Session Begins

          Session began this past Wednesday for the Connecticut General Assembly. I listened attentively to the opening speakers, hoping to have a foreshadowing of where the state will be 4 months from now. As one representative eloquently stated, “It’s up to us.” Will the assembly act swiftly and take up the serious problems we face as a state? Or will we see a “business as usual” attitude that delays, hoping things will go away?

          Connecticut families and small businesses are making hard decisions. They are budgeting their money, cutting back, and taking a hard look at the world around them and acting swiftly. As they tighten their belts, they expect their elected officials to do the same. Unfortunately, time and again, their trust is broken and they become frustrated.

          Social Security saw no increases this year, yet energy costs and taxes continue to rise. Family owned restaurants are shuttering their doors or laying-off employees to stay afloat. Young families are losing their homes, Connecticut is hemorrhaging jobs, and our college graduates can’t find work and are forced to move home with their parents as grown adults with dashed dreams. My fellow representatives in the General Assembly are aware of this. They know what state our economy is in. Some have had these same tough conversations around their own dinner tables. Yet often there is a transformation that takes place with many of my colleagues when they walk through the chamber doors. They shed their regular common sense spending principles and transform into Hartford politicians. They speak like we’re in a recession, but their priorities and actions say they’ve forgotten. They seem blinded by their power of wielding the collective pocketbook and, like teenagers with their first credit card, are eager to spend. It’s not their money, after all, and so, why would we expect them to act like it is? They vote for what sounds good and avoid hard decisions. It’s an election year, after all, and tough decisions are unpopular.

          Now the state pocketbook is empty, we’re still holding the bag, but you’re left with the bill.

          With this in mind, I submit a common sense principle I promise to abide by this legislative session and would encourage my colleagues to do the same:

          Spend no more than you make, and if you have to borrow, then only borrow what you can afford to pay back.

          It’s a simple principle. We use it with our own money at home, so it’s only common sense that Hartford should abide by this same principle with your hard earned taxpayer money. It’s time for our leaders to make the tough decisions we state residents face every day. Now is the time for our leaders to use a little common sense with your dollars and cents.

William A. Hamzy
Deputy Republican Leader
State Representative, Bristol and Plymouth
www.rephamzy.com