March 28, 2013

Rep. Tony Hwang, Rep. Dave Rutigliano, and Senator Musto Support Jobs for those with Mental Illness

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HARTFORD- Representative Tony Hwang (R-134), Rep. Dave Rutigliano (R-123), and Senator Anthony Musto expressed their support on behalf of proposed House Bill 761 on Monday during the Government Administration and Elections hearing. HB 761 is an act that calls for making the Janitorial Work Pilot Program for persons with a disability or a disadvantage permanent.

Providing testimony for the bill was Bill Gill, the director of marketing for the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center provides individually designed person-centered planning for disabled citizens.

“The Kennedy Center has been supporting citizens with disabilities for the last sixty years,” said Gill. “But it has been a lot more difficult to support them in the last five years due to the state of the economy.”

“The Kennedy Center serves as an amazing advocate for people in our community and this bill will help their clients greatly,” said Rep. Hwang. “Their collaborative effort helps so many realize their dreams of working and earning a wage, especially when that dream seemed so far away. I thank the Center for the amazing work they do on a day to day basis.”

Rep. Hwang thanked Gill for coming in and showed his gratitude for the Kennedy Center and the work that it has done for the community.

“I want to thank the Kennedy Center for all they do for our community,” said Rep. Rutigliano. “They change the lives of so many people and this program is another example of the great work they do.”

Gill shared with the committee that his clients have been hard working citizens for the state and they deserved to have this bill passed.

“Last year over 100 of our clients had janitorial jobs,” said Gill. “They made approximately $340,000 and worked over 53,000 hours.”

“The pilot program worked well for both the state and our neighbors who directly benefit from job assistance,” said Sen. Musto. “This is exactly the type of bipartisan support our citizens expect from Hartford, and I thank the members of our committee for helping further it.”

These workers are able to become both socially and financially able to live independently if they so choose, and without these jobs they would not be able to do so.