Sen. Kissel Continues to Fight Enfield Bonding Cancellation

Senator John A. Kissel (R-Enfield) this week met with Governor Rell’s office to discuss her proposed cancellation of a bonding project that would refund Enfield $1.5 million that was spent remediating Enrico Fermi High School’s athletic fields. Sen. Kissel had met earlier in the week, on Monday evening March 1st, with the Enfield Town Council and expressed his intention to pursue the issue, said he was very happy the Governor’s office responded to his request for an in-depth discussion so quickly.

“At this point, I have done all I can to ensure that Enfield gets the funding that has been promised to them for literally years,” said Sen. Kissel. “The Governor’s office was very responsive to my request for a meeting and as I told them, I am committed to fighting tooth and nail to ensure that the portion of the proposed bill cancelling this money for Enfield does not see the light of day.”

The cancelled bonding was part of a larger bill Governor Rell proposed that included elimination of $440 million in funding. Sen. Kissel said he understands the importance of making difficult choices to put Connecticut on the path to fiscal responsibility but takes issue with this canceled project because the work has already been completed.

“I agree that most of these projects should be put on hold if not permanently canceled,” said Sen. Kissel. “But what sets Enfield apart is that they have already completed this work and have been operating under the belief for years that they would be refunded in full. At this point, the bill is in the legislature’s hands and just today I spoke with Sen. DeFronzo, co-chair of the bonding subcommittee of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, and after that conversation, I am hopeful that this bill will be amended so that the Enfield project is left intact.”

The Finance Committee has not yet scheduled a public hearing on the bill and haven’t indicated whether they will take the bill up at all or let it die in committee.