State Senator Thomas P. Gaffey

State Senator Thomas P. Gaffey was elected to a seventh term in the Connecticut state Senate in November of 2006. He represents the 13th Senatorial District and the residents of Meriden and Middlefield, as well as portions of Middletown and Cheshire.

For the sixth consecutive term, Senator Gaffey serves as the Senate chairman of the Education Committee. That committee has cognizance of all matters relating to elementary and secondary education, the state Department of Education, local and regional boards of education, and collective bargaining for teachers and administrators.

In addition, Senator Gaffey serves as a member of the Legislative Management and Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committees.

Senator Gaffey was appointed Chief Deputy President Pro Tempore by Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr.in 2007. He is also a member of the New England Board of Higher Education, the Bushnell Education Committee, and the Education Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Senator Gaffey has consistently maintained a commitment to his educational priorities. He successfully maintained high levels of Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants and school construction funding for Connecticut cities and towns. He also provided additional funding for the state's vocational/technical high schools, Community Colleges, State Universities, and UConn.

Throughout his most recent term Senator Gaffey persevered on behalf of his 13th District constituents and public school students statewide. He successfully brought home tens of millions of dollars in state aid for school construction projects in Meriden and throughout his district.

He also pushed two separate initiatives to ensure full funding for the state's Education Cost Sharing (ECS) program to help local school districts cover the escalating costs of education and helped secure an additional $40 million in statewide ECS funding this year alone. His fight to remove the arbitrary ECS cap placed on certain communities continues.

Last year Senator Gaffey received national recognition for his education initiatives when he was appointed to the Task Force on the No Child Left Behind Act organized by the National Conference of State Legislatures. In this area he helped expand and enhance the state's school readiness program when he increased the number of spaces available in the state's neediest school districts.

Senator Gaffey counts among his most important accomplishments last year the work he did to pass a new law requiring the state's utility companies--whenever technically feasible--to bury new transmission lines when the proposed route runs close to homes and schools.

The state's veterans were also beneficiaries of Senator Gaffey's efforts this term. He helped pass a new law increasing the number of veterans eligible for admission to the facility, and he worked to make sure that Connecticut's property tax exemption for veterans moves with them from town to town.

And on the local front, Senator Gaffey successfully preserved Platt High School's graduation date last year--despite a construction-related interruption of the school year--so its senior class could still participate in 'Project Graduation,' an alcohol-free celebration planned with two other high schools.

As a co-sponsor of the so-called 'Sooty Six' legislation in 2001, Senator Gaffey fought to reduce harmful emissions from the state's dirtiest power plants, one of which operates in Middletown. His commitment to that public health issue was based on overwhelming evidence that people living within 30 miles of those plants were at much greater risk of ill health effects and asthma because of the harmful pollutants generated by those plants. In 2002, Senator Gaffey's work on the 'Sooty Six' matter was successfully resolved with enactment of the bill. He was also a champion of environmental legislation passed to protect Long Island Sound from the damaging impact of power cables and natural gas pipelines, the installation of which threaten to tear up the seabed.

Other 2002 accomplishments include passage of minimum wage and prevailing wage legislation, to protect workers and their families, and the successful legislative effort to help education officials monitor and control bullying behavior in our classrooms and schoolyards. Senator Gaffey worked to preserve education funding levels statewide in the face of increasingly gloomy economic forecasts.

Senator Gaffey challenged the de facto monopoly enjoyed by cable television providers so Connecticut consumers could benefit from the lower pricing and better service a competitive marketplace would bring. Senator Gaffey joined Senate President Kevin Sullivan and other colleagues to formally request a DPUC review of cable franchise policies, and in August 2002, the DPUC agreed to revisit its regulations regarding the length of franchise renewals.

Some of the awards received by Senator Gaffey in 2002 include a perfect, 100% rating from the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters for his votes on environmentally friendly legislation, and recognition for his support of and commitment to high-quality pre-school experiences for the children of Meriden with the appreciation of the Meriden School Readiness Program.

Senator Gaffey helped successfully deliver $20 million for ConnPACE in 2001, helping 14,000 additional senior citizens qualify for prescription drug assistance. He also helped secure insurance coverage for colon cancer screening as well as PAP smears and mammograms for women.

With Senator Gaffey's support in 2001, Connecticut firefighters gained the benefit of thermal imaging cameras in their fight to save lives and property. Senator Gaffey was also instrumental in securing $2.5 million in 2001 to protect and preserve Silver Lake and successfully sponsored legislation requiring the state DPUC to help resolve the lingering issue regarding water supplies in Durham and Middlefield delivered by the Eastern Regional Water Company.

