Legislative Session Good for Stratford

The 2008 legislative session that ended in May was a terrific one for the people of Stratford. We will benefit from our new law banning the consolidation of Raymark waste in residential neighborhoods, a law that keeps Sikorsky Airport’s fate in Stratford’s hands, and a 22% increase in state aid for Stratford education.

Increasing State Aid for Stratford Education: In the past two years, Stratford has received an additional $3.9 million increase in state aid for education—a 22% increase. Working in a bipartisan fashion, the General Assembly eliminated the cap on education funding that had been on Stratford for years and achieved this record increase. Not only has this benefited our students, but it allowed our local government to avoid a massive property tax increase. We also accomplished this without any increase in state income or sales taxes. Stratford is finally on its way to getting its fair share of education funding, without placing additional burden on our local taxpayers.

Banning Raymark Waste In Residential Neighborhoods: Representative John Harkins and I co-authored a new law to stop the consolidation of Raymark waste in residential neighborhoods. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year proposed consolidating twenty of the remaining Raymark sites into three locations near local residential neighborhoods. Specifically, our new law forbids individuals and government agencies from permanently placing, depositing, disposing of, or storing more than 1,000 cubic yards of soil consisting of asbestos-containing materials from one site to another that abuts or adjoins residential property, without the approval of two-thirds of the municipality’s legislative body. We now look forward to now working with the EPA to find a workable solution to the remaining Raymark cleanup that does not destroy the quality of life for Stratford families.

Maintaining Stratford Control of Airport: The General Assembly extended the moratorium to prevent the state or Bridgeport from taking any action regarding the future of Sikorsky Memorial Airport without Stratford’s approval. The moratorium has been extended to April 19, 2009. Negotiations between Stratford and Bridgeport are ongoing, and I am hopeful that an agreement will be reached. I will continue to fight for local control of the airport and will continue to oppose any attempt to expand it or permit a state take-over without Stratford’s approval.

Protecting Our Families: Of course, Stratford also will benefit from the legislation we passed to help the state as a whole. The General Assembly passed much needed criminal justice reform legislation to impose stricter penalties for repeat violent offenders. The new law increases from 50 to 85 percent the amount of prison time a convicted criminal must serve before becoming eligible for parole, and creates the new crime of home invasion, and doubles the minimum sentence for second violent crime convictions.

Also this year, the General Assembly passed legislation making it a discriminatory practice – a class A misdemeanor – to place a noose or simulation of a noose on public or private property without written permission and with the intent to intimidate or harass.

Taken together with last year’s passage of “Jessica’s Law” (which protects society by establishing mandatory minimum prison sentences for adults convicted of sexually assaulting children), these laws will hopefully deter violent crime in Connecticut, and severely punish the worst of the worst criminals.

Fighting Global Warming: Connecticut needs to do its part to stop global warming. The General Assembly this year passed legislation mandating reductions in greenhouse gas by 2020—but more importantly we are trying to find the technology to get us there. We need to cut greenhouse gases in a way that will not hurt the economy. Technology is the answer. New technologies like hydrogen fuel cells and biodiesel are the way we can reduce greenhouse gases without hurting our economy. The General Assembly has a number of tax incentives in place for research in these areas, but we also need incentives for people to start using them in their everyday lives. Alternative energy will not only help our environment, but stop our addiction to oil that is hurting us geopolitically and at the pump.

Protecting Teen Drivers: Another new law I cosponsored will increase education and enforcement efforts to keep our teen drivers safe. Beginning in August, the amount of drivers’ training required for 16- and 17-year olds to earn their licenses will be doubled to 40, and parents or guardians will be required to complete two hours of training. With certain exceptions, these young teen drivers will be required to be off the roads by 11 p.m. instead of midnight. And, young teen drivers will be subject to much stricter penalties for speeding and reckless driving. The idea is to protect teens, and other drivers, from future tragedies of the sort we too often read about in the newspapers.