March 4, 2020

Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco Op-Ed: 2020 “Short Session” Agenda

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On February 5th the General Assembly began their new legislative session which is also commonly referred to as the short session. In the short session, which ends on May 6th, individual legislators cannot propose their own legislation, all legislation is raised by the committee of cognizance. Legislators can however write a letter to the committee co-chairs and ask that proposals be raised by a committee.

The main objective of the short session is to make adjustment to the two-year state budget passed last year. The current budget for fiscal years 2020-2021 is out of balance by $28 million according to the State Comptroller and that deficit looms even after the Democrat legislature raised taxes on Connecticut families by $1.75 Billion.

As a member of the budget-writing Appropriations committee, I will sit and hear from all state agency heads on where we, in state government, can find savings and reductions in state spending during the budget process in the next few months. I will not support any budget that looks to spend more.

I, along with some of my colleagues also propose to lower the tax burden of Connecticut families, which also means to oppose any kind of tolling, protect the voting and individual free speech rights of state citizens and strengthening criminal justice protections.

Residents were deceived last year by the majority party who last session said they did not pass a tax on groceries. Now the Department of Revenue Services has announced that the legislature needs to fix the state statute to strike grocery store out of the law, because it can be interpreted as a de facto grocery tax, as my colleagues and I pointed out last summer. This tax should be repeal immediately.

We should also repeal the extra $5 fee on new vehicle registrations, used to help people buy hybrids and energy efficient vehicles. We pay enough in fees and taxes on our car license and registration. If people want to buy a fuel-efficient car that’s great but all other taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for their choice of vehicle.

I will continue to oppose so-called Clean Slate legislation which would erase certain felony convictions from the criminal record of a convict, without a regard to the victims of those crimes. Many businesses are worried that concealing a violent criminal’s history could allow for an individual with many criminal acts to have literally just one or two records displaying on their report if we automatically erase records.

We should also protect students’ First Amendment rights by requiring public colleges and universities to include political speech in their anti-discrimination policies as they do with race, religion, national origin, gender and sexual orientation. Just because you are a college student who holds conservative views doesn’t mean you should be silenced by the college or university you attend.

I will continue to update you on issues as they move forward this session, but my guiding principles remain limited government, economic freedom, and individual liberty. As always, if you have questions or concerns about state government please contact me at gale.mastrofrancesco@housegop.ct.gov or 1-800-842-1423.