Welch blasts early release program for prisoners

Press release from state Sen. Jason Welch, a Bristol Republican:

Sen. Welch Comments on the Flawed Risk Reduction Earned Credit Program

Bristol-State Senator Jason Welch released a statement today after Republican Senators called for a change to the Connecticut’s flawed Risk Reduction Earned Credit program (RREC). On Tuesday, a judge in New Britain arraigned Arthur Hapgood, a beneficiary of the RREC, for murdering his infant niece. Hapgood was released 233 days early after he failed multiple drug tests and continued to demonstrate disturbing behavior while incarcerated.

“Justice is underway for a little girl from Bristol whose life was senselessly cut short,” said Welch. “No policy change can retrieve a life that has already been destroyed. However, the state has an obligation to change a system which released a dangerous felon, who obviously had not been rehabilitated, before he served his full term. Criminals are taken off our streets for a reason. They should stay off our streets, and the State of Connecticut should keep its promise to the victims and their families.”

The RREC is the state’s latest attempt to reduce recidivism. The program launched in 2011. Many risk reduction credit recipients have gone on to commit heinous crimes shortly after release. Republican Senators are looking to address this public safety concern.

Jason Welch (www.senatorwelch.com) represents the 31st Senatorial District, which includes the towns of Bristol, Plainville, Plymouth, Thomaston, and Harwinton. He can be reached at 800.842.1421. You can follow Senator Welch on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SenatorWelch.

Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Looking ahead to 2014's politics

With the new year at hand, it's time to look ahead to a new round of campaigns and elections. The big story in Connecticut, of course, will inevitably be the reelection bid of Gov. Dannel Malloy. Maybe it will mean more state cash flowing to Bristol.  Locally, though, there are some interesting developments.

Jason Welch

There are races shaping up for the 31st District state Senate seat as well as the three state House districts that include Bristol: the 77th, 78th and 79th. It appears almost certain that each of the incumbent state representatives will seek reelection, but it's not at all clear that state Sen. Jason Welch, a Bristol Republican, will do the same. Welch is a busy lawyer with a big family, a guy who wants to see his kids' games and have more than a passing acquaintenanc with his wife. He won the office in 2010 by knocking out longtime incumbent Democrat Tom Colapietro. He held off a strong challenge two years later by David Roche. If Welch opts to sit out the contest, it will set off a scurry of activity as politicians on both sides of the aisle eye their prospects. Since the district also includes Plainville, Plymouth, Thomaston and part of Harwinton, it's likely there may be contenders from the GOP-dominated western part of the district as well. It's entirely possible, too, that House incumbents might be interested in the Senate seat, too, possibly creatin more opportunities for newcomers. It could get pretty interesting. One other race is worth keeping an eye on: the attempt by some Democrats to unseat two-term Registrar Mary Rydingsward. She's virtually certain to face a tough primary, whether or not she's the endorsed candidate. But that's nothing new for her. She's won two primaries already, defeating two well-connected men in the process, Elliott Nelson and Bruce Suchinski. Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Welch: Fighting to keep Social Security office

Press release from state Sen. Jason Welch, a Bristol Republican:
Fighting to Keep Social Security Office Open for Bristol Seniors   Hartford, CT – State Senator Jason Welch (R-Bristol) has filed a Freedom of Information request with the Principal Public FOIA Liaison to find out why the Bristol Social Security Administration Office (SSA) on Main Street was put on a closure list.   “Bristol’s elderly and disabled population rely on social security to make ends meet and are often the least able to navigate the worldwide web or travel to other towns.  Closing this office is a bad idea,” said Senator Welch.   Senator Welch was notified on September 30 via letter from the SSA regional director that the office was on the chopping block.  After several constituent calls and a bit of investigation Senator Welch decided to ask the obvious: Why here? Why wasn’t the public asked?  How much does the administration anticipate in savings? How many other SSA offices are being closed?   In a letter to the FOIA Liaison Sen. Welch requests a copy of all documents and records related to the decision to close the Bristol office: research, data, analysis, reports, notes, memoranda and correspondence whether in handwritten, typed, electronic or any other form.   “I understand the Social Security Administration has tried to close the Bristol office in the past but back then the community stood up and for good reason.  While I support efforts to consolidate government services and save taxpayer dollars, I am concerned that closing the Bristol SSA office will disproportionately impact a vulnerable population for what may be little savings,” added Sen. Welch.
In 2011, the Bristol SSA office pared back its hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Wednesday.  The Social Security office is located in Room 400 of the old New Departure administration building at 225 N. Main St.   The law requires an answer to the Freedom of Information request within 20 workdays.   The Bristol SSA Office is scheduled to close in January.  

