The financial problems of Hartford, Conn. are deep-seated, from high taxes and exorbitant living costs to widespread unemployment and rampant poverty, according to a commentary yesterday in the City-Journal. About a third of the city’s residents live below the poverty line. Wallethub.com recently rated it the worst capital city in America. In late March, Hartford’s Democratic mayor Luke Bronin asked Connecticut state lawmakers for relief from the strictures of binding arbitration. Bronin, only a few months into his first term, was trying to avoid taking Connecticut’s capital city into bankruptcy. He came before the state’s Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee to testify on behalf of a bill that would have created a “financial sustainability commission” for the struggling city. Made up of business, labor, and administration officials, the commission would have had the power to act as final arbitrator if the city and its unions disagreed during contract negotiations. Unfortunately for Bronin, the bill didn’t make it out of committee — lawmakers told the mayor to find more savings in the city’s budget before looking to the state for help.
