December 27, 2021

State Rep. Greg Howard: End of Year Reflection

This article was archived from the previous WordPress site. Formatting and media should be close, but may not match the original post perfectly.

End of Year Reflection

By State Rep. Greg Howard

As a first-year legislator, I want to thank the thousands of people that have reached out to me either by phone or email on the issues that matter most of them. My office and I have done our best to respond to every single one of my constituents who have contacted me.

In 2021, I learned a lot about establishing relationships on both sides of the political aisle and building toward consensus when it came to legislation. You can’t let striving for the perfect piece of legislation be the enemy of good common-sense law. Whether the issues were juvenile crime, police accountability or the state budget, we in the legislature must do what’s in the best interest of Connecticut residents and not special interest.

My hope next year, as we pivot and move to the next phase of the pandemic, is that the legislature take back the Executive power they gave the governor, so we can resume our equal role in governing the state.

Regrettably, the legislature has failed to move on important items like crime and meaningful reforms to the judicial system. The attacks on law-enforcement and the inaction on the recent rise in crime have demoralized our officers on the streets leading to low morale, and frightened state residents. We need to put policies in place for our public safety officers, that allow them to do their job and protect the public at-large.

I will be having a juvenile justice forum in Stonington in January so my constituents can hear our bipartisan reform plan and I encourage residents to come out be heard.

Also, the legislature has also stood idly by as the Governor and the state departments of Public Health and Education have failed our students through inconsistent quarantine policies and lost school days. I will continue to be a loud voice pressing our state to establish policies that improve the education of our children and not enlarge in already significant achievement gap.

Common sense must prevail as we move into the New Year.