State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) spoke before the Woodbury Business Association at their regular monthly meeting this April. The Senator provided the group with an overview of the 2004 legislative session, and discussed pending legislation affecting business and some of the more important issues being faced by the legislature.

Senator DeLuca, who helps negotiate the state budget in his capacity as Senate Republican Leader, addressed the group about the issue of the state budget, and explained that this year's negotiations are off to a partisan start.

"We have legislative Democrats who have seen the state take in a surplus and still want to raise taxes," said Senator DeLuca. "I will not be involved in any discussions that include raising taxes. The state has already raised taxes by a billion dollars over the past two years, and it's time to curb the appetite to spend and give the state's taxpayers a break."

Another issue being debated by the legislature is the burgeoning crisis involving medical malpractice premiums. Senator DeLuca has served on the Insurance and Real Estate Committee since his first election to the State Senate in 1990, and is currently a member of the medical malpractice working group that is crafting legislation to address this growing problem.

"Unlike a lot of issues state government wrings it hands over, the situation with medical malpractice insurance premiums really is a 'crisis,' and we need to pass effective legislation that keeps doctors in Connecticut," said Senator DeLuca. "I am not entirely confident that the more recent proposals I've seen will solve the problem, but I will continue to press the working group to develop a bill that actually does something, rather than just passing a bill for the sake of passing a bill."

Senator DeLuca also provided the group with an update of the state's Small Towns Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), which has provided over a million dollars in grants to the town of Woodbury since its inception in 2002.