Rep. Case reports from state Capitol

Newly elected state Rep. Jay Case (R-63) said this week that he has been mired in long legislative hearings regarding Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget, but he has found time to address specific constituent issues, including support for the Burrville Fire Training School and recognition of Connecticut Child Nutrition Legislative Day on Feb. 26.Case said representatives of the group End Hunger Connecticut! visited him at the state Capitol Tuesday, Feb. 26, to discuss child nutrition and he was pleased to hear Winsted has one of the better children’s food programs in the state. Case said people like Lucy Nolan, executive director of End Hunger Connecticut! have helped push people in the right direction. “If you feed your children well before school they will perform that much better during the day. It’s important that they get the nutrition they need.”Earlier in the month, Case hosted representatives of the Burrville Fire Training School to discuss funds that have been allotted for fire training but have yet to be distributed to local schools. The Burrville facility, which has fallen into disrepair, is in need of funds to bring the school up to code.“In 2001 this money was set aside,” Case said, noting that the state had allotted $54.4 million for fire training schools. To date, $11.8 million of that total has been distributed to the schools.Case said releasing the remaining $42 million to fire schools that need it is a no-brainer as it is money that has already been budgeted and will not affect the current budget.“It makes total fiscal sense,” he said. “The money is already appropriated. Why not use it?”Case said firefighters from his district — which includes Winchester, Colebrook and portions of Torrington and Goshen — would benefit from upgrades at the Burrville Fire Training School and he expects money for upgrades to be released some time in the next six months.“The state has a vigorous 15-month program to get that money released,” he added.Still reviewing governor’s budgetCase said he spent three days last week in extended hearings of the Appropriations, Energy and Technology Committee. The meetings began at 5 p.m. each day and ended past midnight, with witnesses testifying regarding the budgetary needs of their departments and organizations. At this stage of the budget process, it is impossible for anyone to know what the final budget will look like, as it is now the General Assembly’s turn to discuss and debate the governor’s proposal and to develop its own proposals.Generally, Case said, the governor’s budget has caused widespread confusion, because it has consolidated many line items into bigger accounts, leaving people confused as to how much money specific departments would receive under the two-year, $43.8 billion proposal released Feb. 6.Malloy announced that his budget does not increase taxes and actually eliminates the state’s car tax while increasing state spending by more than 9 percent. The budget has been criticized by Republican legislators for relying on borrowing funds to remain in balance.“If he thinks we’re living within our means with a 9-percent increase, I have a problem with that,” Case said. “If you cut services, you would think the budget would get smaller, but it’s getting bigger.”Case said it’s too early in the budget process to say what changes need to be made. “He’s collapsed a lot of the line items and put them under single accounts. That’s what a lot of people are complaining about.”He added that both Democrats and Republicans are struggling to make sense of Malloy’s budget. “We’re seeing frustration on both sides of the aisle. We need line items to tell us where the money is going. This is not a transparent budget, and there is a lot of frustration.”Case said he has been impressed with the level of bipartisanship he’s seen at the committee level and he hopes to play a positive role in the upcoming budget process.“We’ll get through it,” he said. “People have to realize that right now it’s the governor’s proposal, not the legislature’s proposal. We’re working on a legislative proposal, and hopefully it makes sense. Case said he is planning to host a town hall meeting in Winsted at a time and location to be announced to discuss specifics of Malloy’s proposed budget and address general questions about the state budget. The meeting is expected to happen sometime in mid-March.