As Democrats and the media continue to squabble over what happened during the seismic election of 2016 — which saw Donald Trump win the presidency and Republicans make significant gains again in state after state — it’s amazing to see the very interests that were so powerfully repudiated by this election now ready to make the exact same mistake they’ve been making for decades: They immediately forget about the little guys, the ones who are convinced that the system is rigged against them.

The recent Day editorial taking me to task for my continuing push to get small businesses that were stiffed by the freedom ship Amistad paid is just another high-profile example of this cluelessness, of how we seem to be able to pay $30 million to keep a wealthy hedge fund camped out in Connecticut, but when it comes to the backbone of our state economy—small businesses—we turn our backs. 

So here we go again: You would think that the taxpayer had given enough to the freedom ship Amistad, but there is a line item in the Connecticut 2017 budget to continue paying for the operation of the ship. There is nothing in the budget language about taking care of the small businesses − T-shirt shops, advertisers, parts and repair businesses — that remain unpaid for the goods and services they delivered to the official flagship — by state statute − of our state. These businesses’ tax dollars helped pay for the construction and maintenance of the ship to the tune of over $9 million, and then they got fleeced for the goods and services that they supplied to Connecticut’s flagship. 

This is what makes average citizens so angry about how the system is rigged against the little guy. When the ship went into receivership our small businesses diligently supplied the courts with proof of what was owed to them. Too bad, not enough money, only the state got paid back, $300,000, which was all that was left in the till after the ship’s previous crew abandoned ship. That money was immediately given back to the Amistad’s new board of directors along with bonding of over a $1 million  to make the neglected ship seaworthy again. Her condition was referred to as deplorable.

Here is a way to begin to make things right. I propose amending the Amistad’s $294,000 appropriation to include phased payments to Connecticut small businesses still owed money. If some of these businesses have already taken a tax write off for their loss then they would not be eligible. However, I ran a small business for 20 years and if I was stiffed on a $6,000 bill, writing it off would not be very helpful. It doesn’t come off the top like a gift, it ends up being a far smaller amount in real dollars.

The new board has people with fiscal management experience, and they say they are committed to becoming self-funding. I am sure that Steven Spielberg — who directed the Amistad movie − and other high profile celebrities would willingly support this icon of American slave history. It is the same ship, the same mission and the same state funding that existed under the previous now defunct board of directors, but now she has a board that knows what they are doing. It is time to include in that mission repayment of monies owed small businesses that believed that a vessel conceived by the General Assembly, built by the General Assembly, funded by the General Assembly and deemed important enough to the General Assembly to designate her as the flagship of the state was an entity that would be backed by the General Assembly. 

So this is one legislator who will continue to fight for the small businesses owed by the Amistad. But this isn’t a partisan issue, it’s about listening to the message that voters sent in November. The Amistad’s debts are a drop in the bucket, but they are a powerful symbol of which way government is going to go in the immediate future, are we going to listen to the little guys and look out for them or keep turning our backs? It’s clearly past time that we got the message.

Rep. Diana Urban, a Democrat, serves the 43rd District of Stonington and North Stonington.