Posted on June 25, 2019 by admin
EAST HAVEN – State Representative Joe Zullo hosted a coffee hour at East Farms Village on Thursday, June 20th to discuss the 2019 legislative session and to answer questions from residents. Rep. Zullo handed out the 2019 Major Public Act Report that can be found by visiting www.cga.ct.gov.
Posted on June 25, 2019 by admin
EAST HAVEN – State Representative Joe Zullo hosted a flag drive in June to give East Haven residents the opportunity to properly dispose of their worm American flags in a dignified and respectful way. The worn American flags were retired by American Legion Post #89.
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Posted on June 13, 2019 by admin
Having finished my first legislative session at 11:59 p.m. on June 5th, I wanted to take the opportunity to once again thank all of the residents of East Haven for entrusting me with the awesome responsibility of serving as our community’s State Representative in Hartford.
The long days and late nights were trying at times. There were certainly occasions during the past three months that I missed events in town that I wish I could have attended and I appreciate residents’ understand the demands of this new job. However, the experience was entirely humbling and I am proud of the work I was able to undertake in our capitol on behalf of our community.
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Posted on June 4, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – State Representative Joe Zullo railed against the two-year state budget voted out of the House on Monday, which results in more spending and higher taxes that Connecticut taxpayers and small businesses will be forced to absorb.
“Connecticut families and businesses are leaving this state in record numbers and jobs are not rebounding in Connecticut as they are elsewhere across the country. Now, the majority party’s answer to fixing our state’s economy is to increase taxes by over $1.7 billion dollars and increase spending by another $1 billion dollars. We were forced down this same road under Governor Malloy, and we saw how it ended. Now, we’re repeating the insanity under Governor Lamont, with another ‘tax and spend’ budget that will continue to make it harder for middle class families and small businesses to make ends meet.”
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Posted on June 4, 2019 by admin
EAST HAVEN — In anticipation of Flag Day, State Rep. Joe Zullo in cooperation with American Legion Post #89 are encouraging East Haven residents to dispose of their worn American flags in a dignified and respectful way.
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Posted on May 22, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – House Republican Lawmakers sent a formal letter to Governor Lamont Tuesday night to notify him that all members of the House Republican Caucus are fully unified against tolls.
The letter was sent after the governor declared that he will begin focusing on the budget and will table tolls for a special legislative session to give Republicans more time to support the proposal.
In the letter, House Republicans said that going into a special session would be an undue tax burden on the people of Connecticut and that the House Republican Caucus will be voting no on tolls.
“I am new to the legislative process but it seems to me that calling us in for a special session is a waste of taxpayers’ money,” said Rep. Zullo. “If Democrats don’t have the votes for tolls it’s because they are hearing from their constituents that they are against tolls. We need to start focusing on ways we can fund transportation without tolls and creating a plan that improves our economy.”
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Posted on May 16, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – State Rep. Joe Zullo said that his colleagues on the other side of the aisle should have voted down a tolls proposal presented yesterday to the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee that, according to reports, was presented in an “intentionally vague” manner.
“The highway tolling bill, known as H.B. 7202, is entirely lacking in detail and was reportedly presented to the committee in an ‘intentionally vague’ manner. It was absolutely unrealistic, and quite frankly insulting, to expect legislators to vote on a $900 million dollar tolling proposal when that proposal did not specify the number of gantries proposed, the specific locations of gantries, tolling rates, or exemption and discount amounts.”
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Posted on May 15, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – State Representative Joe Zullo praised the passage of legislation on Tuesday that will create tougher penalties for the illegal manufacturing, distribution, or sale of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
“Every community in the State has felt the impact of the opioid epidemic,” said Rep. Zullo. “Both our State and nation need a sustained, strategic, and comprehensive plan to curtail the widespread abuse of fentanyl and other opioids. One bill will certainly not end this epidemic. However, this bill marks a critical step in the fight to end this horrible, devastating epidemic.”
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Posted on May 14, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – State Representative Joe Zullo voted in favor of legislation on Tuesday that will create an offshore wind energy hub in New London in an effort to generate much needed renewable resources and create jobs through a public-private partnership that will revitalize the city’s vital port and state pier.
“The creation of the offshore wind energy industry has the potential to create thousands of good paying jobs in Connecticut,” said Rep. Zullo. “I am excited New Haven has a deepwater port and is on a very short list of seeing an expansion of offshore wind energy – this means East Haven will benefit greatly from this new industry.”
The legislation, HB 7156 AAC The Procurement of Energy Derived from Offshore Wind, was passed in the House and sent to the Senate. House Republicans said this is the right approach to creating clean, renewable resources that will eventually replace current forms of energy such as nuclear.
The bill authorizes the solicitation of bids to procure up to 2,000 megawatts of energy from offshore wind. The state has already pledged $35 million for the New London hub and Eversource and Orsted, have committed $57.5 million in private investments.
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Posted on May 9, 2019 by admin
HARTFORD – State Representative Joe Zullo released the following statement regarding the passage House Bill 5004, which will increase the minimum wage to $15.
“Today’s vote on mandating a 49% increase of the State’s minimum wage to fifteen dollars per hour over the next four and a half years was both difficult and disappointing, mostly because of the fiscal implications that were ignored in its passage,” said Rep. Zullo. “After nearly ten hours of debate, I expressed my support for the social and equitable considerations underpinning the proposal. At my core, I am deeply empathetic to those who feel that increasing the minimum wage will be a gateway to a more dignified, stable way of life for tens of thousands of workers across the State.
However, I also understand that mandating every employer to pay fifteen-dollar minimum wage, including every small business and every municipality in the State of Connecticut, will shutter small businesses, cost thousands of people their jobs to automation, and strain already stretched municipal budgets.”
This mandate will incentivize businesses to accelerate the automation of jobs – replacing humans with self-checkout machines, robots, and other technology that, thanks to this legislation, will soon be more economically feasible than paying fifteen-dollar minimum wage. This mandate will also force businesses that cannot automate to cut down their staffs and reduce workers’ hours, leading to layoffs and reduced salaries for the very people this legislation aims to help.
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