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Approved by Christopher Lyddy
Paid for by Friends of Lyddy, Maribeth Hemingway, Treasurer
Newtown needs a representative who has a track record of fighting to ensure that our children are well educated, our seniors are protected, and our families are able to survive in a struggling economy.

We deserve someone with integrity, a person who stands up for your best interests and does not flip-flop on issues important to Newtown.

Teaming up with people from our community, legislators from both political parties and people from across the United States, I worked hard in my first term to improve the lives of the citizens in Connecticut; ensuring we passed legislation that supports jobs, seniors, public health, education, members of the armed forces and their families, and the environment.

Throughout my first two years in office I listened to the outcry for support from Newtown residents, learned about the wide range of issues impacting our community, and lead the charge on many fronts to ensure Newtown’s interests were represented in Hartford.

You elected me two years ago on a promise to do things a little differently, campaigning to bring a little bit of Newtown to Hartford. I am proud to say that I’ve done just that: working cooperatively and reaching across the aisle to achieve results for our community.
Responsive Government

While government can’t be the solution to every problem we face, it has to stop making things worse. We need to invite people into the discussion and allow the members of our communities to have more of a say in the way we do business in this state.

Over the past two years I have:

  • Held office hours in the community
  • Co-sponsored a small business roundtable discussion with area legislators and the Secretary of the State
  • Hosted public hearings in Newtown and throughout our congressional district
  • Sponsored and passed a bill that requires greater transparency through the development of an online database of state expenditures which will be available to the general public
  • Required the Office of Fiscal Analysis to update and make quarterly reports to the Appropriations Committee about the status of the new online program
  • Implemented Results Based Accountability (RBA), a management system that uses budgeting and performance baseline techniques to evaluate quality of life indicators and program performance measures of state agencies and large-item expenditures
  • Spearheaded many legislative initiatives with Newtown residents including tackling the issues of Lyme disease, indoor air quality in schools, education, and treatment for children with autism, among many others

Newtown residents expect a transparent and responsive government. I will continue this level of representation and trust that you will partner with me, regardless of political affiliation, on the issues impacting our community and state. It is with this spirit that I have served and will continue to serve the people of Newtown.
Jobs

We need to get Connecticut working again so that we can begin to stabilize our local economy while repositioning Connecticut’s standing in the global markets. As a freshman legislator, I supported legislation that not only supports small and large businesses here in the state, but also legislation that makes our legislature more cognizant of how our laws, policies, and state agency protocols impact business creation and maintenance here in the state.


Over the course of my first term in office I have:

  • Supported legislation that would require each bill to have an analysis of the legislation’s impact on small businesses throughout the state
  • Co-sponsored legislation that creates:
-up to $500,000 in loans and lines of credit for small businesses and nonprofits
-Student loan reimbursement and training grants for education and careers in green technology, life        sciences and health information technology
-personal income tax credits for investments made in new and emerging technologies
-sales tax exemptions for machinery, supplies, and fuel used in renewable energy industries
-tax credits for small businesses of up to $200 per month per new employee
-a Community-Technical College advisory board to assess the training needs of unemployed residents
-up to $150,000 in pre-seed financing and technical services to innovative, developing businesses
  • Co-sponsored a bill that financially supports the 151 dairy farmers in the state; an industry that supports about 4,200 jobs and generates over $1 billion in sales. Newtown is home to the last operating dairy farm in Fairfield County.
  • Hosted a small business roundtable discussion with area legislators and the Secretary of the State

In just two years, I joined with Governor Rell and a group of legislators to pass substantial legislation that will help put Connecticut on the road to economic recovery. Certainly, we must continue to find ways to ensure we are creating new jobs and opening up the doors for a skilled and educated 21st century workforce.
Education

As your State Representative, I fought hard to ensure that our education system in the State of Connecticut is moving forward, propelling our children to a world class education that will allow them to be competitive in the 21st century workforce.

As a member of the General Assembly’s Education Committee, I have worked with legislators from both sides of the aisle as well as advocates, parents and teachers to bring sweeping reform to the way we educate our youth here in the state.

