Connecticut General Statutes approved by the House of Representatives.

This may be an incredibly boring thing to write about, but it is a very important part of the process of making sure that the laws of the state make sense (as much as possible).

Today, the state House of Representatives approved House Bill 6392. It is a simple bill. Here is the entire text:

Volumes 1 to 13, inclusive, of the general statutes of Connecticut, revised to 1958, consolidated, codified, arranged and revised to January 1, 2007, by the legislative commissioners under the provisions of subsection (g) of section 2-56 of the general statutes and published under the title "The General Statutes of Connecticut, Revision of 1958, Revised to January 1, 2007", including the consolidation, codification, arrangement and revision of the public acts of the state from 1959 through 2006, inclusive, are adopted, ratified, confirmed and enacted.

Every two years, a nonpartisan office that works for the legislature, called the Office of the Legislative Commissioners takes all of the laws approved by the legislature in the last two years and "codifies" it. Simply put, they rewrite the thirteen volume collection of laws so that it reflects the changes made during the past two-year term of the state legislature.

But, in order for this new Connecticut General Statutes to really be the laws of the state, the legislature must actually approve it. So, while it is a non-controversial item, it is no exaggeration to say that, today, the House of Representatives approved all of the laws of the state.

Education Committee votes increase in education aid and property tax relief

I was happy to vote today in the legislature's Education Committee for legislation to increase education funding to cities and towns by $198 million. In addition to this, the legislature's Appropriation Committee is working on a budget that restores funding for property tax relief grants to cities and towns that Gov. Rell proposed to cut. Together, the total funding for education and property tax relief is expected to be $36 million more than Gov. Rell's budget proposal.

The legislation I voted for today would increase New Britain's state education funding by $7.5 million for the upcoming budget year and increases Newington's funding by $2 million.

This increased funding is set-up to both support our local schools and help keep property taxes down. Of the funding provided to New Britain in the coming budget year, at least $4.4 million will go to the schools and $3.1 million will be made available for property tax relief. The full budget plan is still taking shape, but, since the Appropriations Committee is expected to at least restore the $1.2 million in property tax relief funding for New Britain that Gov. Rell proposed cutting, there could potentially be more than $4.3 million made for property tax relief in the coming budget year. If we win this increase, it could enough to be equivalent to about about 2 mills less in property taxes.

For Newington, the legislation voted today would increase funding for the schools by at least $825,000 and makes almost $1.2 million available for property tax relief.

In addition to this, the Education Committee has approved new special education funding legislation that would increase the amount of money the state provides for kids who need special education services.

The Committee also approved the Safe Schools legislation proposed by Sen. Donald Williams. Especially important for New Britain, the legislation provides higher funding for districts with greater need.

The working in the Education Committee is just a step in the process, but, as opposed to other years, it looks like the bold education funding plans approved in the Committee are likely to make it into the State Budget plan that will be approved in the budget-writing Appropriations Committee. There is a lot of work ahead, but things look good far.

March 5, 2007 New Britain Legislative Update

The New Britain State legislative delegation recorded our second edition of the New Britain Legislative Update on March 5, 2007. Things are very busy at the Capitol, so Rep. John Geragosian and Rep. Betty Boukus were not able to make it to the recording on March 5th.

In this edition, Sen. Donald DeFronzo, Rep. Peter Tercyak and I discuss a number of important issues at the Capitol. I hope you find it informative:


Online Videos by Veoh.com

This edition of the New Britain Legislative Update is scheduled to be on Nutmeg TV cable Channel 21 this Sunday at 5pm. And, of course, 5pm on Sundays is the regular time for the New Britain Legislative Update on Channel 21.

Many thanks to Marcin Olechowski for his work in taping and editing this show. Marcin is a graduate of CCSU, where he still hosts a weekly radio program.