Senate President Pro Tempore Looney’s Statement on Preserving the Middle Class Property Tax Credit
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) today released the following statement regarding Governor Malloy’s proposal to eliminate the property tax credit as part of his budget plan:
“Even in difficult budget times, preserving the property tax credit for middle class families is important. Eliminating the property tax credit will hurt middle class families by weakening the progressivity of our tax system. It’s a popular credit with homeowners, one which Democrats in the General Assembly fought to establish.”
Hartley and Bioscience Leaders Lay Out the Future of the Industry in Connecticut
Hartley brings together bioscience stakeholders to build the precision medicine and personalized health cluster in Connecticut
Connecticut’s foremost health and bioscience experts joined Senator Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury) today to outline how Connecticut can establish itself as a worldwide leader in bioscience and precision medicine. The Connecticut Health Data Collaborative (CHDC) working group, which Sen. Hartley serves on alongside Connecticut’s bioscience stakeholders, spoke about the future of bioscience in Connecticut. The CHDC released a report outlining their current cooperative efforts and plans to expand, creating new jobs in Connecticut, as well as lay out what Connecticut can do to cement itself as a hub for bioscience research and development.
“Connecticut already has the assets needed to become a global leader in bioscience and precision medicine, but we need to continue encouraging the kind of cooperation between stakeholders and the state that we’ve seen in the CHDC,” said Senator Hartley. “Precision medicine is already expanding rapidly in our state, and by embracing the recommendations of the CHDC we can further turn our schools and bioscience institutions into real economic engines that will create good-paying jobs for generations to come. The cutting edge work being done by these organizations is truly exciting and should be encouraged.”
A 2015 economic competitiveness diagnostic of Connecticut found that the state has great assets and economic drivers in research and development, bioscience and health date. In response to those findings, Senator Hartley and her colleagues on the legislature’s Commerce Committee passed legislation establishing the CHDC and tasking it with creating stronger partnerships and networks amongst the major stakeholders in Connecticut’s bioscience, healthcare and education fields. The CHDC worked to determine ways in which stakeholders can and should collaborate in order to further mutual goals and drive the industry forward.
Today, the CHDC released a status report identifying the four major areas of collaboration that members believe Connecticut should adopt. If these four “guiding pillars” are embraced, Connecticut would become be one of the first in the nation to adopt a statewide initiative which would leverage the state’s world class academic and research institutions, the insurance industry, and an emerging tech industry.
The CHDC identified its top pillar as being increased support for research and development for precision medicine and personalized health. This includes the creation of “The Connecticut Center for Genomic Medicine,” which will be home to a Connecticut Biobank, adopting and recommending standards and protocols for acquiring, transferring and managing health data across the state. Additionally, this will include partnering with Connecticut Innovations (CI) to secure funds to be used in support of bioscience ventures.
Additionally, the CHDC called for Connecticut to embrace economic growth initiatives to identify and support Connecticut organizations and companies working in bioscience, biopharma, biotech, genomics, clinomics, epigenomics, pharmacogenomics as well as the microbiome field and other related fields as its second pillar. Once identified, these organizations and companies can be enabled to share data, collaborate on projects, and build partnerships with Connecticut’s universities and colleges to expand the school to work pipeline for health informatics, health analytics, and genomic counseling programs. Additionally, the CHDC recommends encouraging entrepreneurial enterprises and holding competitions that attract experts to Connecticut and build a critical mass of talent.
Its third pillar called for the establishment of cost-efficient methods to ensure the security of health data. The success of a bioscience and personalized medicine network relies on extensive health data being kept electronically. This is only possible if that data is kept secure and ensures the privacy patients above all else.
The fourth and final pillar is to promote efficient and innovative platforms for collecting health data. This information is necessary in order to understand the interplay between genetic, behavioral and environmental factors in the incidence of disease or illness. By studying large amounts of health information, these organizations can develop new methods for preventing or curing life-threatening diseases.