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Welch seeks to kill busway

State Sen. Jason Welch introduced a bill this week that aims "to transfer all unexpended funds designated for the New Britain busway" so the money can be used instead "for the purpose of restoring commuter rail service from Waterbury to Hartford, through Plymouth, Bristol and Plainville."
The measure is before the transportation committee.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Betts, Welch: Ax our benefits

Two lawmakers who took office this month from Bristol are seeking legislation that would eliminate health and retirement benefits for themselves and other new members of the General Assembly.
State Sen. Jason Welch and state Rep. Whit Betts, both Republicans, proposed a measure that would ax the benefits "for newly-elected legislators assuming office on or after January 5, 2011."
The bill has been shipped to the appropriations committee.
Legislators earn $28,000 annually for their part-time job. They are also eligible for state pensions after serving more than a decade and, once they've put in 10 years in office, receive free health care for themselves and their spouse after age 55.
In addition to their pay and retirement benefits, legislators are entitled by Connecticut law to participate in the state's "group hospitalization and medical and surgical insurance plan."
Under the proposal by Welch and Betts, new legislators would keep their current medical insurance but lost their pensions and retiree health coverage..
The bill would not apply to legislators who served before 2011 even if there was a gap in their legislative career.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Opening Day in Hartford

State Sens. Joe Markley and Jason Welch

Despite the inevitability of partisan bickering and budget battles to come, Inauguration Day at the Capitol provided a jolt of hope for a state mired in economic misery.
“It’s exciting. Everybody’s starting a new page,” said Steve Casey, a former state senator from Bristol.
With the opening of the General Assembly session and the swearing-in of Gov. Dannel Malloy as the state’s 88th governor, politicians on both sides of the aisle talked about the necessity of facing Connecticut’s woes head on.
“There’s a little bit of a dreamlike aspect to all of this,” said state Sen. Joe Markley, R-Southington, who was thinking back to his first term in the legislature a quarter century ago.
For state Rep. Frank Nicastro, D-Bristol, the start of the new session is “very exciting” in large part because Malloy is taking hold of the helm.
“We’re going to turn the state around and bring it back,” Nicastro said.
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm here,” said state Rep. Betty Boukus, D-Plainville, because of “a blend of old and new” officials and the swearing-in of Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman.
State Rep. Whit Betts, R-Bristol, said he is also excited at the possibilities.
“I hope we can meet on common ground,” Betts said.
State Sen. Jason Welch, R-Bristol, said that a lot of serious work lies ahead to repair the state’s fortunes and that Republicans and Democrats “disagree on how to fix it.”
But, he said, the Democrats in the Senate have been “very welcoming” and he hopes everyone can settle on a course that will get the economy flowing again and create much-needed jobs.
Malloy said the state has reached “a crossroads of crisis and opportunity” and that if its leaders show strength and compassion, they can fix the state’s finances and economy.
“We will need to solve our problems together – by pursuing with great urgency not Republican ideas or Democratic ideas, but good ideas that know no political master or agenda," Malloy said in his address.
State Rep. Chris Wright, D-Bristol, said the first day is always fun, but he’s sure a long and difficult session lies ahead.
“There’s going to be no easy answers,” Wright said, because every spending cut creates howls from whoever is hurt but somehow the state has to fill a multi-billion hole in its budget.
Sacrifices are going to be required, Wright said, and the need to slice spending and raise taxes is “going to upset people, but that’s what we were elected to do.”
Casey, who works for the state’s information technology department, said it helps “to have a new governor who has a lot of hope and vitality and who is willing to take on the massive challenges we have.”
“We’re ready,” Boukus said.
[And here is the New Britain version of this story, which is actually quite different.]

Two new Bristol lawmakers

Bristol’s two new GOP legislators took office Wednesday morning at the Capitol amidst many family and friends.

The weight of responsibility that comes with the office “hit me for the first time today,” said state Rep. Whit Betts. “It was a very serious moment.”

State Sen. Jason Welch said he’d been so busy that the enormity of the job didn’t really sink in until he stood in the Senate chamber.

