June 21, 2019

Orange Lawmakers Host Legislative Updates

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ORANGE – State Reps. Themis Klarides, Charles Ferraro, and Kathy Kennedy met with constituents over coffee on Friday, June 14th and at the Orange Senior Center on Monday, June 17th to provide a 2019 legislative update and to answer questions.

Rep. Kennedy said, “My hope in the future is Connecticut lawmakers stop punishing businesses that want to stay and do business here. Continuing to raise their taxes and overburden the businesses they run with more state regulations, will only lead to less businesses coming to Connecticut and less jobs for state residents.”

The 2019 Legislative Session ended on Wednesday, June 5th at midnight. A two-year state budget, crafted by the majority party Democrats was adopted and contains almost $2 billion in new taxes and increases spending by $1 billion.

“I am deeply concerned with the increase in spending and asking taxpayers to pay more,” said Rep. Ferraro. “We should be holding the line on spending and finding ways to save money. This budget will not move Connecticut in a better direction.”

“How can we expect to see growth in our tax base and growth in our businesses with an unbalanced budget such as this? This budget puts more undue pressure on the working class of Connecticut and more costs, fees, and taxes thrown on to our businesses. This budget continues to place teacher pension burdens on future generations, makes Connecticut less competitive in comparison to the states around us in almost every way and continues to short the Special Transportation Fund,” said Rep. Klarides.

In addition, the lawmakers did highlight the following bills that did pass with bipartisan support:

SB 3: An Act Combatting Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
HB 5524: An Act Increasing the Penalties for the Sale of Fentanyl
HB 7156: An Act Concerning the Procurement of Energy Derived from Offshore Wind
HB 7218: An Act Concerning the Safe Storage of Firearms in the Home and Firearm Safety Programs in Public Schools
SB 164: An Act Including Certain Mental or Emotional Impairments Within the Definition of “Personal Injury” Under the Workers’ Compensation Statutes for Firefighters and Police
HB 7244: An Act Concerning The Property Tax Exemption For Service Members And Veterans Having Disability Ratings

For more information about legislation passed this session or the state budget residents can visit cga.ct.gov. If residents have any questions or concerns and would like to contact the lawmakers they can call 860-240-8700 or email them at Themis.Klarides@housegop.ct.gov, Charles.Ferraro@housegop.ct.gov, or Kathy.Kennedy@housegop.ct.gov.