Capitol Watch

Much has happened since our last PFAS podcast (July 11).

The Home Depot, a chain of more than 2,000 home improvement stores in North America, announced it would stop selling rugs and carpets containing per- and poly-fluorinated (aka PFAS) chemicals, which are commonly added to resist stains.

A 62-year-old Ellington man's drinking water well tested positive for PFAS chemicals, prompting the state to start sending bottled water to his house.

And the Connecticut Interagency PFAS Task Force, formed shortly after a huge June 8 firefighting foam spill at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, is expected to deliver its initial recommendations to Gov. Ned Lamont on Oct. 1.

Courant reporter Gregory Hladky pours over the latest PFAS findings on the latest Capitol Watch podcast.

Hot dogs, served on a bun, or heated. Meal replacement bars. Five or fewer donuts. The list goes on and on.

According to State of Connecticut Department of Revenue guidelines, popular food items including ice cream (sold in containers smaller than a pint), pizza (whole or slices), rotisserie chickens and more, will be taxed at 7.35% beginning on Oct. 1, at grocery stores, convenience stores, big-box retailers and elsewhere.

There's also an extensive list of taxable drinks: take-out coffee, beer, wine, distilled spirits, kombucha and milkshakes. And BYOB restaurant diners will have to pay a 7.35% corkage fee on their bottles of wine.

How did we get here?

Courant Capitol bureau chief Chris Keating shares recent developments, which seem to pop up almost daily, on Connecticut's so-called Sales and Use Taxes on Meals.

Hemp farming in Connecticut is kind of a hot new thing.

Fueled by demand for CBD oil, CBD inhalers, CBD gummies -- essentially anything with the letters C, B and D -- licensed hemp growers like Luis Vega are turning their first outdoor plants over to processors and manufacturers, before quickly gearing up for indoor growing season.

Earlier this year, Vega obtained a permit to grow hemp under Connecticut's new pilot program. He now looks after roughly 5,000 plants spread across five acres of land on four different sites.

Today, Capitol Watch visits one of Vega's hemp hoop-houses -- it's sort of like a greenhouse -- located on O'Hara's Nursery in Monroe.

Hartford mayor candidate Eddie Perez wants to return to the office he held from 2001 until 2010, when a corruption scandal forced him to resign. (He eventually pleaded guilty to two felony charges.)

Perez now faces incumbent Mayor Luke Bronin and State Rep. Brandon McGee Jr. in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary.

After the final primary debate on Thursday (hosted by The Hartford Courant and News Channel 8), Perez spoke with Courant publisher/editor in chief Andrew Julien, senior content editor Leslie Cory and editorial writer Stephen Busemeyer, about restoring the public’s trust, his previous accomplishments in office, policing the city, and more.

The editorial board conducted a similar interview with Mayor Bronin and extended an invitation to Mr. McGee.

It sold out. Many of us went. It felt historic.

Farm Aid stalwarts Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews. Rising superstars Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton. A talented undercard -- Lukas Nelson, Particle Kid, Jamey Johnson -- of Americana up-and-comers.

Farm Aid, which landed in Connecticut a year ago, raised awareness of the many hardships facing family farmers nationwide.

But one year later, things are just as bad -- if not worse -- for dairy farmers.

On the latest Capitol Watch podcast, dairy farmer Jim Smith (Cushman Farms, Franklin, Conn.), CT Farm Bureau executive director Joan Nichols and reporter Greg Hladky discuss rising input costs, shifting consumer tastes, and the legacy of Farm Aid 2018.

We've heard the same old refrain for years: young people aren't interested in local politics.

Arguably, 2018 -- when Connecticut residents between 18 to 25 saw the biggest increase in voter registration leading up to the midterm election, and when 26th Senate District voters elected Will Haskell, a 22-year-old Georgetown University graduate, to the general assembly -- disproved that theory.

Still, something about that refrain *feels* right.

On the latest podcast, Courant intern Tyra McClung spoke to state representative Brandon McGee Jr. and New Britain mayor Erin Stewart about why some Connecticut millennials don't engage with local politics.

Among the three vetoes Gov. Lamont issued last week, one has Connecticut restaurant owners and lawmakers from both parties fuming.

It's complicated: a provision of HB 5001, which passed in the waning hours of the 2019 legislative session, would have officially allowed restaurant owners to pay servers at a lower rate (the so-called "tipped" rate) for all hours worked, and also would have negated ongoing lawsuits filed over unpaid back wages.

Now, at least some of that likely won't happen.

On the latest podcast, Capitol bureau chief Christopher Keating wraps his head around wages, legislation, lawsuits and vetoes, while restaurant owner Brian Jessurun (Vanilla Bean Cafe, 85 Main) shares his frustrations over Lamont's decision.

Like we said: it's complicated.

Included in the budget that passed this legislative session were a few new taxes, like a fee on plastic bags, sales tax on dry cleaning and an increase in tax on digital downloads.

Is this Gov. Ned Lamont’s way of working around his campaign promise not to raise tax rates?

On the latest Capitol Watch podcast, guest host Abigail Brone delves into the impacts of these new taxes, why the legislature chose these items and services to tax, and what it will mean for the state in the long run.

Last week, as the 2019 legislative session came to a slow, lumbering close, Gov. Ned Lamont signaled there's still some unfinished business floating around (or maybe overhead, in the form of toll gantries).

Meanwhile: what last-minute bills got pushed through? What got swept under the rug, or kicked down the road? What other metaphors can we come up with?

Today, we offer a look back, and also a look ahead (special sessions? vetoes?) with Courant political reporters Chris Keating and Neil Vigdor.

For a lot of candidates, losing a big election spells the end of a political career.

But this is Connecticut, where voters regularly hand out second -- even third -- chances.

Enter Republican Bob Stefanowski, who never fully exited the spotlight after losing to Ned Lamont: is he currently running a four-year campaign for governor?

Courant politics reporter Neil Vigdor and Sacred Heart University professor Gary Rose, Ph.D. discuss Stefanowski's pre- and post-election personas.