As the names of each senator were called one by one, he felt thankful for the opportunity to serve.

“We made it. We’re here,” Welch recalled thinking.

Betts said, “It’s now time to face the music.”

Betts won the open 78^th District seat representing northwestern Bristol and Plymouth that longtime GOP lawmaker Bill Hamzy of Terryville gave up when he opted not to seek reelection.

Betts and Welch, who unseated a longtime incumbent to win the 31^st District seat, joined three Democratic veterans to make up the city’s legislative delegation. The others are state Reps. Frank Nicastro, Chris Wright and Betty Boukus.  Click here for the rest of the story.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Welch gets his committee roles

State Sen.-elect Jason Welch was tapped to serve as the ranking Republican on the Public Health Committee and to serve as well on the Appropriations, Internship and Judiciary panels.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Fitzgerald goes to work for Welch

After coming up short in her own bid for a state legislative seat in the 77th District, Republican Jill Fitzgerald is now working as a legislative aide for Jason Welch, the new GOP state senator from Bristol.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

How come Colapietro lost?

While there's no doubt that Republicans across the country found many Democrats to be easy picking in a blowout election, that's not what happened in Connecticut.
In fact, it appears this morning that Connecticut Democrats may be in better shape today than they were before the election.
The Democrats retained all five congressional seats, turned aside Linda McMahon and her $50 million to hang on to a U.S. Senate seat and may well have captured the governorship for the first time in a quarter century.
So Colapietro's loss wasn't just the result of a shifting tide.
It was more personal than that.
Voters in the 31st District installed a GOP newcomer, Jason Welch, at least in part because they wanted a new state senator, not so much that they wanted change generally.
Colapietro, who was supremely classy in his defeat last night, said it was time for him to go out to pasture.
The truth is that Colapietro was ready to call it quits after 18 years in the Senate. He'd done much of what he sought to do -- the 'no call' list, subcontractor reform, holding off Sunday liquor sales and more.
He didn't have a burning desire to go back and finish anything in particular. He seemed, to be truthful, kind of tired of it all.
From the Democrats' perspective, it probably would have been best if Colapietro had simply stepped down, opening the door for a fresh face to claim his party's line.
But he wasn't quite ready for that.
Neither, though, was he ready for the rigors of a campaign.
He didn't bother to get his public financing in order until the last possible date. He didn't do much campaigning at all until the last few weeks, when the state Democrats stepped in to lend a hand.
Meanwhile, Welch was out there day after day, week after week, month after month, showing his face, telling voters about his more conservative vision for Connecticut, and sounding thoughtful, decent and solid.
In the sole debate, where the candidates had the questions in advance, Colapietro sounded confused and halting. Welch rolled over him. It was hard for most of us watching to imagine that Colapietro was the legislative veteran.
I've known Colapietro for a long time now -- 16 years -- and I've come to like the man. Politics aside, he's genuine. He says what he thinks and he doesn't really care what the consequences are.
When I first got to know him, he complained endlessly about the paper, about the vicious editorials that an anti-union former publisher used to write. He saw a conspiracy against him at the Press in every story.
But over time, he recognized that whatever had been the case, the paper no longer had it in for him. It just reported the news, which sometimes made him mad and sometimes happy.
Colapietro was always good ink.
I've read with horror the terrible things people write on this blog and elsewhere about Colapietro when they can bat out anonymous nonsense. Much of it is so cruel and beside the point that I can't figure out how come the words get spewed out.
I know some of that stung the senator, however much he claimed to have thick skin.
I really don't have any doubt that Colapietro and his wife Susan are going to have some good years ahead. The legislature is hard on anyone -- and the next couple of years are going to be especially difficult.
Welch thanked Colapietro last night for his 18 years of public service. That, too, was classy.
The new Republican senator has found Bristol a welcoming home. Let's hope he serves the city as well as he ran his upbeat, positive campaign.
*****
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Jason Welch at the polls today

Here's state Sen. contender Jason Welch at the polls today:

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

New video assails Welch

By the way, I now do know who produced this and a previous video. I'll have that information on here soon.
Here is the note, in its entirety, that I got from the person who created this and a previous video about Welch:
Good morning.  I wanted to write you a quick note of thanks for posting my video, "The Real Jason Welch, Don't Get Fooled". 

