Cathy Osten

Sen. Osten, Eastern CT Legislators Tour Local Businesses in Advance of the 2022 Session

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) and a 19-member bipartisan group of state legislators from Southeastern Connecticut are in the midst of a multi-week tour of large, regional employers to find out what they need from state government in the legislative session that begins in February 2022.

So far, legislators have toured the Coast Guard Academy and the Naval Submarine Base New London. Members of the group are slated to visit Electric Boat and Pfizer in Groton, the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, and the Millstone Power Station in Waterford.

“These are all highly valued employers in eastern Connecticut who have a large economic impact in the region. The short session that begins in 2022 is an opportunity for us, on a bipartisan basis, to introduce whatever legislation is needed to improve their business operations, to fund improvements they’re looking to make, and to address any hiring needs,” Sen. Osten said. “We’re not in session, but we’re still working for our constituents. It’s part of the ongoing partnership that is state government and our local employers and their employees.”

The Southeastern delegation tour is reminiscent of Sen. Osten’s successful 2018 legislative effort to grow Electric Boat’s workforce in Connecticut by nearly 1,900 people and have the company spend more than $800 million in the state by investing tens of millions of dollars in state aid for EB infrastructure improvements, job training, and dredging – much the same way Connecticut has supported Sikorsky in Stratford and UTC in East Hartford.

The Coast Guard Academy employs more than 500 permanent staff in the region and enrolls more than 1,000 cadets. Coast Guard Academy needs include an addition to the waterfront with its maritime center of excellence, a renovated library complex, new classrooms with upgraded laboratory space, and a storage facility for historical documents (i.e. one of the original pamphlets written by Alexander Hamilton that established the Coast Guard).

The Naval Submarine Base is home to 21,000 personnel, including civilian workers and sailors and their families. During their tour, legislators were told of the need for barracks renovations, powerplant upgrades, a new emergency management facility and enhanced physical security measures.

“As much as Stamford and Bridgeport and New Haven have their business needs, and the Hartford region has its business needs, Southeastern Connecticut has its own thriving business infrastructure that also needs the attention and investment that only state-level government can muster. So, we’re doing our due diligence to listen and bring that message back to Hartford in February,” Sen. Osten said.