WATERTOWN- Saying that the state budget and other important legislation “should
be able to pass the public scrutiny, or not pass the legislature,” State
Representative Sean Williams (R- Watertown) today vowed to once again push for
what he and other members of the House Republican caucus have called the
“Connecticut Legislative Reform Agenda.”
“This legislation should be priority #1 in the next legislative session,” said
Williams, who helped to craft the House Republicans’ open government proposals
in the 2004 session.
The proposals include:
· Requiring a public hearing before any tax increases
are approved by the legislature.
· Requiring legislative committees to publicly post their agendas
at least 36 hours before every meeting so that the public would have time to
comment on pending legislation either by e-mail or telephone.
· Requiring budget meetings, which often are conducted in secret,
closed door meetings, to be conducted in public.
· Combining certain legislative committees to reduce the
bureaucracy that exists in the legislature so that some legislators can serve
as chairmen of these committees and have important titles.
“Last fall, I stood with other House Republicans and called for an end to the
private, back-room deals that the state legislature has been famous for in past
years,” Rep. Williams said. “This type of antiquated politics is a big
part of the reason that many people in Connecticut have a low
opinion of politics today. We can help to restore some faith in the
legislative process by allowing ‘the sun to shine in’ on legislation before,
not after, it is passed.”
“Open government knows no political party, but it needs a champion,” said
Williams, who went on to say that the proposals “gained some good momentum”
among the rank and file Republicans and Democrats in the House of
Representatives, but that the leadership of the majority party failed to advance
these proposals during the 2003 legislative session. “It should be our
goal to allow the most fair and open process in the legislature so that the
citizens of this state can have as much input as possible. This is about
doing right by the people of Connecticut and I intend to make this a priority
once again if I am re-elected to the General Assembly.”
“Our new Governor, Jodi Rell, has pledged to restore
faith in government, and there may be no better time to reform the legislative
branch as she reforms the executive branch,” Williams concluded. “I look
forward to discussing our open government agenda with her, and working with my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put these reforms into law.”