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Community Corner

Bysiewicz and Lesser Visit Middlefield

The Democratic Town Committee hosted leadership Tuesday night

Tuesday night at the Middlefield Community Center, the Democratic Town Committee had two important guests, U.S. Senate Candidate Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. Matt Lesser.

Bysiewicz filed the paperwork for her U.S. Senate bid on Jan. 18, the same day that Sen. Joe Lieberman announced he will not run for re-election.  "I want you to know I support veterans issues," she said, "because my father is a World War II Veteran."  She said she knows it is important to many veterans who live in Middlefield to know that thier issues are being represented. 

Bysiewicz also voiced concern about the health issues that returning veterans face, particularly those with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD.)  She said that she had recently visited with a family of a veteran who had committed suicide, and wants to be sure mental health issues facing these veterans get the funding they deserve.

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Many folks in the audience had questions for Bysiewicz, including the concerns that taxation on businesses is too high.  "I met with a woman who started her own dress shop, because she could not find a wedding dress for her daugher that was made in America," Bysiewicz responded, "and she now is hoping to grow her business to expand into some abandoned mill factories here in the state so that more jobs stay here instead of being moved to China."  The audience welcomed Bysiewicz's support of small businesses, who she says are creating 90 percent of the jobs in this area.

Toward the end of the meeting, Lesser spoke to audience members about Gov. Dan Malloy's budget proposal. "We are working very hard on this now," he said. Lesser elaborated that "twenty years of using the state's credit card without paying the bill" has come to an end.  He noted that there were often two budget deficit figures under former Gov. Jodi Rell's leadership, one that showed a deficit of $2 billion, and the official estimates of $3 billion. 

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Currently, Lesser is serving as Vice Chairman of the Government Administration and Elections Committee (GAE), a watchdog legislative committee tasked with reorganizing state government.  There is a proposal underway to alieviate pressure on municipal and school district budgets by allowing them access to the state's health insurance plans, which are less costly than many of the plans these communities have access to today. 

Lesser said he has been a bit discouraged by a lack of cooperation. As soon as Sen. Len Suzio arrived after being sworn into office, he voted against two pieces of legislation important to the area, one of which he [Lesser] sponsored he said.  These include proposed House Bill 5529, an act prohibiting school districts from charging mandatory student fees, which Lesser introduced in support of a CRHS student. 

Newly elected Senator Suzio also voted against Proposed H.B. No. 5326 which would put carbon monoxide detectors in schools, Lesser noted, while adding that the cost is about five dollars per unit, and that because of aging equipment in the buildings it is a public safety issue.

While being a registered Democrat is not a requirement to attend, these meetings are not widely publicized but are open to the public.  Folks who are interested in political issues are encouraged to attend committee meetings which take place the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.

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