Of course, there are far too many bills working their way through the legislative process to discuss them all here. However, there are some that keep coming up during my conversations with Fairfield County residents, including some that are likely to continue attracting public interest between now and when the legislative session ends in June.

Those bills include:

• Governor M. Jodi Rell’s Proposed Biennial State Budget which calls for raising state income tax rate by 10% over the next two years in order to significantly increase funding for education over the next five years. What the proposed state budget does not do is provide adequate funding for many of the programs that provide necessary services to people who cannot care for themselves. The Appropriations committee is now looking at the budget and the many omissions, to see how best it can develop a budget that meets the needs of state without overburdening taxpayers.

• SB 1054, An Act Revising the Process For The Taking Of Real Property By Municipalities For Redevelopment and Economic Development, one of nearly two dozen bills regarding eminent domain proposed this year, was recently heard in a public hearing before the legislature’s Planning & Development Committee. The bill makes certain reforms to the eminent domain process including requiring a municipal legislative body to approve the taking of the property by a two-thirds vote, prohibiting the seizure of property for the sole purpose of increasing property tax revenue, strengthening the blight standard, and requiring that the property be offered back to the original owner if it is not necessary for the development project. It is important to note here that Connecticut residents have felt threatened by the possibility of losing their homes to eminent domain for economic development since the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision. Two years later – despite reform legislation offered by Republicans – the General Assembly has yet to do anything meaningful to address their concerns.

• SB 42, An Act Concerning An Agreement Among The States To Elect The President of the United States, calls for Connecticut to join an interstate compact that ensures that the winner of the national popular vote in a presidential election wins the election. This would have the effect of requiring Connecticut’s presidential electors to cast their votes for the candidate who garners the largest number of votes among those cast in the states that are members of the compact. So if the majority of voters in other states voted for the Republican candidate, and in Connecticut the voters voted for the Democrat, the votes would go to the Republican. The Government Administration & Elections Committee, of which I am a ranking member, recently held a public hearing on this bill.

• HB 6285 An Act Raising The Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction to Age 18 calls for updating the state’s “grey laws” which govern how the state legally treats teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18. This bill, now before the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, calls for raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to age 18 beginning on January 1, 2008. This proposed legislation is intended to grant greater authority to parents whose children are either beyond their control, or who have run away, as well as to provide these children with the types of services currently available to younger children who are treated as juveniles by the court system. Adult criminal laws would still be imposed in the cased of murder, rape etc., and for motor vehicle violations.

• SB 421 An Act Concerning the Super 7 Highway, recently heard in a public hearing before the legislature’s Transportation Committee, calls for requiring the state Department of Transportation to implement a time line for completing the construction of the Super 7 Highway from Norwalk to Danbury. It should come as no surprise to any of my constituents that I testified in opposition to this legislation on environmental, financial, and practical grounds. This is a 50 year old dinosaur that is no longer viable, but goes against the grain of increasing mass transportation and encouraging smart growth for the Danbury corridor.

• Affordable Housing is once again an issue, including bills recently approved by the Select Committee on Housing and now subject to further consideration by other legislative committees. Among these bills is HB 5735, An Act Concerning Incentives for Affordable Housing, which calls for establishing a grant program for municipalities that adopt smart growth zoning districts that, among other provisions, include affordable housing. Also under consideration is HB 6645, An Act Concerning The Promotion of Smart Growth And Affordable Housing and HB 7149, An Act Concerning Housing For Economic Growth.