Building a critical mass of bioscience and precisions medicine organizations around Connecticut will have strong and positive reverberations across the state, creating jobs and growing the state economy. Establishing the state as a hub for bioscience research and development will attract experts from around the world and retain the current and developing experts the state already has. This industry is continuing to expand and create, demanding that Connecticut’s educational institutions continue to fill the talent pipeline with entry-level to high skill level applicants.
Hartley and D’Amelio Announce Upcoming Office Hours in Waterbury and Middlebury
Events to be held February 7th and 15th
State Senator Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury) and State Representative Anthony D’Amelio (R-Waterbury) have announced that they will hold office hours meetings on February 7th in Waterbury and February 15th in Middlebury.
“District office hours are a great chance to hear directly from my constituents,” said Senator Hartley. “I look forward to hearing the thoughts and suggestions of my constituents on the kind of things they would like to see from us in the 2017 legislative session. This feedback is invaluable in continuing my work to improve the quality of life and economic vitality in Waterbury, Middlebury and throughout Connecticut.”
“With the 2017 legislative session underway it’s important to listen to the issues that are important locally and I look forward to meeting with constituents during these, and upcoming, office hours in the district,” Representative D’Amelio said. “I appreciate everyone that reaches out in person or contacts my office with concerns or questions.”
Senator Hartley’s upcoming office hours schedule is as follows. Additional dates will be announced as they are scheduled:
Inspirer Magazine: For Senator Marilyn Moore, a Connecticut Democrat and majority whip in the state senate, faith and an open heart have informed her journey from the start.
Here in Bridgeport people are being wrongfully targeted by the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) with predatory and discriminatory billing tactics. If a home has a small, overdue sewer bill the WPCA has been quickly moving to foreclose instead of finding a reasonable and fair approach to getting the bill settled. After foreclosure, the WPCA has then been turning a profit on the home by auctioning it off. In addition, the foreclosures seem to disproportionately affect African-Americans, Latinos, and low-income people.
Together with the state legislative delegation, the City Council, and local activists I am working to make this illegal.
People should be given an honest chance to pay their sewer bills. I will not stand for them being targeted and having their lives destroyed so the WPCA can make a quick buck.
To stand up against the WPCA’s wrongful foreclosures, please sign the petition below.
As your State Senator, I want to know what state issues are most important to you and your family. Please fill out the survey below. As always you can also contact my office at 860-240-0579 or Toll-free: 1-800-842-1420.
Hartford Business Journal: State Sen. Tim Larson (D-East Hartford) lauded Cyient’s Connecticut expansion plans as “more proof that our agreement with Sikorsky is a good investment that is already growing jobs up and down the supply chain in Connecticut’s aerospace manufacturing sector.”
Larson Applauds Expansion of Aerospace Manufacturing Operations in East Hartford
Senator Tim Larson (D-East Hartford) today applauded the news that Cyient, Inc., a multi-faceted aerospace engineering design and manufacturing firm is expanding its operations in East Hartford.
“Today’s news is more proof that our agreement with Sikorsky is a good investment that is already growing jobs up and down the supply chain in Connecticut’s aerospace manufacturing sector,” said Sen. Larson. “Cyient is a major employer in East Hartford, and a supplier for both Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney. Now that Pratt & Whitney is headquartered in East Hartford, we are starting to see more and more companies like this clustering in our district.”
Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced today that Cyient, which currently employs 456 full time workers in Connecticut, plans to add 85 full-time jobs over the next three years.
Cyient recently relocated its United States headquarters to 99 East River Drive in East Hartford. The company is also in the process of expanding its delivery center located at the same site. In total, the company is taking up an additional 15,500 square feet to expand its operation and accommodate employee growth over the next three years.
Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), will support this project with a $500,000 loan. Cyient will use the funds to purchase machinery and equipment for the expansion.
Sen. John Fonfara, Rep. Russ Morin, and Governor Malloy with Charles Lyle, Executive Director of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum; Judy Rowley, member of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum Board and Chairman of the Building Committee; and Lee Kuckro, member of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum Board and the Building Committee, after the Bond Commission meeting. (February 2, 2017)
The State Bond Commission approved a $1.7 million grant for the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield.
The funding will be used to construct a new education and visitor center, which will provide education, exhibition and meeting space.
