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Rep Wasserman Proposes Bills To Address Fairfield Hills, Other Issues

State Representative Julia B. Wasserman (R-Newtown/Bethel) has introduced

several bills for the 1997 legislative session, focusing on issues she

believes are important to the 106th District and specific concerns brought to

her attention.

The bills introduced or co-sponsored by Representative Wasserman for the 1997

session include:

House Bill (HB) 5422, An Act Concerning the Fairfield Hills State Hospital

Campus, would require the express approval of the General Assembly and the

Governor before any portion of the Fairfield Hills campus could be sold,

leased or put to different use. This addresses the concerns about the future

of the campus. This legislation is consistent with the goals of the Fairfield

Hills Implementation Task Force, of which Representative Wasserman is a

member.

HB 5921, An Act Concerning a Municipal Option to Partially Abate the Property

Taxes of Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Corps Members, would give municipalities

the option of providing property tax abatements to members of volunteer fire

departments or ambulance corps. This would be a local option, and the

legislative body in each community would have the right to choose for itself

whether to provide this benefit to these volunteers.

HB 6141, An Act Extending the Water Resources Task Force, would extend this

task force for another year, until January 1, 1998. Representative Wasserman

serves as co-chair of the task force, which is studying the impact of land

development on water resources. One area the task force is examining is how to

protect landowners who rely on artesian wells as their sole source of water

from overdevelopment.

HB 6273, An Act Concerning Liability of "Pick Your Own" Farming Operations for

Injuries Sustained by Patrons, and HB 5568, An Act Concerning Liability of

Cut-Your-Own Christmas Tree Farms for Injuries to Patrons. These companion

bills would discourage frivolous lawsuits against farmers who operate

"pick-your-own" and "cut-your-own" businesses. Farmers would be protected from

lawsuits for injuries as long as they had given reasonable warning of

dangerous conditions.

HB 6318, An Act Concerning the Purchase of Credit for Retirement Purposes in

the Teachers' Retirement System by Veterans, would allow teachers who served

in the armed forces to buy additional credit in the teachers' retirement

system for the time they spent in the service, up to a total of four years.

HB 6094, An Act Concerning Siting of Personal Communications Services Towers

in Residential Areas, would prohibit the erection of antennas for personal

communications services in residential areas unless there is no feasible

alternative site.

HB 5540, An Act Concerning the Fire Protection Sprinkler Systems Board, would

revise the qualifications for certain members of the board to ensure its

members are better-suited to resolving the matters brought before it.