Case Participates in ‘Lobbying 101’ Workshop

HARTFORD – State Representative Jay Case (R-Winsted), who represents the towns of Colebrook, Goshen, Winchester and Torrington, was asked to participate in Gallo & Robinson’s annual “Lobbying 101” workshop at the Lyceum in Hartford. Specifically, Case provided insight to a group of potential lobbyists about effectively advocating for line-items in the state budget. According to Case, the most powerful way in which an individual can advocate for, or against, certain budgetary funding levels is to testify before the legislature.

“There are obviously core functions of state government. However, the revenue pool continues to shrink while pension obligations grow. Both have restricted the flexibility of the state budget. As a result, it’s difficult for us to prioritize where the money actually goes,” said Case, who is a member of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, which serves as the state’s budgetary committee. “When legislators are truly shown the impacts of funding for different services, and more importantly what happens if that funding disappears, then we do our best to allocate state dollars in a way that protects our most vulnerable citizens and families.”

Case went on to mention that all formal pieces of legislation, including the budget, must be brought forth to a public hearing. At that point, members of the public, advocacy groups and even other legislators have the ability to provide public comment on the importance of specific issues.

The 2020 legislative session begins on Wednesday, February 5th.

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