At the time, I was upset that Mr. Welch was playing the "victim" card, whining about mudslinging, when at that time, none existed.  A quick tour around the internet and 10 minutes later, "Don't Get Fooled Again" was born.  

I have no ties to either campaign, and am flattered the video received a wider viewing audience thanks to your website.  I am a newcomer to the area, an independent voter who normally votes Republican.  I can simply no longer abide with Tea Party backed candidates such as Mr. Welch, pandering to a crowd of people who scream how they "Love America" but appear to hate Americans.  The Republican Party has been hijacked by "Cafeteria Constitutionalists" who want to pick and choose what they deem worthy from our Founding Fathers and the Constitution.  

Mr. Welch is nothing more than an effete political opportunist who fails to confront the basest elements of his party.  If he did, I would support him.

A quick look at BristolToday this morning has me thinking...

If pandering wasn't bad enough, Mr. Welch (or his rabid attack dogs) now resort to rumor mongering, scurrilously promoting an absurd, slanderous lie that "Union Thugs" will descend upon Bristol Election Day.  This is exactly what Welch did back in September, throwing out a baseless attack:  "Colapietro is Mudslinging" (he wasn't) forcing Colapietro respond.  What is next from the Welch Campaign?  Will Mr. Colapietro be forced to deny he is a witch? 

I would encourage you to ask Mr. Welch how his gutter political tactics create a single job for anyone here?  Further, are these the sorts of useless political stunts we can expect from Mr. Welch should he be elected?  

Since I will be voting for Colapietro for the first time, I think you know my answers, but Welch should be held accountable to his tasteless, baseless campaign.  Until those questions are answered, and in the spirit of Mr. Welch (and his James Carville like tactics), I present to you:  "Jason Welch:  Just Like Us?". 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XuMSYavHyM

I hope you find it worthy of posting on your site, as I certainly enjoy reading BristolToday.com.  I don't want to be the focus of this campaign, as I am not running for public office, but I thought I owed you an explanation. 

Thanks again for posting my previous video, and in advance for your consideration.

M Jennings

Harwinton, CT

*****

Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

No pensions for state lawmakers, two GOP candidates say

Press release just issued by state Senate hopeful Jason Welch and state House contender Whit Betts:
GOP: Kill Legislative Pensions. (Bristol) Two of Bristol’s candidates for the General Assembly, State Senate nominee, Jason Welch (31st. Senatorial) and State Representative candidates Whit Betts (R-78) today issued a joint statement concerning Connecticut’s fiscal crisis.
Whit Betts, the candidate vying to replace long-time Representative Bill Hamzy mentioned that when the General Assembly was formed it was supposed to be made up of Connecticut citizens from all walks of life. “The General Assembly is a Representative form of government,” Betts continued, “Our founding fathers never intended for it to be a career position.”
Welch echoed Betts sentiments.
In the joint statement, the candidates are advocating that if they are elected to the General Assembly next month they will introduce legislation to remove members of the General Assembly from the state pension plan.
“This position at its very core is a part time position, “Republican state senate candidate Jason Welch added, “If it’s a part time position then why should the members of the General Assembly receive a pension?”
Betts added that the move would help save pension funds over the years. “This General Assembly has abdicated its responsibilities with regards to funding the state pension system. Betts continued, “They have turned their backs on the retirees of Connecticut and part time elected members of the General Assembly should not be receiving a golden parachute for a position that was never meant to be a career.”
The Republican State Senate nominee stated that this proposal is being put forth as an act of fairness. “Our intention is to keep the promises made to the current legislators and change it for the next class,” Welch added, “With the budget deficit near record numbers and state spending cap being shattered by the Democratic controlled General Assembly we need to lead by example.”
Betts added, “If the General Assembly cannot reduce its own spending and benefits how can we ask other state employees and agencies to do the same?”
In conclusion, Welch mentioned that this is the real difference this year between the Republican candidates and the Democratic candidates. “We are working as a team to offer comprehensive solutions to the problems facing Connecticut,” Welch concluded, we will be working together to represent the interests of our constituents – no more talk, it’s time for action.”
*****
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Colapietro called "anti-family" by state group

The Family Institute of Connecticut, best known for its opposition to gay marriage, has called on supporters to back Republican Jason Welch in his bid to unseat Democratic state Sen. Tom Colapietro.
The Institute said in its statement that Colapietro is "an anti-family incumbent" who is pro-abortion and "hostile to homeschooling."
The Bristol incumbent has "a long history of voting for legislation that is anti-family and anti-life," according to the group.
Welch, on the other hand, "completely supports family values," the organization's Action Committee said in the release.
It said that Welch is one of three state Senate hopefuls who are "pro-family" who may upset an anti-family incumbent.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Colapietro: Republicans are whining babies

A new campaign mailing from state Sen. Tom Colapietro slams his Republican challenger as a carpetbagger who doesn’t care about his new hometown.