Over the past two years I have:

  • Improved standards and graduation requirements
  • Required the State Department of Education to expand their data systems to track and report to school boards data on performance growth by students, teachers, schools, and school districts
  • Fought for children with autism by introducing and passing legislation to ensure the people delivering services to these children are trained and properly credentialed
  • Worked with concerned citizens to pass legislation that removes toxic cleaning products from our schools to ensure our children, teachers, and other school occupants are safe in their learning and work environments
  • Passed legislation that enables towns to establish a contingency fund for the school system if needed and deemed necessary by the municipality
  • Sponsored and passed legislation that reviews the IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and special education process to ensure students are receiving the services necessary and that school districts have the appropriate resources to deliver these services
  • Fought drastic cuts by advocating for level funding and by restoring funding for the Connecticut Education Network (CEN), a program that provides Connecticut's school districts, libraries, and higher education institutions with high speed access to the Internet, next-generation Internet2, iCONN - Connecticut's re-search engine, etc.
  • Advocated for and secured funding for the Newtown High School expansion project
  • Met with students from Reed School, the Montessori School, and St. Rose School and hosted interns from Newtown High School, Naugatuck Community College, and Western Connecticut State University


In 2009 and 2010, I was named a ‘Children’s Champion’ by the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance and also recently received the first ever ‘Tip of the Cap’ award from the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now for my leadership in supporting public education here in Connecticut.

Also, in November of 2010, I will be honored with the Advocacy Award from the Connecticut Center for Child Development for my work on behalf of families and children with special needs.

As your representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, I will continue to develop a system that ensures our children are both college- and career-ready; improving standards, developing systems to evaluate our progress, integrating technology and ensuring our teachers are equipped with the tools they need to be successful in their charge to educate our youth.
Environment

Nestled in the hills of northern Fairfield County, Newtown prides itself on our ability to protect the environment, preserve our most natural resources, and promote things like our weekly farmers’ markets and use of designated trails and open space. Together, we have also worked hard to ensure that our drinking water, aquifers, and ecosystems are safe in an ever changing and often stressed environment.

As a freshman state Representative I have focused much of my time and energy reaching across the aisle to pass legislation that supports our community’s environmental health and well-being. As a result of my efforts and voting record, in 2009 and in 2010, I was recognized as an ‘A+ Environmental Legislator’ by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters.

In my first term as your State Representative I have:

  • Fought hard to dedicate funds to assist and preserve the last operating dairy farm in Fairfield County, Ferris Acres Creamery located here in Newtown, as well as funds to preserve the character of farmland across the state by allowing our farmers to remain competitive
  • Championed legislation with the Senate’s Republican Minority Leader that was targeted to ensure our local aquifers were protected and that the solid waste transfer station in Hawleyville adhered to the strictest environmental standards. This bill was unfortunately vetoed by Governor Rell; however, working with both political parties, I spearheaded an effort to get the House of Representatives and the Senate to override this veto
  • Supported the small farm businesses that provide jobs in our state as well as helped farmers' markets and other local food venues grow in both success and size by sponsoring legislation that opens up a new market opportunity to the farms, allowing farmers the opportunity to diversify their products
  • Passed legislation that addresses the issue of invasive plants across the state, ensuring that communities have the knowledge and resources to tackle the various problems associated with these plants

Despite the good work I was able to accomplish with my colleagues from both political parties, we must continue to ensure that our laws, regulations, and policies remain current, relevant, and reflective of our commitment to ensuring our environment is protected.
Healthy Children, Families, and Seniors

As a member of the Public Health, Human Services, and Education Committees in the General Assembly, I have worked hard, with members from both sides of the aisle in both the House and the Senate, to ensure that we kept the well-being of our children, families and seniors a top priority.

Over the past two years, I received thousands of e-mails and hundreds of phone calls and letters from people who also share the vision and commitment to ensuring that our children are well-educated, our seniors are protected and that our families are able to survive in a struggling economy.

In an effort to achieve these goals, I:

  • Introduced a bill, with a bipartisan group of legislators and with the help and support of Newtown residents, that increases access to treatment for patients with Lyme disease
  • Sponsored and passed a bill to protect the health and safety of teachers, students, and school staff by removing toxic cleaning products from school facilities
  • Ensured our children were protected from known human carcinogens by sponsoring legislation that prohibits children's jewelry containing cadmium or its compounds from being sold, offered for sale, or distributed in Connecticut
  • Increased the safeguards for senior citizens against the most predatory practices involving scams, fraud, and exploitation by passing a bill that protects the name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of members of senior centers
  • Addressed the mortgage foreclosure crisis by improving the judicial foreclosure mediation program and other programs to support  families in crisis
  • Was appointed to the Speaker’s Task Force on Domestic Violence and the Speaker’s Task Force on Children in the Recession

As your advocate and representative in Hartford, I will continue to work on issues important to you and your family. I trust you will join me, like so many Newtown residents already have, in supporting important pieces of legislation such as the ones listed above. As a social worker, I know that healthy families are the backbone of our community.  With your support, I look forward to two more years of dedicated service to our children, families and seniors here in Newtown.