The bonding will ensure the project’s completion, supplementing the $6 million in funding secured by the museum.
The new center will allow the museum to remain open year-round. Currently, the museum closes for three months each year because of a lack of heated spaces to hold programming.
The museum manages four historic 18th century homes which are open to the public for tours.
Senate Democrats Lead Passage of Plan to Stabilize State Pension
Business Community, Financial Rating Agencies Agree—Plan is a Positive Step for Connecticut
The State Senate voted Wednesday to approve a plan to manage the State’s unfunded pension liability over the next thirty years and fully fund Connecticut’s pension system.
The agreement with the State Employees Bargaining Coalition (SEBAC) was previously approved by the State Employee Retirement System (SERS), before gaining bipartisan approval of the budget writing Appropriations Committee at the end of January.
The plan includes extending the amortization period for the balance of the unfunded liability in a new 30-year period, reduces the assumed rate of return from 8 percent to 6.9 percent and provides a path to fully funding the state’s pension obligations.
“The business community and rating agencies agree, today’s vote will result in important long term structural changes that will positively impact our budget outlook,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven). “Without these changes in this agreement payments will skyrocket, potentially hitting $6 billion which will choke-off funding for education and other critical programs.”
Senator Looney continued, “Republicans need to answer why today, at the 11th hour, did the attempt to derail the agreement with a vague notion that somehow benefit redesign should be included now after voting in large numbers for the agreement just one week ago in the Appropriations Committee. Republicans have now failed the first test of governance.
“This agreement will bring stability to our pension system and build confidence in the private sector that we are responsibly addressing our long term obligations—obligations that were racked-up over decades,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk). “However, today’s attempts by the Republicans to sink this deal were reckless. At best, their proposal was something that looked like it was thrown together on the back of cocktail napkin.”
“This agreement makes sense, and will provide stability for the State of Connecticut’s finances,” said Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague). “If we had not voted to approve this agreement, the state would need to make an additional $570 million in cuts to the budget next year above what is already planned, and would face a $6 billion spike in pension payments in the next four years. I am disturbed that Republicans who serve on the Appropriations Committee who voted in favor of this agreement just last month have chosen politics over conscience by voting against it on the floor of the Senate, essentially kicking this down the road. Politics will not provide the solution. The solution will only be found through negotiation, action and having the moral fortitude to do what is right for the taxpayers of Connecticut.”
“With this agreement we are seizing control of the unfunded pension liability problem that has threatened Connecticut’s finances for years,” said Senator Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain). “This agreement will prevents ballooning payments, allowing us to meet our liabilities in a way that best serves Connecticut’s taxpayers as well as the current and former employees who worked many years to earn their benefits.”
“I appreciate that Governor Malloy has taken bold steps to make the payments over the last several years to meet our pension obligations, and I congratulate the state employees who worked on this negotiation and were willing to come to the table,” said Senator Tim Larson (D-East Hartford). “These are difficult times, there’s no way around it, but this solution is certainly a step in the right direction and I believe our best days are ahead of us. There are opportunities ahead of us, but for today this is a very good plan which will help us balance our state budget.”
“I voted to support the SEBAC agreement because this is the right thing to do. It moves the state towards pension stability and I appreciate the state employees for stepping up to this agreement,” Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) said.
Under the agreement:
The assumed rate of return will change from 8 percent to 6.9 percent puts us under the national average of 7.62 percent.
Changing the assumed rate to 6.9 percent significantly increases our calculated unfunded liability and our normal cost calculations but it better insulates us from volatility in our unfunded liability in the future.
In FY 16, State paid $300 million for costs associated with current employees and $1.2billion in costs associated with the unfunded liability.
Without the changes in this agreement payments will skyrocket, potentially hitting $6 billion by 2032.
With the changes in this agreement payments will level off at $2.6 billion in 2021.
FY 18 costs for current employees will be $365 million and costs associated with the unfunded liability will be $1.282 billion.
If we change the assumed rate of return without adopting the agreement, contributions to the pension fund will have to increase in FY 18 by $570 million.
