Throughout my legislative career over the last fourteen years, I have come to learn that the best ideas for new laws and policies come from the general public.  From time to time, I have sent out surveys to solicit your views and ideas on current topics for the Connecticut General Assembly.  Recently most of you have received a survey from my office requesting your thoughts on important local and state issues.  I have tried to draft the questions to elicit your comments and opinions.

Even if you are busy, please take a few minutes to answer the questions and mail them back to me. If you do not receive a copy of the survey – and not everyone will due to limitations on how many pieces of mail legislators are entitled to send – please consider visiting my page on the General Assembly website at www.cga.ct.gov and responding to the survey questions online. Once on the website, click on “Senate” and follow the links to the Senate Republican site, and then to my page where you will find the survey.  We will be tabulating the responses to help me shape proposals for the February 8th session.  I will also address any specific personal concerns you may convey to me.

I have chosen several controversial topics that the legislature will be taking up this year.  I am most interested in your thoughts about the following:  

• Taxes and spending
• The proposed Broadwater Liquefied Natural Gas terminal in the waters of Long Island Sound.
• The state’s role in funding local education costs.
• Personal tax privacy with regard to legislators’ authority to see personal tax returns for research purposes.
• Eminent domain.
• Economic diversification in Southeastern Connecticut in the aftermath of our success in saving the U.S. Naval Submarine Base from closure.
• Campaign finance reform and the use of public funds to finance state election campaigns.

 
As you may know, this year’s regular legislative session opens on February 8th and ends May 3rd, giving the General Assembly only three short months in which to complete this year’s business.  With that in mind, I ask you to respond to my survey as soon as you can so that I may begin to develop your ideas into proposals for debate.

As your State Senator, I believe it is my responsibility to ensure that your voice is heard at the State Capitol.  The more information I have from you regarding your ideas and concerns about the issues that most affect our state, especially our corner of it, the more effective I can be in communicating your wishes to my colleagues.

In the months ahead, I will keep you informed about what the General Assembly is doing. I encourage those of you with internet access to visit our website at www.cga.ct.gov  where you will find a great deal of useful information and can even check the status of legislation that interests you.

As always, I am happy to answer your questions and respond to your concerns.  I can be reached at the Capitol at 1-800-842-1421 or you can send me an e-mail at Catherine.Cook@cga.ct.gov.