Sen. Welch: We need to be realistic. There is a disconnect to what middle class and working poor families are going through.
February 10, 2014
Senator Jason Welch (R-Bristol) (4th from the left) in the senate chamber on the opening day of the 2014 legislative session listening to Senate Minority Leader John McKinney speak.
Hartford, CT – State Senator Jason Welch (R-Bristol) released the following statement today re: Governor Malloy’s State of the State speech on opening day of the 2014 Legislative session.
“The governor’s theme seemed to be moving Connecticut forward which I agree we need to do. However, we need to be realistic about where we are today. There is a disconnect to what middle class and working poor families are going through. The governor has proposed moving $3 billion in Medicaid spending off the books. This means we are ignoring some huge bills. He also is suggesting borrowing more money and putting it on the state credit card in order to pay for new initiatives. This is risky and shows a lack of understanding to the current economic situation in our state.
“23,000 fewer people are working today in Connecticut since Governor Malloy took office. Connecticut’s unemployment rate remains one of the highest in the nation. Our cost of living in the state remains a burden to the average family. Gas prices are one of the highest in the nation, electricity costs are up and taxes are overwhelming.
“I am open to some of the Governor’s ideas including: ending homelessness among our veterans by 2015. But the reality is we have open beds at the State Veterans facility in Rocky Hill because of the administration’s failure to act. Another concept I am open to is one I have been fighting for in Hartford; reducing taxes. Not charging a sales tax on clothing under $50 is good policy. But there are many other areas where we can ease the burdens of our middle class, working poor families and our small businesses.
“We need to be realistic about where we are. At this point the recovery is stagnant and too many of our neighbors are still not working.
“I am confident that over the next 90 days lawmakers will have solid discussions about what our core commitments are and whether more restraint is needed.”
The 2014 legislative session ends in May.
1 comment:
I was wondering how our state's unemployment rate had gone down since Jan 2011 while Sen. Welch claims we've lost 23,000 jobs since then. It turns out, both are correct. Bureau of Labor Statistics for CT show that the labor force has declined by 65,400 people since then, the number of jobs has declined by 23,500 and so unemployment went from 9.3% then to 7.4% now.
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