New Britain's Francisco Cuin appointed to statewide commission.

I have known Francisco Cuin of New Britain for years, now, and I have always been impressed with his passion for advocating for the things that matter to people's lives.  He is a truly decent and sincere person.  That is why I was very pleased that he was called upon recently to serve on an important statewide commission.

Here is a press statement the New Britain legislative delegation issued recently:

The New Britain Legislative Delegation today welcomed news that New Britain resident and community leader Francisco O. Cuin has been appointed to serve on the state’s Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission (LPRAC) for the next two years.

Mr. Cuin was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and has resided in New Britain since 2002. He is a member of the board of the Spanish Speaking Center and is an elected member of the city’s Board of Assessment. He is also the co-founder of the Parent Network of New Britain, which works to improve quality of life of New Britain Latinos.

Mr. Cuin currently works for the Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc. in the Head Start Program and with the New Britain Foundation for Public Giving. He holds multiple degrees, including a juris doctorate from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

“Francisco Cuin is a civic leader in the city of New Britain and is a strong advocate for the Latino community in our city,” said Senator Donald J. DeFronzo (D-6). “He will be a welcome and positive addition to the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission.”

“Mr. Cuin has a long history of advocacy and will bring an important voice to the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission,” said Representative Betty Boukus (D-22).

“Francisco is a true leader who genuinely cares for building a better future for people,” Representative Tim O’Brien (D-24) said. “He has the expertise and values to do an excellent job on the commission. Now other state leaders can see the good we in New Britain already know about Francisco.”

“Francisco will make a wonderful addition to the commission,” said Representative John Geragosian (D-25). “He understands the challenges facing the Latino community and the community at-large. He will be a strong advocate for change.”

Mr. Cuin’s term on LPRAC will last through January 8, 2012. He was appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) and Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden), jointly.

Created in 1994, LPRAC is a nonpartisan public policy agency within the state’s Legislative Branch. LPRAC consists of 21 appointed volunteers who are mandated to advise the General Assembly and the governor on policies that foster progress in the Latino communities residing in Connecticut. For more information, visit www.cga.ct.gov/lprac.

This commission has an important role, providing the legislature with research and information that legislators would not normally have in our decision-making process.  I know that Mr. Cuin will be a strong voice, directing LPRAC to ask tough questions and provide the kind of incisive information that will make our job, in the legislature, in advocating for all people more successful.

Connecticut Jobs Now: Action to create jobs for Connecticut workers.

Our state needs strong action to create jobs. This is exactly what I have been advocating already, by pressing for proposals during the regular legislative session in 2009 ranging from green jobs to funding for construction jobs.

Since then, our economic slump has dragged on, with our state unemployment at 8.8% - the worst since the 1970s.  Action to create jobs is needed now.

That is why I joined with Sen. Donald DeFronzo today in announcing a "Connecticut Jobs Now" initiative (PDF):

State Representative Tim O’Brien (D-New Britain, Newington) today joined a coalition of lawmakers calling on Governor Rell’s administration to take action that would create more than 16,000 jobs by investing in Connecticut’s aging infrastructure.

“As I have gone door to door in our community, people have told me over and over that they need jobs,” Rep. O’Brien said. “The leadership of our state has a responsibility to get people to work earning paychecks and to get our economy moving again.”

“The Connecticut Jobs Now plan would create thousands of jobs and help many businesses - getting our economy moving again. It is the right thing to do and I hope the Governor agrees,” Rep. O’Brien said.

Rep. O’Brien credited Senator Donald DeFronzo (D- New Britain) for his work in creating and promoting the plan which can be fully implemented by the Governor’s administration without further legislative action.

The key to the Connecticut Jobs Now plan calls for $1 billion in state bonding on transportation infrastructure, housing, energy conservation, clean water and higher education projects.

The plan funds only those projects that were previously authorized which could be implemented within 90 to 120 days.

“This is a call for action,” Rep. O’Brien added, “More importantly, the plan creates jobs and puts people back to work.”

This is not a new concept. One of the best things public officials can do to help an ailing economy and create jobs is to support public construction. It is especially true now, since a quarter of our state's construction workers are unemployed.

By putting construction workers back on the job, they and their families will be able to pay bills and shop at stores - creating jobs and helping businesses in other parts of our state economy.

This makes good sense.  And we, in the legislature, have already provided the bond authorization to do it, so there should be no roadblocks to getting it done.

Connecticut Jobs Now can be the core of the recovery of our state's economy.  But action by the Governor is needed - now.

Busy morning speaks to important priorities, like health care and education.

This morning was one of those times, as a state legislator, when I had to try to be in three places at the same time.  This is pretty common, but this morning's events struck me in that they touch on some very important values – like health care and education – the support for which is in real question in the difficult budget debate underway right now.

One event was a visit to the Cedarcrest Hospital in Newington, which is a state mental health facility that Gov. Rell's administration is trying to shut down.  Many people have real concerns her decision to remove these important services will result in people with significant mental health needs falling through the cracks and into desperate situations without the help they need.

On top of this, Gov. Rell is proposing deep cuts to nursing homes and hospitals.  Nursing homes have already been reeling – closing down and reducing staff because of years of funding that has not kept up with rising costs.  Now, Gov. Rell proposes a devastating blow to them.

Meanwhile, hospitals, which are struggling because, in the bad economy, more people without health insurance need their services.  Gov. Rell's cuts would seriously damage hospitals at just a time when we really need them.

Another important event was a meeting at New Britain General Hospital between local early childhood education advocates and the Graustein Memorial Fund.  The Graustein Fund has made a very significant commitment of funds to the program that I wrote about earlier, directed at improving education, well-being and prospects in life for very young children.

The problem is that the funding from the Graustein Fund is matching funding and it depends on the state keeping its own funding commitment.  That is why it is so unfortunate that Gov. Rell's plans call for cutting this important matching funds.  Gov. Rell's plan would cut a good number of things that benefit children like the Children's Trust Fund, early childhood education services, pre-natal services, after school programming, libraries and more.

There is a lot of unfortunate rhetoric that has been thrown around in the budget debate.  For example, Democrats in the state legislature have made billions of dollars of cuts in the state budget – many difficult cuts – but Gov. Rell and fellow Republicans keep falsely saying that there have not been budget cuts.

Just as bad is rhetoric that talks about budget frugality in pithy political terms in  sound bites on the evening news, but ignores the importance of the services that, in the real world, that are being cut and the harm caused when they are gone or greatly reduced.

We need leadership in our state that rises above this and helps us to approve a budget that balances the budget, not just in dollars and cents, but in the values we all should share.