Newtown Legislative Delegation Connects with Constituents at Town Hall Meeting

A town hall style meeting Wednesday night served as an opportunity for Newtown’s legislative delegation to engage with constituents on a community level.

The four legislators – Senator Tony Hwang (R-28), and state Reps. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106), J.P. Sredzinski (R-112) and Dan Carter (R-2) – covered topics ranging from the state deficit and budgetary issues, to the economy, education, housing and transportation.

About a dozen Newtown residents, including First Selectwoman Pat Llodra, turned out for the meeting, which took place at the C.H. Booth Library on Main Street. Legislators opened the meeting with brief introductions and quick highlights about some of their priority issues and committee assignments.

The 2015 legislative session opened on Jan. 7, and while Newtown’s delegates have all introduced a host of bills, the main order of business will be approving a new biennial budget. Gov. Malloy is expected to unveil his budget proposal on Feb. 18, and current estimates place the state deficit at $2.7 billion over that two-year period.

“The biennial state budget drives everything we do as legislators,” Senator Hwang said. “We need to make difficult decisions to close the deficit without increasing the tax burden on residents and businesses, but it can be done if we take a common-sense approach and exercise true fiscal responsibility, while protecting the most vulnerable in our communities.”

Residents in attendance appeared encouraged by the delegation’s stance on budget issues, with some demanding greater accountability and transparency in the budgeting and bonding processes. Of the latter, one woman said, “It seems like it’s out of control to me.”

“We fight it on an ongoing basis,” Rep. Bolinsky said. “I think we all agreed that Connecticut could learn good lessons about responsibly managing its debt by following Newtown’s lead.”

Reflecting on the evening, Rep. Bolinsky added, “This town hall meeting was great! We had a very nice turnout of tremendously engaged Newtown residents, asking challenging questions about issues of concern to them and all of us. I see us doing more and more of these sessions!”

Rep. Sredzinski said, “It was great to see the Newtown residents who came out to the meeting as we discussed major issues facing our state. As a state Representative my job is to be the voice of the 112th District; and there is no better way to do that than to have direct interaction with them.”

“Thank you to all constituents who came out last night to participate in our meeting,” Rep. Carter said. “It was great to hear how supportive our district residents are on the important issues surrounding legislation we have proposed, such as the budget, affordable housing, retirement, transportation taxes, and education. It is so important to get the opinion of the people I am representing in order to do the best job I can at the Capitol this session.”

For information about each legislator’s proposed bills and to contact them, please visit their website:

www.senatorhwang.com
http://cthousegop.com/mitch-bolinsky/
http://cthousegop.com/dan-carter/
http://cthousegop.com/jp-sredzinski/

You can also search bills and track their progress through the legislative process by visiting http://cga.ct.gov/.