, if you live in a market dominated by Yale New Haven Health, you're never going to go to Hartford HealthCare, so you save money by not having that option. Q. So, are you projecting a surplus for the Partnership Plan this fiscal year? A. I think it's too early to say that, but by next January I think you will see it in a much healthier situation. Q. As a legislator, you were an advocate for a state public health option, or extending Partnership Plan access to small businesses and nonprofits. Do you still support that? A. I still support the concept of it, but it's not something that I decided to make the focus of my time this year. I tried three different years as a legislator to get that through, and it just wasn't happening. And I don't think it's going to happen in the near future for a number of different reasons. Q. Are you working on any other initiatives to lower healthcare costs? A. Prescription drugs are the single biggest source of increasing health- care costs. We pay a dispropor- tionate burden of the cost of drugs compared to anywhere else in the Western world. And that's because we're the only country pretty much that doesn't negotiate for drug pricing. I'm working with Gov. Lamont this year to try to lower those costs by committing Connecticut to joining a multistate bulk purchasing consor- tium to negotiate prescription drug discounts that residents will be able to access through a discount card at their pharmacy. We are also working with the governor to allow my office to bulk purchase drugs for the state. Right now, there are about 16 different state agencies that buy their own drugs. If we can pull all those together and buy drugs under one umbrella, I think that we will save tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. Comptroller Sean Scanlon visits Bruce's Flowers in Norwalk to promote the state's MyCTSavings program. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED