Rep. O’Dea Welcomes 2014 Legislative Session
Rep. O’Dea Welcomes 2014 Legislative Session
HARTFORD – This past Thursday, State Representative Tom O’Dea (R-125) joined his fellow State legislators in ushering in the start of the 2014 Legislative Session. O’Dea, who will be starting the second year of his first term as State Representative, represents the 125th House District, which encompasses most of New Canaan and a portion of Wilton.
This year, the Connecticut General Assembly will hold a “short session,” which began a day late due to Wednesday’s snow storm.
Short sessions, when adjustments to the previous year’s passed budget are made, run during even-numbered years, and are two months shorter than the budget writing sessions held during odd-numbered years. Since short sessions have limited time for consideration of legislation, individual legislators may only propose bills that would make adjustments to the budget – all other legislation must be brought up through committees.
While the most pressing issue of the session will be making adjustments to the biennial budget, many more issues are on the table, such as a continued focus on mental health and school safety, the implementation the Common Core Standards in Connecticut’s public schools, the State’s massive long-term obligations and dismal fiscal outlook, and the effects on the State of the Affordable Care Act.
“I am looking forward to the upcoming session – we certainly have a lot of work to do,” commented Rep. O’Dea. “My focus for this session will be the same as the last one – increasing jobs and decreasing taxes. We need to work toward a business climate that promotes expansion and growth for all businesses. I applaud the Governor’s proposals to provide Connecticut residents with some tax relief and to put money into the rainy day fund, but I think we need to aggressively look for ways to cut spending and decrease the size of state government.”
Rep. O’Dea introduced a measure that would temporarily cut Connecticut’s gas tax, currently the nation’s third highest at just under $.50/gal, to a level below that of neighboring states. He believes this will encourage residents near the border and motorists going through Connecticut to fuel up and spend money here as opposed to simply passing through or going into New York, Massachusetts or Rhode Island for gas.
“While reducing the tax rate may result in a loss of revenue initially, if enough people who would otherwise fill up out of state fill up their tanks in Connecticut and buy other merchandise here, the added volume will make up the difference,” Rep. O’Dea said. “This legislation would reduce the gas tax by 26 cents a gallon, saving the average two-car family approximately $40 in a single month. If this tax cut ends up increasing revenues as a result of the increased volume of gasoline and associated goods sold, as I expect that it will, hopefully we can make the tax cut permanent. I ask that anyone who backs this proposal help spread the word and contact other legislators and the Governor’s office to express your support.”
Rep. O’Dea currently serves on the legislature’s Judiciary, Environment, and Transportation Committees, and can be reached at (800)842-1423 or by e-mail at tom.odea@housegop.ct.gov. Constituents are also encouraged to visit his website, www.repodea.com, to see updates on his legislative activity.