Fasano Statement re: Senate Democrats Reject Call for Special Session on UConn Raises & Mileage Tax

July 1, 2016

Hartford – Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) released the following statement in response to Senate Democrats’ rejection of Sen. Fasano’s proposal to call a special session to address recent UConn raises and a proposed mileage tax pilot program. Sen. Fasano wrote to Democrat leaders on Thursday asking for a special session to establish state oversight of UConn salaries and to prohibit a mileage tax pilot program. Thursday afternoon Senate Democrats released a statement to the press rejecting the call for session. Attached is a copy of the letter which was not previously shared with the press until today.

“Wow did I hit a nerve! I guess the Democrats had no intention of actually doing anything legislatively to address the tone-deaf decision of UConn to hand out raises to their top staff during these tough times. Democrats are long on words, but short on action. At the Capitol Democrats do an awful lot of talking about issues but they never address the problems legislatively. Clearly the Democrats would rather use babbling rhetoric than actually go in and do something. They appear to be fine with college students continuing to face huge tuition hikes while raises get handed out without any real challenge,” said Fasano.

“Regarding the mileage tax, I guess Democrats haven’t read the pilot program proposal because, without legislative action to stop it, the mileage tax pilot will be started in the state of Connecticut. Their silence is tantamount to acquiescence. That’s why we need a special session to stop it now. I urge all Democrat lawmakers to review the state’s application for grant money for the mileage tax pilot program very closely. This is a project with a timeline, with money invested and with identified deliverables. It’s happening and Republicans intend to stop it.”

“The Senate Democrats’ nuclear reaction to a letter that wasn’t sent to the press and was meant to bring us together clearly demonstrates how skittish and nervous they really are after the last six years they spent driving our state into the ground. It shows how totally inept they are at actually getting anything done. It’s also odd that the Democrats, who have implemented the two largest tax increases in state history and thrown us into deficit, are all of a sudden penny pinchers when it comes to protecting students from tuition hikes and stopping the start of a bad tax. Their response is nothing but rhetoric and yet another excuse to avoid real action.”