In 2001 Senator Gaffey also distinguished himself as a leading proponent for corporate accountability in Connecticut, insisting that companies receiving state funds answer for the jobs created and effective use of those funds. He also took on big tobacco in an effort to restore home rule to cities and towns regarding local smoking ordinances.

Senator Gaffey received numerous awards in 2001, including recognition from the Connecticut Library Association for his steadfast commitment to the state's public library system. He was also appointed that year by the Governor to serve on the Leadership Council for the Connecticut Mentoring Partnership, to help give Connecticut students first-hand experience with day-to-day business operations in a wide variety of industries and professions.

During the 1997 session, Senator Gaffey successfully led the General Assembly in enacting remedies to the Connecticut Supreme Court's Sheff v O'Neill desegregation decision. Legislation sponsored by Senator Gaffey included: an historic state takeover of the management of the Hartford public school system; a landmark early childhood/school readiness program; establishing an inter-district public school choice program with more magnet and charter schools; and state bond funds for technology in the classroom enabling distance learning.

Senator Gaffey has consistently been an outspoken advocate for consumer protection initiatives. At the conclusion of the 1996 session of the General Assembly, Senator Gaffey was honored by the Connecticut State Medical Society for his strong support for health care issues and his sponsorship of the 48-hour maternity-stay bill, which became law. During the 1997 session, Senator Gaffey received statewide recognition for his successful legislative efforts to protect consumers from unethical attorneys by requiring insurers to notify legal clients when personal injury settlements are sent to their attorneys. The legislation also requires all parties to attend a real estate closing to receive notification of mortgage payoffs.

Senator Gaffey continued his momentum in the 1998 session, enacting legislation designed to ensure literacy for all children in the most formative first few years of school in Connecticut. In addition, he authored legislation that provides needed funding for Connecticut's Vocational-Technical high schools, streamlined special education programs, and significantly increased the amount of aid to towns for education.

Considering how important the safety of children is in this day and age, Senator Gaffey co-sponsored legislation during the 1996 session creating a constitutional amendment to protect the rights of crime victims. He also co-sponsored a bill creating "Megans Law," which provides notification to residents when convicted sex offenders relocate to a community after completing their sentences.

Senator Gaffey has continued to address these issues with his work on school safety bills that he successfully passed during the 1998 session. Those measures included: tightening of gun control with relation to guns on school grounds; the development of a community response education program to assist neighborhoods and towns that have been notified that a sex offender is living there; requiring the Department of Children and Families to disclose to the State Department of Education and records about an alleged child abuser who holds a teaching certificate; and the authorization of local school boards to establish school safety committees.

In his first term, Senator Gaffey served as the Ranking Member of the Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over state economic development programs, including tourism. As a freshman senator, he sponsored legislation to promote economic development by attracting venture capital for new and smaller business, investing state financial assistance in companies that embrace corporate responsibility, cutting the gasoline tax, and establishing timely action schedules for state permitting programs.

Senator Gaffey served on a legislative task force to study Connecticut's Community-Technical College system and its role in enhancing the state's economy. During the 1995 session of the General Assembly, he co-sponsored legislation which provided 100 percent state funding for the development of a regional magnet middle school to be located in the City of Meriden. With a curriculum focusing on science and technology, the school will serve students from Middletown, Middlefield, Durham and Madison.

Senator Gaffey was one of 50 state legislators from around the United States to be selected in 1995 to attend the University of Virginia's Darden School for "Emerging Political Leaders." He has been honored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians of America for successfully sponsoring legislation that encourages teaching the historical events surrounding the Great Hunger in Ireland. He has also been honored by: the University of Connecticut for promoting children's literacy through early reading programs; the Connecticut Optometrists Association; Friends of the Meriden Library; the Governor's Prevention Partnership and Drugs Don't Work; Reading Recovery; the Connecticut State Medical Society; Middletown Adult Education; the State Vocational Federation of Teachers and Vocational Technical Schools; Y's Men of Meriden; Meriden Boys' Club; Connecticut Hospice; the Irish Institute at Boston College; and the Connecticut Council of Independent Colleges.

Senator Gaffey served as an executive aide to former Governor William A. O'Neill for environmental matters. He also worked as a legislative aide to former House Speaker Irving J. Stolberg and as assistant clerk to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

A lifelong resident of the City of Meriden, Senator Gaffey graduated from local schools and received his Bachelor of Arts from Southern Connecticut State University. He was a member of the Meriden Democratic Town Committee for many years, served as a member and vice-chairman of the Meriden Planning commission for seven years, and coached youth basketball for several years.

Senator Gaffey works as the Division Head for Recycling and Environmental Education for the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority. He has three children; Elizabeth, Tommy and Colleen.