Featuring a moving van on its front, the mailer declares that Jason Welch “just moved here. Now he thinks he deserves to be your state senator.”

It goes on to point out that his job is out of town and that Welch’s children “don’t go to our schools.”

“He has never had any connection to our community,” the Bristol Democrat’s mailer continues.

The whole thing belongs in a gutter, said city Republican Party leader T.J. Barnes.

“Tom has taken the low road,” Barnes said, and has chosen to follow a “disgusting” path of attacking his opponent instead of talking about the many serious issues facing both the 31^st District and the state.

“I’m sick of this,” Barnes said.

Colapietro, though, was not about to back down.

“My answer to them is pretty simple: they’ve been negative on me ever since I’ve taken office” back in 1992, the senator said.

“They gotta get real,” Colapietro said. “This is an election and it’s time to stop whining.”

“As soon as I come out with the truth, they cry like babies,” Colapietro said. “I didn’t say anything in there that wasn’t true.” Click here for the story.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

State GOP eyes Colapietro

No surprise to anyone watching the 31st District state Senate race this year, but the state GOP thinks it may be able to knock off state Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat.
Democrats control two-thirds of the Senate's 36 seats and no matter what happens to Colapietro, the Republicans will almost certainly still be outnumbered. The GOP's legislative clout is so paltry that even a big win for Republicans in General Assembly races this fall is only going to make a little dent in the Democrats' control.
Jason Welch, an attorney, is taking on Colapietro for the Republicans.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Welch says state can't keep shortchanging pension funds

Press release from Jason Welch, a Republican running for state Senate in the 31st District:

Welch: Fully Fund the Pension Fund

(Bristol) Jason Welch, the Republican nominee for the State Senate from the 31st district, today called upon the General Assembly to fully fund the State’s pension obligations and to stop deferring payments to future years.
“The General Assembly, including my opponent Senator Tom Colapietro, over the years has voted to approve state employee contracts with employee pension obligations, but deferred making required state contributions into that pension fund.” Welch added, “This has created a massive amount of debt and unfunded obligations, which ultimately puts those pensions at risk and wrongly burdens future generations. With more than $60 billion in current unfunded obligations, each Connecticut resident’s share is about $17,500.”
Welch stated that all pension funds are under-funded and that the time has come for the members of the General Assembly to meet the state’s current obligations and stop deferring the payments. “They need to stop funding their pet projects and fund the promises that they have made to our state employees and retirees,” Welch said.
“As a member of the State Senate, I will not vote for any budget that grossly underfunds current pension obligations.” Welch added, “Our children and our grandchildren should not have the added burden of paying for the promises that we made today, and our state employees and retirees deserve to know that their pensions are intact. Though the benefit structure for new employees ought to be reformed and brought more in line with private sector benefits, which is a part of my plan to control state spending, we need to keep the promises we have made to date.”
Welch’s Democratic opponent, 18 year incumbent Senator Tom Colapietro, is well known for his contention that Republicans are going to gut state government. The reality is that Senator Colapietro has been gutting union pensions to the tune of 100s of millions of dollars (200 million last year alone). Welch has called for a 7-10% across the board reduction of state costs, starting at the top and excluding understaffed and public safety agencies such as Corrections, in addition to other cost savings. That is hardly gutting.
Welch pointed out the irony that Senator Colapietro prides himself on representing the working person, yet he has routinely underfunded the working person’s pension rather than trim the fat in upper-management at state agencies.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Welch urges serious look at state spending cuts

Republican state Senate candidate Jason Welch issued the following press release in his 31st District race:

Welch: It’s Time To Get Serious About State Spending

Jason Welch, the Republican nominee for State Senate from the 31st district, called for Senator Colapietro to reveal his plan to stimulate the economy and bring jobs back to the 31st. “My ideas have been on the table for months now, it’s time to hear his,” Welch said.*****

