State Senator Tony Hwang and State Representative Mitch Bolinsky hosted a Town Hall and Legislative Update on Sunday, January 12, at Newtown Community Center. The event gave members of the local community a chance to ask about various topics ranging from utility costs and environmental concerns to transportation safety and aging, as well as legislative priorities in addressing those issues.

Over 60 people attended the event, causing a backup in the hallway as everyone was trying to sign in. The line leading into the meeting room was so long that the event expanded from one to two sign-in stations to quickly get more people into the room. Staff assisting with the town hall had to set up an additional two rows of chairs so that everyone had a place to sit.

All of the extra setup caused a slight delay in starting the event, but neither the attendees or Hwang and Bolinsky seemed to mind, as they were eager to talk about concerns at the local and state level.

Hwang noted that the first of many topics he’s focused on is affordability, in the sense of utility rates, inflationary rates, cost of living, and taxes. He said that it is going to be an incredibly difficult budget year, as the state no longer has the supplement of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds “to the tune of billions of dollars.”

He added, “The past two years of budget was a $52 billion, two-year budget process, and nearly $5 billion of it was federal ARPA money that now needs to be found elsewhere to supplement the important programs that we put in place.”

Another topic Hwang said he wanted to focus on is unsustainable utility costs, namely the public benefits charge of Connecticut residents’ electric bills, as well as how to reallocate in regards to supply of energy and make it more affordable for people making ends meet.

As a long-time member of the state’s Appropriations Committee, Bolinsky said that they “made it clear” with the individuals and agencies that received distributions of ARPA money that it was designed to be used for pandemic relief purposes and not for building permanent programs. However, Bolinsky said that “an awful lot of that money [ended up] going into building permanent liabilities.”

Needing to find money to fill in those gaps, he said, will be a significant challenge this year since Connecticut has needs in education, aging, early childhood, underfunding state Medicaid, among others.

“So for all the questions you ask, I will just say, be patient with us because we’re not going to have the answers to everything,” Bolinsky said. “We don’t have enough water under our bridge to know what’s coming down from the federal level.”

Rising Utility Costs

Resident Jessica Galterio kicked off public participation by bringing up numerous concerns regarding rising electric costs and frustrations towards Eversource. She said that Connecticut residents’ utility bills burden has increased to outpace nearly every other state in the nation with no tangible proof of reform or relief coming.

Galterio asked Hwang and Bolinsky how they will ensure that, when the public benefits charge expires on Wednesday, April 30, they will vote to never allow “another debilitating tax like this one again.”

In addition, she asked what they are doing to cap the bonuses that Eversource executives receive every year despite internal mismanagement driving their credit rating down, expand the current three-person Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) regulatory board, among more.

“Since 2004, Connecticut ratepayers have been subsidizing government programs and policies ... and it’s clear we’ve had enough,” Galterio said. “There is nothing constituents can do except demand that our elected officials represent our best interests, which include holding a corporate, for-profit monopoly responsible.”

Hwang said that many of her points were “absolutely right on.” He explained that the four sections people now see in their utility bills — generation/supply, transmission, local delivery, and public benefits — come from a regulation PURA passed in 2023 to give ratepayers more transparency on their bills and where their money is going.

While the public benefits charge has always been on ratepayers’ Eversource bills, he said it has previously “never been in a bucket that’s discernible.” He added that the public benefits charge has “nothing to do with the delivery of energy to [people’s households],” and instead encompasses various charges such as the systems benefits charge and energy efficiency programs.

When asked why they didn’t advocate to have the charge spread over 24 months instead of 10 months like PURA Chair Marissa Gillett suggested, Hwang said she was outvoted in that endeavor by PURA commissioners 2-1. He added how legislation bipartisanly passed that there should be five PURA commissioners instead of three for consumer advocacy balance, but that it’s up to the governor to appoint people for the positions.

“My hope, and I’ve said this directly to the governor, is that he needs to appoint two other commissioners that balance infrastructure maintenance with consumer considerations,” Hwang said.

Bolinsky noted how the state heavily invested into offshore wind about four years ago. When it came time to turning it on, he said it was determined that the electrical service agreements were far too expensive, with power coming back at 15 cents a kilowatt hour, wholesale or better.

