NEW MILFORD – State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) and State Senator Craig Miner (R-Litchfield) visited MEDinstill, one of the state’s leading medical manufacturing companies, on Monday afternoon. Mayor Pete Bass coordinated the meeting and also invited the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board in order to explore the potential growth within the industry at a local level.

Rep. Buckbee, a member of the legislature’s Commerce Committee, explained, “I want to thank Mayor Bass and the MEDinstill team for taking the time to meet with us. MEDinstill has an important impact on our community. There is an opportunity to extrapolate that positive impact to other industries and regions across the state. The manufacturing of medical parts may not seem exciting on the surface, but MEDinstill is continuously working on products that prevent further harm to patients and their caregivers. They are true innovators and problem solvers, which is exactly the type of talent we should be fostering here in New Milford and in Connecticut.”

(more…)

As summer draws to a close and back-to-school shopping starts, I wanted to remind you that “Tax Free Week” is coming up, beginning Sunday, August 19 and ending Saturday, August 25.

This one-week event eliminates Connecticut’s 6.35 percent sales tax on clothing and footwear costing less than $100. Please note: This benefit has been substantially reduced from previous years. (more…)

HARTFORD – State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) was informed today that he had officially earned a one hundred percent voting record for 2018. This marks the second year in a row that Rep. Buckbee has earned a perfect voting record and has not missed a floor vote since being elected in 2016.

“I make sure that I am present and participate every time there is a House session and we are considering pending legislation. I am proud to report to the residents of New Milford that I took part in all 317 roll call votes in the House of Representatives this year,” explained Rep. Buckbee. “I have not missed a vote throughout my entire term because I am truly committed to bringing the voice of my fellow residents in New Milford to Hartford and to ensure that our families and hard-working men and women have the quality representation in Hartford that they deserve.”

Buckbee currently serves on the legislature’s Commerce, Childrens, and Internship committees. In addition to his committee assignments, Rep. Buckbee also joined the School Safety and Security Working Group and the Fire/EMS caucus.

###

HARTFORD – The House of Representatives convened today to consider legislation that the governor had vetoed from the 2018 Legislative Session. The House acted on one law that had been vetoed, which was designed to protect education funding from being cut mid-way through the fiscal year by future governors.

“I proudly joined my colleagues in the House today to reverse the action of the governor and protect the rights of the children in our community to receive a quality education. This common sense provision would have helped sideline education funding from being used as a political poker chip for the foreseeable future. For New Milford, specifically, this would mean greater stability in crafting our local budget because we would have a concrete idea of how much state funding will actually be allocated, as opposed to the status quo of being handed a phantom number from the state,” explained Buckbee.

(more…)

New Milford – As New Milford High Schoolers head into their last few days of classes, State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) stopped by to take a tour and visit with students. Buckbee was invited to speak with two groups of students enrolled in civics courses.

“I want to thank the students for their enthusiastic participation and communicating with me during my visit to the school. Promoting civic engagement is imperative to shaping an informed electorate and our state’s future leaders. Based on the questions I received, from both groups of students, they all demonstrated a high level of interest and understanding of the state’s political environment,” stated Buckbee, who is also a New Milford High School graduate.

(more…)

HARTFORD – State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) participated in the legislature’s bipartisan School Safety Working Group meeting, held on Tuesday, May 22nd, at the Legislative Office Building.

“With another tragic incident occurring in Texas just last week, school security is clearly the priority of every local community across the country. Our youth are our most valuable asset and ensuring that they have a safe place to learn and grow into adulthood is not just a governmental responsibility but that of society as a whole. It’s important that we talk about the current climate in terms of the vulnerability of our schools and what precautions or procedures can be adopted to add a layer of protection for our students,” explained Rep. Buckbee.

(more…)

HARTFORD – State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) voted in favor of a state budget compromise that does not implement any new taxes or a tolling system. It does maintain funding to the state’s most vulnerable populations. In the waning hours of the 2018 session, a vote was taken on the budget after successful negotiations among legislative leadership came to fruition.

“While this is in no way, shape, or form a perfect budget it represents a quality compromise between both sides of the aisle. We worked hard to maintain funding to seniors, school children, and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, we have a long way to go in order to reach a point of fiscal prosperity here in Connecticut. It is important that in the outyears we strive to diminish the state’s staggering unfunded pension liabilities and not rely on policies that deplete the Rainy Day Fund,” explained Buckbee.

(more…)

HARTFORD – State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) shepherded legislation through the House of Representatives that will create a Blockchain Working Group and to report its findings to the state legislature.

“Blockchain is an emerging technology that is more commonly known for cryptocurrency trading, such as Bitcoin. Much like the young and unknown Internet in the early 1990’s, it is imperative that Connecticut begin to understand the possibilities of what Blockchain could be used for,” explained Buckbee.

(more…)

HARTFORD – State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) co-sponsored and voted in favor of legislation that will require providers of school transportation to provide various training to school bus drivers on life threatening food allergies. Specifically, the training will include the correct way to administer epinephrine, or “epi-pens” from a cartridge. The bill received overwhelming bi-partisan support and will now head to the Senate for further action.

Buckbee stated, “I have a very dear friend with children who have severe allergies, Nick and Braydon. They were on my mind today when we debated the merits of this bill along with all of our youth in the community. One of the biggest misconceptions about nut or certain food allergies is that they can be airborne, meaning a child does not necessarily need to ingest the food to have a reaction. In close quarters on a bus, having a trained adult to react in an emergency situation could be the difference between life and death of a student.”

(more…)

HARTFORD – State Representative Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) co-sponsored and voted in favor of legislation that allows the Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to implement a state-wide marketing plan to promote and attract businesses to Connecticut. The initiative drew unanimous support by the entire membership of the House of Representatives.

Buckbee said, “I would like to thank my fellow co-sponsors and colleagues serving with me on the Commerce Committee for supporting the concept as well. In tough economic times, a marketing plan to showcase what our state has to offer is a great starting to point to reversing negative fiscal trends and strengthening our workforce.”

(more…)