Welch is responding to a recent Bristol Press article where Senator Colapietro claimed that Republicans want to “gut” state government. In the article, Senator Colapietro said ”All the Republicans want to do is cut, cut, cut and I say, what, what, what.” In response, Welch said “I think his statements are merely rhetoric and fear mongering. I was one of the first state senate candidates to call for across the board spending cuts of up to 10%, with certain exceptions. I have outlined how those cuts need to come from the top of the agencies, not the bottom, in addition to reforming benefits for new state employees, while keeping and funding our promises to current state employees.”
“The question I have for Senator Colapietro is does he think the state can go on without cuts?” Welch continued, “because not even his own party’s candidate for Governor thinks that.” In recent television commercials, Mayor Dan Malloy has said that if he is elected Governor he will cut state agencies by 1/3. “Now that is gutting,” Welch said. “If Malloy is serious, then Senator Colapietro should be asking him what, what, what.” Welch thinks that cutting a third of state agencies overnight would be too much of a shock to the system of an already fragile economy.
Welch called on Senator Colapietro to find out what Mayor Malloy would be cutting if elected. “If the Democrats are serious about making meaningful cuts that would save taxpayers money then I ask Governor Rell to call the General Assembly back into session this month and let’s make the cuts now. Why wait until January 2011?” Welch noted that the Democrats have controlled spending in Hartford for years now, yet have been unable to produce a meaningful reduction in costs.
“The people of the 31st state senate district are tired of the finger pointing and lack of action,” Welch continued. Welch pointed out that during Senator Colapietro’s tenure in the State Senate the budget and spending have ballooned, the pension funds are severely underfunded risking the security of many of our state retirees, and Senator Colapietro recently voted to borrow nearly one billion dollars to help fund the state’s irresponsible spending habits.
“All this spending is done on the backs of our children and grandchildren and jeopardizes the pensions of current state workers.” Welch concluded: “It’s time that Connecticut gets serious about its spending habits and elect leaders to the General Assembly that understand that business as usual is not acceptable.”

Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Colapietro calls death penalty 'a joke'

In the middle of the trial of Steven Hayes, whose lawyer admits he raped and murdered Jennifer Hawke-Petit in Cheshire three years during one of the most horrible crimes in Connecticut history, it’s tough to speak out against the death penalty.
But state Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat, said he still thinks it’s a bad idea.
“The death penalty is the biggest joke that I ever heard,” Colapietro said. Voting against it, he said, “is just plain old common sense.”
He said that while he could “vote either way” on the death penalty in the abstract, he opposes it because he’s concerned the state might put an innocent person to death someday and because the existing system is merely a way to lawyers employed.
“The only people who are going to make money from it are the lawyers,” said Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat who has represented the 31st District since 1992. He said as long as attorneys can file endless appeals, they’ll keep raking it in from death penalty cases.
Colapietro’s Republican challenger, Jason Welch of Bristol, said the state needs “a viable death penalty.”
He said the Petit case itself shows that society should have the death penalty as “the last resort” for especially heinous crimes.
Colapietro countered that because Welch is a lawyer – who handles claims related to construction cases – he would naturally want to keep the death penalty.
The death penalty, he said, “is job security for lawyers.”
Click here for the story.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Welch calls on Colapietro to debate

Press release from Jason Welch, the GOP state Senate candidate in the 31st District:
The Welch Campaign calls for Senator Tom Colapietro to debate the issues and stop the negative campaign tactics. “Voters are concerned about the economy, jobs, and the ever growing state budget deficit”, Jason Welch said. “They deserve to hear ideas from the people who are running for elected office, not insinuation and innuendo about someone’s personal life.”
Welch went on to challenge Tom Colapietro to a debate on the issues that concern the voters in the 31st district. “Senator Colapietro has been in office 18 years and should have a good handle on the issues and should be well prepared to debate them”, Welch said.
The Welch Campaign has already agreed to the request by the Chamber of Commerce to participate 3 debates in October, but the Colapietro camp has yet to respond. “I would like to think that an 18 year incumbent would not resort to negative attack ads but, instead, stand and defend his voting record.” Welch stated. “I look forward to a civil and vigorous issue based debate in October.”
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

YouTube video blasts Jason Welch

I have no idea who created this video, but it sure does take aim at Republican state Senate contender Jason Welch. See it for yourself:

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com