Sen. Rob Sampson Statement on Opposition to Senate Bill 2

State Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) issued a statement regarding his opposition to S.B. 2: An Act Expanding Preschool and Mental and Behavioral Services for Children, which the Senate adopted today.

While the state’s Office of Fiscal Analysis does not have a definite cost available, it is estimated that this legislation’s impact will be in the millions of dollars for Connecticut taxpayers. In addition to the cost, the measure creates significant additional mandates on towns and school boards, while also interfering with private contracts between these boards and providers.

Senator Sampson offered an amendment to the legislation to mitigate this negative impact on taxpayers, municipalities and schools.

“Everyone recognizes the rise in mental health issues in the state. I share the desire to find solutions that will benefit affected children across our state. I was hopeful that we would get it to a point where I could support the measure and it is with regret that I cast a ‘no’ vote today on Senate Bill 2,” said Senator Sampson.

“Despite many improvements from the original version, the final version of the bill still violates several core principles that I believe are imperative to restoring the wellbeing of our American society. Senate Bill 2 expands government to extraordinary lengths, interferes with local control of education and most importantly, will pass on enormous financial costs to the same young people that we are trying to help today – long into the future. It’s clear that this measure will become law without my vote, so I am hopeful that its benefits outweigh any harm done.

“This was not an easy vote for me because the mental health crisis is something that greatly concerns me. However, there is a right and wrong way to affect policy and I prefer to affect this policy using the Republican principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and far less intrusions on individual liberty. There are elements of this bill that have merit, but I wish this bill was more laser focused on solving the actual problem of children’s mental health. I’m afraid that in its totality, the bill is less about solving mental health problems and more about expanding government control,” he said.