Since the government walked away from the investment, Bolinsky said that all the money they invested into offshore wind is now gone. While he acknowledged that the push to reach zero carbon is real and to give technology more opportunity to develop, he said that they first need to deal with what happened with their electric bill.

As far as solutions, Hwang said that one of their big pushes is to break down the public benefit and increase its transparency, determine what’s necessary and critical, and put it into their budget rather than a “hidden tax to ratepayers.” He added that they will continue encouraging the governor to increase the number of PURA commissioners from three to five, as well as consider the increasing consumer demand of energy usage.

Infrastructure Concerns

Resident Dan Holmes remarked that constituents previously asked at a town hall last year if the deed for 6 Commerce Road could be changed to have the property considered open space and no longer be “on the chopping block” for development. Holmes said that the local Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council wrote letters to Hwang and Bolinsky to request this, and that he was wondering where they stood on the issue.

Hwang said that they’re looking to rescind the current conveyance and revert back to a new use. He added that this would not only require a proposal to Connecticut’s Government Administration and Elections Committee, but also a conveyance that goes through a public hearing. Hwang said that he, Bolinsky, and State Representative Marty Foncello followed through on the request, and submitted a request to convert the property to open space use.

Resident Gary Fillion spoke about various issues regarding I-84, as he lives right across from the highway and described it as being his “front yard.” He said that I-84 needs a sound barrier on both sides from Exit 11 down to the Rochambeau Bridge, that signage saying “no engine braking” should be put up along the three mile hill in the same area, among others.

Fillion also spoke about the overwhelming traffic in certain areas of town, specifically the intersection connecting Riverside Road to Church Hill Road and the area by Toddy Hill Road and Exit 11.

While Hwang said he thinks traffic and signage may be “low-hanging fruit” they can work on, the sound barrier and other infrastructure issues Fillion mentioned would be more of a struggle since the ARPA money is gone. Despite the budgetary constraints and challenges, Hwang said that they’ll continue to pay attention and do their best to represent Fillion and others on this issue.

Bolinsky said that he shares in those frustrations, and that he submitted standing bills this year that deal with the sound barrier, as well as the addition of a third lane for I-84.

“[I-84] needs a third lane. It’s needed a third lane for quite some time. The road is essentially the same footprint as it was about 55 years ago, and the population is nowhere near the same,” Bolinsky said.

Resident Donna Monteleone also spoke about transportation issues, from large amounts traffic to numerous instances of reckless and careless driving that she has seen while on the road. She said that Newtown’s infrastructure was not built to accommodate the sheer amount of congestion clogging up local roads, and that people need to “put the breaks on building.

“We have people constantly running lights, going through stop signs, speeding in Newtown,” Monteleone continued. “We don’t have enough police to enforce what’s going on, and we need to crack down on people who speed.”

Bolinsky said that even though they have local traffic issues, it is also a state issue because a lot of traffic is caused by cars exiting I-84 and using local roadways, which just “paralyzes [us] at times.” This, he said, will hopefully be addressed with I-84 getting a third lane.

Bolinsky added that building more at the intersection in the heart of Sandy Hook, notably the part that bottlenecks down at the start of Riverside Road, is something that needs to be addressed.

“I don’t have answers immediately. We need an awful lot of advocacy, an awful lot of focus, to be put on that,” Bolinsky said.

As far as reckless driving, Bolinsky said that common sense goes a long way. However, he added that they “cannot legislate common sense” into people like distracted and impaired drivers. Hwang agreed, and said that they will continue to work on traffic safety enforcement, signage for wrong-way drivers, and addressing the number of fatalities on state roads, as has been done post-COVID.

Environmental Concerns

Resident Jessica Kurose said that one of her biggest concerns is the climate crisis, especially as severe weather events are becoming more frequent and closer to home. She asked how Hwang and Bolinsky plan to address the climate crisis and whether they’d support the Connecticut Environmental Rights Amendment, which she said would protect people’s right to clean and healthy air, water, soil, ecosystems, and safe climate, in this legislative session.

While Bolinsky said that he is unfamiliar with the amendment and would need to read it, he responded by saying that “our future is zero carbon, and we all deserve clean air and clean water.

“Our state’s lack of having a unified and consistent environmental policy is costing us on our electric bill, so it’s a balance to actually find the fastest way to be completely sustainable in our energy and to be responsible stewards of the environment,” Bolinsky said.

