Joint Statement By Mayor Stewart with Mayor Ward and others to Governor Malloy

For Immediate Release




New Britain, CT – New Britain Mayor Tim Stewart joined State Senator

Jason Welch (R-31), State Representative Whit Betts (R-78), Bristol

Mayor Art Ward and several other municipal leaders from Central

Connecticut Thursday to call on Governor Dannel P. Malloy to give

municipalities relief from unfunded and underfunded state mandates -

laws the State of Connecticut impose on its municipalities without

providing the funding necessary to implement them. In a letter to the

governor, the bipartisan group of legislators, municipal leaders and

school superintendents asked that existing state mandates be

permanently erased or at least temporarily eased to provide cities and

towns with more flexibility as they work to balance local budgets.



“As mayor I have watched unfunded mandates drive up local government

expenses to the point where many cities and towns have had to raise

taxes or cut important government services in order to balance local

budgets. I am proud to join this bi-partisan effort and lend my voice

to the cause of reducing current unfunded mandates and stopping new

mandates from being passed on to our already cash-strapped

municipalities,” said Stewart.



Stewart, who is also a candidate for the 6th District senatorial seat

that represents Berlin, Farmington and New Britain, has served for the

past several years on the state Advisory Commission on

Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR), a group of state and local leaders

seeking to identify these unfunded mandates and advocate the

collaboration of different levels of government to minimize their

negative impact.



“The ACIR has made great progress by bringing critical attention to

these hidden taxpayer burdens," said Stewart. "It is now up to the

state legislature to work to not only eliminate existing mandates, but

be cognizant of their impact when proposing and enacting new

legislation. I look forward to making that effort a priority if

elected to the State Senate on February 22nd.”



Mandates passed down from the State of Connecticut have a major impact

on both municipal and local school budgets. Towns already facing

possible deficits from reductions in federal and state aid will still

have the same mandates to fulfill without action from the governor and

legislature.



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