State Legislative Endorsements
Town Lawmakers Push for Delay in Gun Registry
By Hugh McQuaid and Christine Stuart | CT NewsJunkie
Several Republican lawmakers including Wolcott State Rep. Rob Sampson and 16th District Senator Joe Markley for extending the Tuesday deadline to register assault weapons in response to long lines of gun owners waiting at state police locations to comply with new firearm regulations.The long lines have been caused by a deadline set in April when the state adopted new gun control restrictions after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The statute expanded the number of guns prohibited under Connecticut’s assault weapons ban. It gave gun owners who bought the banned guns before the change until Jan. 1 to register to keep the weapons.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday that about 25,000 Connecticut residents had registered assault weapons as of Dec. 25.
Legislators Hold Town Hall Meeting Tonight
Sen. Markley and Rep. Sampson will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting in the lower level of Wolcott’s library tonight at 6 pm. Anyone is welcome to attend.
The legislators will be highlighting the bills that passed the General Assembly during this year’s session. The session which includes a two year state budget, ended on June 6th. Gov. Malloy has or is expected to sign most of the legislation into law. The legislators invite the public to give their feedback as well. No RSVP is required.
Markley: Democratics Requesting More Than Malloy
By Joe Markley
Back in February, the Governor claimed his budget reduced spending by $1.8 billion. In fact, his proposed budget actually increased state spending by nearly 10% over two years. All he did was trim the rate of government growth; he made no actual reduction in spending. In fact, the state will spend an additional $2.9 billion over the next two years under the governor’s proposal.
Now the Appropriations Committee has made a bad budget worse, spending approximately $55 million more than the Governor requested.
It bears repeating: we need to get our fiscal house in order. The Appropriations proposed budget not only increases spending but is also imbalanced. The majority party wants to redefine the budget cap, which is the height of hypocrisy. The spending cap has been changed repeatedly since it was put into place over twenty years ago, in the aftermath of passage of the state income tax. In every case, spending has been removed from the cap—it’s a one-way deal, designed to thwart the clear will of the taxpayers.
While the Appropriations Committee was making its budget recommendations,
Foley Still Seeks Ethics Overhaul
By Hugh McQuaidPresumptive Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley doubled down Tuesday on an ethics bill the Government Administration and Ethics Committee let die earlier this month after it was comdemned by lawmakers of both parties.
Foley and Sen. Joseph Markley, R-Southington, held an afternoon press conference in the Legislative Office Building, to reiterate the need for legislation to curb conflicts of interest in state government.
Foley, who lost a close election to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2010 and has been positioning for another run next year, testified before the legislature’s open government committee in March in support of a bill prohibiting lawmakers or a members of their immediate family from being paid more than $1,000 from an employer that benefits from state funding.
Facing Deficit, Malloy Set to Increase Spending
Based on current spending the state is expected to have a built-in $2.2 billion budget deficit over the next two years, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday that the budget he will present to the General Assembly on Wednesday will include a spending increase.
“Yeah. That would be correct,” Malloy said in answer to a question about whether the new budget will increase spending.
“But we are going to present a balanced budget with no tax increases,” Malloy insisted. “And we are going to support programs that are most likely to produce a growing economy in the future.”
Town Hall Meeting With Legislators Thursday
By Chris O’Brien – Wolcott Whisper State Representative Rob Sampson and State Senator Joe Markley will be holding a Town Hall forum Thursday evening from 6:30-7:30. The meeting is being held one month into this year’s legislative session and one day after Governor Malloy is expected to give his proposal to a two year state budget on Wednesday.Sampson has introduced 30 bills for this legislative session. Many of these deal with criminal penalties for using a gun in certain crimes. He has also tackled many fiscal issues, calling for a state spending cap, ensuring tax refunds can be given with checks instead of debit cards, and repealing the state’s real estate conveyance tax.
Last year, Gov. Malloy enacted the largest tax increase in state history. Yet, while the tax increase was passed in April, the tax was applied retroactively to January 1st, creating some Cosntitutional problems. Sen. Markley investigated whether or not this practice was legal, and foudn out that it was. Both legislators have introduced a proposal that would prohibit the practice in the future.
After Massacre, Sen. Looney Vows Gun Control Fight
Paul Bass | New Haven Independent
As the horrific details of the school shooting rampage in Newtown continued trickling out Saturday, New Haven state Sen. Marty Looney promised a push to strengthen Connecticut’s gun-control laws. Looney (pictured) made that vow in an interview as New Haveners came downtown for a 6 p.m. vigil on the Green on behalf of the 26 students and adults massacred at Sandy Hook elementary school by a gunman who then killed himself.
The shooting provoked a national outpouring of grief—and an immediate call for a resumption of efforts by gun control proponents to take on the NRA and pass tighter legislation. Looney, a Democrat who’s now the Senate majority leader, cosponsored Connecticut’s assault-weapons ban (with a Republican, then-state Sen. Bill Aniskovich of Branford). The ban passed into law in 1993.
Connecticut’s Fiscal Cliff
By Sen. Joe Markley
You may have heard that our state is facing a ‘gloom and doom’ budget scenario: a $365 million hole this fiscal year, and deficits of over a billion dollars in each of the next two years.
The current budget took effect just four months ago, but already revenue is down sharply, and spending is up. The causes are clear, and not surprising:
- People are not buying goods, so sales tax collection is less than expect. Corporation tax revenue and money received from the state’s casinos have also declined.
- Medicaid costs have increased by over $260 million
- Personal expenses, salaries, and overtime for state workers is up over by $10 million
A November revenue report by the Office of Policy and Management and the Office of Fiscal Analysis (the state’s number crunchers) has just announced the alarming $365 million shortfall. As recently as November 1, the administration projected a deficit of only $61 million.