Hwang echoed Bolinsky’s remarks, adding that they need to make the conservative effort to focus on renewable energies and reduce our carbon emissions. However, he said that the issue is how they get there since they have to tackle numerous challenges such as the high cost of wind power, renewable energy implementation, and more.

As for whether he’d support the amendment, Hwang said that he’d be supporting it “without a doubt.”

When resident Katherine Bisset spoke, she directly asked Hwang how he plans to address concerns about industrial runoff potentially polluting the Pootatuck River and other local waterways while balancing the need for affordable housing and the preservation of environmental resources.

Hwang responded by saying housing, land use, and zoning policies need to not just look at Connecticut General Statutes 8-30g, in which he said the only exception allowed under the current legislation for high density building is public safety.

He added, “And I’m deeply troubled by that in the sense that, when you have invaluable environmental settings such as the riverways, as well as our open space lands, density impacting traffic, and maintaining clean air and water, I think 8-30g is an imperfect vehicle to address the housing crisis in the entire state of Connecticut, as well as our country.”

Bolinsky followed up on 8-30g and said that it is not a favorable policy for small towns like Newtown when it is imposed. He added that he and Hwang have fought to keep zoning local, and to make sure that residents have more of a say about the developments in town. Hwang agreed and said that a state government that uses a one-size fits all mandate dictates what happens to communities.

“At the end of the day, it is all of you that we represent, and it is the individuals that you elect on a local basis that should have the final word,” Hwang said.

Resident Barbara Manville, who is on the Planning & Zoning Commission, spoke afterwards and echoed concerns regarding 8-30g and the negative impact the statute has on the community.

“[Other people and I] are elected officials. We’re here to follow our local regulations, our local land use issues, but 8-30g just completely ties our hands,” Manville said.

Other Issues

Resident Amybeth Laroche spoke on what she referred to as the domestic violence epidemic and its connection to the family court system that is “severely broken.” To give some perspective, Laroche said that 38% of women in Connecticut have reported experiencing domestic violence. She said this was a startling statistic since it surpasses California’s domestic violence numbers despite Connecticut being significantly smaller in size.

Laroche continued by saying that domestic violence remains a critical issue in the state, with significant impacts on women and children as the family court repeatedly fails victims in their search for protection. She said that the topic touches every aspect of work Hwang and Bolinsky do, and she hopes they all have the chance to address the issue in a meaningful way and work to find solutions going forward.

Both Hwang and Bolinsky said that they felt the issue was incredibly important, will continue working to support domestic violence prevention initiatives, and hope to discuss it more with Laroche in the future.

Resident Ned Simpson spoke about issues getting drivers for public participation, such as transportation vans for seniors. He said that he and others were thrilled because they thought they were getting $100,000 in grant money from the state and $83,000 from Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging for drivers, but asked Hwang and Bolinsky why they’re still struggling to get drivers.

Bolinsky responded by saying that getting drivers has been a challenge for everything from school buses to senior transportation, and that he felt bad for not having an answer to his question.

Resident Ian Appleby spoke about his concerns regarding the expansion of an Iroquois Gas Transmission System’s Compressor Station in Brookfield, which he said is at the border of Newtown and will affect the local community. He added that the proposed expansion will double the compressor station in size, which will allow it to pump more gas at a time through the pipelines.

Appleby added that there are pipelines that run through the state that bring natural gas to other places and that this energy is not for Connecticut residents, so between that and the company having previously violated the Clean Water Act, the residents have “nothing to gain.”

When asked for their stance on the project, Hwang and Bolinsky said that they were unfamiliar with it, but encouraged Appleby to send information on it to them.

Resident Gordon Johnson spoke about his concerns that the 2nd Company Governor’s Horse Guard, an all-volunteer unit that serves the state through community service, could be eliminated by the state.

“I mean, it would be a loss not only to Newtown, but also the state of Connecticut. Historically, the militias in Connecticut have been around for over 200 years, and served the state ... So please consider stopping it [from getting cut],” Johnson said.

Bolinsky said that the horse guard is very dear to him, and that he will fight to keep it. He said that it contributes a lot locally and that the horse guard was set up in recent years to become a nonprofit organization in addition to being a military unit.

“We saved it from the cutting room floor three times under [former Governor Dannel] Malloy, and we will fight to save it from the cutting room floor this time with Governor [Ned] Lamont,” Bolinsky said.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.