Witkos: Looking for truth [Republican American]

Article as it appeared in the Waterbury Republican American on July 16, 2013

Senator’s effort seeks ‘full story’

By Paul Hughes

HARTFORD — Sen. Kevin D. Witkos, R-Canton, and deputy minority leader pro tempore, is a one-man, truth-telling squad out to debunk what he calls exaggerations on the part of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Democrats in the legislature and others.

Witkos decided to officially launch his “Tell the Truth” campaign on Monday because people in Connecticut are not always getting the full story from the news, he said.

“Time after time, I have come across news articles, television reports and other sources of information that simply do not tell the whole truth,” he said.

However, Witkos faced questions about his own truthfulness during Monday’s news conference.

Witkos applauded the Malloy administration’s decision to award a $387,000 grant to his hometown of Canton in a news release last week.

He called it a smart investment.

A reporter confronted Witkos about the release, questioning why it failed to state that Witkos had voted against the legislation that funded this particular grant program.

“If it was a subject matter that needed to be disclosed, I would most definitely disclose it,” Witkos said.

He said he is prepared to explain and justify any of his Senate votes. He also said there are always items in every state budget that he supports and opposes.

“Unfortunately, you can’t go line-item by line-item and vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the items that you support and the items that you do not support,” he said.

Witkos said he decided to launch his campaign after a retired teacher who had taught him contacted him about his vote against the two-year, $37.6 billion budget plan.

The former teacher had received an email from the Connecticut Education Association asking members to thank legislators who voted for the budget.

Witkos said the CEA email irked him because the Democratic budget reduced the state’s contribution to the health care fund for retired teachers.

He said the CEA did not report that Senate Republicans offered an amendment to make the full contribution.

Witkos said he is also upset that Malloy keeps blaming his Republican predecessors for the $1.3 billion deficit he inherited, while giving Democratic-controlled legislatures a pass.

Additionally, he said Malloy and Democrats blame Republicans for a scheduled increase in a gasoline tax that took effect July 1. He said Republicans tried to roll back the increase.

Witkos said he will provide updates on his campaign online at www.senatorwitkos.com.