Posted on June 13, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – State Mike France (R-Ledyard) invites constituents to meet with him at either the Ledyard Town Hall or the Preston Public Library to discuss the 2019 Legislative Session, which concluded on June 5th. Rep. France will be going over, and answering questions on, major issues such as the new biennial budget, the minimum wage hike, paid family and medical leave and tolls.
When: Thursday, June 20, 2019
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Where: Ledyard Town Hall Annex
741 Colonel Ledyard Highway,…
Posted on June 3, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – During hours-long debate on paid family and medical leave legislation, the Connecticut General Assembly Conservative Caucus proposed, on behalf of the entire Republican caucus, an alternative that would provide important medical leave coverage for families without burdening individual taxpayers with a mandatory new payroll tax.
Unfortunately, the measure was defeated on a mostly party-line vote of 84-61.
Instead, the Democrat plan for paid family and medical leave that passed the House mandates employers offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave to their employees with a maximum benefit of 60 times minimum wage, which is currently $606 per week. To fund the program, virtually all employees will be compelled to pay one-half of one per cent of their gross earnings into a new state-run fund, whether they intend to ever take the leave or not. The payout is tied to federal benchmarks so the amount paid to employees taking leave will increase automatically when those benchmarks rise.
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Posted on May 30, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD — State Representative Mike France (R-42), a U.S. Navy Veteran, is holding a flag drive from May 31st to June 14th, during which constituents can drop off worn and damaged American Flags to be properly and honorably disposed of.
The ceremony for disposal of unserviceable flags will be held by the American Legion Post 112 in Uncasville.
According to the…
Posted on May 20, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD — State Representative Mike France (R-42) will be at the Preston Transfer Station on Saturday, June 8th to make himself available to constituents to answer your questions concerning major issues of the 2019 Legislative Session, which ends on June 5th.
“There were a number of bills making significant policy changes that were debated and passed this year,” said Rep. France. “Please…
Posted on May 10, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – As Ranking Member of the Government Administration & Elections (GAE) Committee, State Representative Mike France (R-42) was stunned that a bill making substantial changes to the voter registration process was brought before the House of Representatives on Tuesday without first being approved by the GAE Committee, which has sole cognizance over all election statutes.
House Bill (H.B.) 5844, An Act Requiring Housing Authorities to Provide Voter Registration Applications to Prospective Tenants, received a public hearing in the Housing Committee on February 7th, was voted out of committee on March 7th and then was tabled for the House Calendar by the Legislative Commissioners’ Office on March 28th; but it did not receive further legislative consideration before coming to the House for a vote.
“Not to take anything away from the fine work done by the Housing Committee, but election law is not something that is within their area of expertise,” said Rep. France. “I have great concern that this bill did not come before the GAE Committee, which has cognizance over all voter registration matters. In addition, colleagues stated that there was discussion during the committee meeting during which the Housing Committee Chair made a commitment that the bill would be referred to GAE, but unfortunately this was not done.”
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Posted on April 26, 2019 by admin
A new digital application released by the Connecticut Department of Public Health called NORA, which is a Naloxone and Overdose Response Application to help combat the ongoing opioid epidemic.
The NORA app is designed to help save lives when confronted with an opioid overdose by educating residents on how to administer naloxone and using GPS data to find nearby locations to obtain the medication. The app, which is free for all users, functions through the web browser of most smartphones.
The Department…
Posted on April 26, 2019 by admin
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced that there will be lane closures on Southbound and Northbound sides of I-95 in New London and Waterford starting this coming Monday, April 29th to allow for nighttime bridge maintenance.
Work on the Vauxhall Street Extension Overpass is scheduled to occur between 7:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. from Monday, April 29th through Friday, May 24, 2019. The lane closures will take place between Exit 84 and Exit 82 on I-95 Southbound and Exit 82…
Posted on April 25, 2019 by admin
Once again, Connecticut’s tax burden is among the highest of any state in the nation. Residents in our state need to work longer than residents in 45 other states to pay their state, local and federal tax bills.
Tax Freedom Day is the day each year when the average citizen has earned enough to pay their combined local, state and federal tax bills. National Tax Freedom Day is on April 16!
This year, according to The Tax Foundation, Connecticut’s Tax Freedom Day is April 25, which means we’re tied…
Posted on April 22, 2019 by admin
Letter to the Editor from Senators Paul Formica and Heather Somers and Representatives Devin Carney, Holly Cheeseman, Mike France, Kathleen McCarty, and Jesse MacLachlan.
Connecticut needs to take bold action to fix our transportation system. Better transportation is a key to economic development, job growth and better quality of life.
At the same time, residents are struggling. They have been asked to pay increasingly more in taxes while services have been cut. The state keeps taking more, and providing less.
Connecticut has to change. Creating a new way to tax people through tolls is not the answer. Connecticut needs to prioritize.
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Posted on April 8, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – As bills to provide paid Family and Medical Leave advance through the committee process, the legislature’s Conservative Caucus proposed an alternative that would provide coverage for families without burdening individual taxpayers with a mandatory and onerous new payroll tax.
Current paid family and medical leave proposals would mandate employers offer up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to their employees. To fund the program, virtually all employees would be compelled to pay one-half of one per cent of their earnings into a new FMLA fund, whether they take the leave or not.
As a more affordable alternative, the Conservative Caucus model would have the Insurance Department develop a voluntary free-market plan which it would make available to both employees and employers. This alternative would allow workers to qualify for paid family and medical leave while treating such leave as an employment benefit, not a state mandate. Instead of a mandate, employers would be empowered to offer the benefit to employees as they do other types of insurance. It would further empower employees to purchase such coverage if they found it beneficial to their family circumstances.
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