McGorty & Perillo Give Legislative Update to Shelton Seniors

SHELTON – There was a packed house at the Shelton Senior Center last Tuesday as State Representatives Ben McGorty (R-122) and Jason Perillo (R-113) presented a legislative update on senior’s issues in a forum sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).  The event has held at the Wheeler Street facility in Shelton.

Rep. Jason Perillo (R-113) and Rep. Ben McGorty (R-122) with Phyllis Kupec, President of AARP, at the Shelton Senior Center.

The legislators discussed the 2017 legislative session which began January 4th, and the current state of the budget – already $1.5 billion in deficit.

“The bad economic decisions of the last six years have hurt everyone in the state, especially our seniors,” said Rep. McGorty.  “Connecticut continues to be consistently rated as one of the worst states in the U.S. in which to retire.  We need to take steps to correct that.”

“This coming session will have tremendous implications for seniors, particularly those who have retired or are looking to retire in Connecticut,” said Rep. Perillo.  “Our seniors deserve to be able to retire in the same state they worked and raised families in, not forced out of state by high taxes and the fiscal mismanagement of state government.”

Both legislators expressed hope that with an increase in Republican members in the House this year (now 72 Republicans and 79 Democrats) there will be a greater ability to pass legislation that will relieve some of the burdens on the state’s seniors, including a measure to remove the personal income tax the state charges on Social Security income – something Perillo and McGorty have both been pushing for over the past several sessions.

The AARP forum is held annually, and Perillo and McGorty expressed their thanks to the organization for asking them to participate once again this year.