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Winter 2011 Capitol address On the Web Phone |
With warm wishes for a festive, enjoyable holiday season, I’ll send along these brief updates from the state Capitol. Special Session Yields Major Jobs Bill
The wide-ranging initiative instructs department leaders to find ways to streamline the state’s permitting processes, provides tax credits and other economic incentives for business expansion, encourages private sector investment and improves the state’s workforce training and development programs. One message we received and responded to was how the state’s regulatory environment had to make sense and had to be manageable, so I’m particularly pleased with the plan to make permits, licenses, and other administrative requirements more easily attained. There’s enormous potential for growth in the state’s small business sector; this new law features a revolving loan fund, a job creation matching grant program, and special manufacturing assistance for smaller companies. Every aspect of this legislation is meant to help businesses grow and help more people get back to work. Economic Potential for District on Yale’s New ‘West Campus’I was recently given a special tour of Yale’s stem cell research facilities and held meetings that same day with high-level school officials to discuss plans for Yale’s West Campus, to be located in West Haven and Orange. A 2005 state law—which I voted for—committed $100 million over ten years to help underwrite stem cell-related medical research. This funding at present supports more than 100 individual research projects and has generated some 250 jobs at Yale, UConn and Wesleyan University. At Yale there is significant progress in an effort to address such diseases as ovarian cancer and diabetes, providing hope to so many people suffering from these debilitating conditions. This research also feeds directly into the private sector and helps build vitality into our state’s fledgling biomedical and life science industry. The Yale stem cell center is a great example of how state resources can and have been leveraged to stimulate new economic activity and attract investors, investments and jobs to our state. The return on the state’s investment supports wages and salaries and provides continued potential for economic growth as well as great advancements in biomedicine—a strong foundation for the state’s emerging biotech industry. Local Photographers’ Exhibit On Display at Capitol
The program helps individuals affected by mental illness use photography to process difficult issues in their lives such as trauma. I was pleased to welcome staff members and some clients of Bridges to the Capitol for this extraordinary exhibit and learn how this new program helps the afflicted overcome some hurdles they face. According to the Bridges Web site: “Psychiatrically challenged young adults and their families can be assisted in achieving and maintaining stability if given appropriate support, guidance, education, treatment and skills.” The state is wise to continue its investment in this agency and others like it because when the result is an innovative program like this one, the productivity and self-respect of clients is restored and a life is reinvented. The exhibit I hosted underscores my belief that even in difficult and challenging times these dollars are well spent, helping vulnerable Connecticut residents through their own personal difficulties and challenges. |
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In September I was honored to |
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