To the Editor:

Most Newtown residents probably already know that one party controls every single branch of Connecticut’s government by a wide margin, and in the house of representatives that control has extended for decades. This combination has not served the state well considering that it owes tens of billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities and continues to run budget deficits that required two of the largest income tax increases in state history over the last 12 years. Additionally, only two votes in 2017 in the state senate in the last term of Governor Malloy stopped a proposed law that would have retroactively shifted those unfunded costs from an obligation of the state to an obligation of each town (as admitted and outlined by former OPM Secretary Ben Barnes in a March 2017 town meeting) with expected annual costs for Newtown running into the millions each year and extending as far as the eye can see. On just those costs alone, each individual Newtown residential and business property owner would have had the requirement to pay hundreds of dollars more each year in property taxes. Viewed another way, it would be the equivalent of taking out a second mortgage on your home or business that lasts forever.

Both Mitch Bolinsky and Tony Hwang were leaders in the effort to stop this from happening. They were not just representing one political party; they knew that they were representing and benefitting each and every town taxpayer from an unaffordable and unsustainable economic catastrophe. On individual constituent concerns, they have consistently represented Newtown and its residents in a bipartisan nature. Newtown needs their independent voice in Hartford, and they deserve reelection.

Sincerely,

Joe Kearney

9 Daniels Hill Road, Newtown October 27, 2020