Rep. Bolinsky: Sixty Percent (60) of Newtown Residents Surveyed Want Governor’s Executive Power to End

NEWTOWN- State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106)  released the survey results sent to constituents a few weeks ago which asked the question, “Do you think the Governor should have his executive powers continued?”

Rep. Bolinsky said, “The final results of my One-Question Survey are in and, I thought I’d share more than just the total counts with you.

Please refer to the graphic for a colorful look at how about 200 of you voted.  Following, I have also included three, each well-reasoned comments from folks voting YES and folks voting NO, along with a brief acknowledgement.

Representative respondent comments: 

YES – keep the powers & mandates.

1. From CF: “Yes the governor’s emergency powers should stay in place until the emergency is over. The individual legislators acting as a body are too slow to act in a timely fashion.”

• Good observation and mostly true. The legislature can be slow but, I’ve been advocating not to remove the Governor from the process but, for sharing of the burden with an understanding that, for sudden changes, allowing the Governor to revisit the emergency by a streamlined process to allow emergency interventions with a simple up-or-down vote of the House & Senate.

2. From CR: “We are still not out of this pandemic emergency…the situation still changes & evolves quickly with new variants and waves with sudden spikes. It is important the governor has the ability to react quickly through executive order..”

• I agree there needs to be a way to give the Governor a “panic-button” for sudden, serious changes, like I expressed above but, people are asking “when does the singular power end?” IMO, the legislature and the Governor’s office should agree to work together and share the work, with public input on day-to-day stuff and codify a way to pivot quickly to emergency orders in a pinch.

3. From EL “We are still experiencing a public health emergency & need our Governor to respond rapidly as the situation changes.”

• Nice and direct, thank you. I lot of folks are as definitive in the other direction. I think I’m a hybrid. I do not believe in mandates, prefer a team approach to everyday management and, am okay allowing expedited approval for the Governor to pivot where rapid response is necessary.

NO – time to sunset and end the powers & mandates.

1. From JL: “Executive or emergency powers should be short-term and limited scope. The legislature should determine how controls if any, are implemented or instituted after the initial 90 day period.”

• I think that was the original intention but, as your Governor and Legislators had no roadmap to navigate the pandemic. I will introduce a bill this year to define duration and qualified exceptions. 

2. From LB: “No he shouldn’t because he is not leading anyway. He refuses to bring back the mask mandate for stores even though we have been almost solid red for quite some time. Why have all this power and not use it?

• At the beginning, the Governor was pretty decisive and The People of CT were hungry for guidance. Overall, it was working as well as could be expected. IMO, that was more than a year ago.  Today, many are exhausted and expressing a desire for good guidance –  with personal choice. At the moment, I think he’d like to see an orderly transition back to co-equal branches of government but, his legislative leaders aren’t eager to grab this hot potato. I believe it’s our job. Next week, we vote on extension #7. I’m for representative government.  

3. From RO: “… these “emergency” powers should be stricken from law. No one person should ever hold this much power. The entire premise of these powers is totally antithetical to our Republic, which has always stood firmly against consolidation of governmental power.”

• Nice and direct, thank you. Sounds a very “Constitutional” as intended. ·        

The most thoughtful “I’m not certain” comment:

1. From KB: “Executive Powers.  I am uncertain as to how to vote on this issue. To date, I think he has done a decent job but <I don’t know> the details of extending his power… To me, giving power to the lowest level of government possible is best, which would… let towns decide how to handle the issues related to the pandemic from now on.”

• Wow. Maybe the best answer is simply a good though-starter. 

Thank you! 

Lastly, the final tallies were: 70 ”YES”, 116 “NO” and 7 “OTHER”.