Rep. McCarty: News from the Capitol

The 2016 Legislative Session has officially begun, and I hope that we can accomplish as much – or more – than what was achieved in 2015.

Last year I was honored to welcome to Waterford Connecticut’s new Commissioner of Education, Dianna Wentzell; who visited the Friendship School, Quaker School and Waterford High School. In addition, it was such a privilege to attend the many ribbon cuttings that opened up new businesses to our local and state economies, and the Naval Submarine Base’s new Undersea Warfighting Development Center in Groton. Finally, it was a true pleasure to welcome Waterford students to the Capitol, deliver State citations and awards to deserving recipients, and attend community and charity events, fundraisers and parades through my position as your legislator. Thank you all for inviting me to be a part of your milestone moments, as well as your daily lives.

Still, perhaps one of my most important successes from last session was working with colleagues from across the aisle to pass bills I had the opportunity to sponsor or co-sponsor that benefit our education system, businesses, healthcare, mental health services, and our youth, seniors and veterans.

As life-long workers and residents, Connecticut’s senior citizens deserve the best care and security the state can offer. For these reasons, I supported legislation that protects and enhances the quality of life for our seniors and criminalizes the exploitation of elderly consumers, identifies and prepares unpaid caregivers with patient post-discharge plans from a hospital, and protects children from abuse by increasing penalties for failing to report suspected child abuse. I am also deeply committed to improving mental health services in our region and our state as epidemic opioid abuse and suicide tragedies continue to devastate our communities.

While I was privileged to support and co-sponsor such noteworthy and meaningful bipartisan legislation, the budget bill was still a very large disappointment. I joined my colleagues in the Senate and House in calling for broad structural changes to the budget to protect our most vulnerable citizens, mental health services, businesses and hospitals; but the budget that passed still increased taxes by 1.5 billion, forcing GE and other business to leave our state.

Thus, while I was pleased that the Deficit Mitigation Plan introduced in December’s special session restored many of the harmful cuts to hospitals and mental health services, I was ultimately unable to vote in favor of the plan because it did little to amend the long-term financial problems facing our state. For instance, Connecticut is facing a $355 million dollar deficit in 2017 and approximately a 3.5 billion deficit in the out years of 2018-2019. Real long-term structural reform and policy changes -not one-time revenue sweeps – are needed to restore predictability and sustainability to Connecticut’s budget process. We cannot continue to raise taxes on businesses, hospitals and the families that are still working hard to build and stabilize this state from the bottom up, to balance the budget. We must close out this budget and find an approach that produces real results while allowing agency heads to contribute to the process of identifying potential areas for savings.

Going forward, I will continue to advocate for a true spending cap, a true lockbox for transportation needs, and a bonding cap of 1.8 billion to ban excessive borrowing and create reform on pensions, labor contracts and legislation that is favorable to improving the business climate in the state.

I have proposed several ideas for 2016 legislation to numerous Committees in Hartford that should help curtail our state spending and protect the taxpayer dollars are the seeds of a growing economy; including phasing out the hospital tax and bettering funding plans for magnet schools and special education programs. In perpetuation with my legislative efforts last year, I have also offered suggestions on how to refine protection for the elderly, emergency responders and other young students in our state. To learn more about the work I am conducting, please follow my legislative activity at my website, www.RepMcCarty.com.

A difficult session lies ahead, but I hope that our fresh ideas for structural changes to protect core programs and services will open up a dialogue that ultimately cultivates solutions.

As your legislator, I am committed to continuing to work in an open and bipartisan manner for the benefit of my constituents and the residents of Connecticut. I encourage my constituents to get in touch with me at Kathleen.McCarty@housegop.ct.gov or 1-800-842-1423 to discuss your priorities.

May you all enjoy good health, peace and happiness all the year through.