GOP Backs Hovey Reelection

Bid In 112th District

By Jan Howard

State Rep DebraLee Hovey of Monroe received the Republican endorsement to run for reelection from the 112th district during a convention May 20 at Monroe Town Hall.

Rep Hovey, who represents Monroe and part of Newtown, is seeking a second term in the state legislature. She is unopposed for the seat.

“I’ve learned some significant lessons in the last two years, personally and professionally,” Ms Hovey said Wednesday, adding that as a first-time legislator she was not familiar with the process.

“I’ve been up there and working hard,” she said. Quoting from Gandhi, she noted, “You have to be the change you wish to see in the world.” She said she believes in being hardworking, honest, and diligent, and brings those beliefs to her work as a legislator.

She considers herself as a full-time legislator and describes herself as a legislator who wants to develop credibility with her colleagues. “You have to find your way of being the best representative for your community you can be,” she said. “I am thoughtful of what I support and don’t support.”

Newtown’s needs are different than Monroe’s, she noted. Newtown looks to Danbury for services, and Monroe looks to Bridgeport. Because of that she has to consider how bills proposed in Hartford would impact on her constituencies. She noted she enjoys helping constituents who have state issues to move through the bureaucracy easier and quicker.

“That’s the favorite part of my job,” she said.

One of her goals in Hartford is to make sure there is a voice for Newtown and Monroe. “I have to keep reminding people that we have a working middle class here.” There is a skewed belief in Hartford that most of the residents of Fairfield County are wealthy.

An educational consultant specializing in child advocacy, “I advocate for those who can’t do it for themselves,” she said.

Because of her educational background, she said as a legislator she looked at the juvenile justice system with a critical eye. “We need to give kids more than 45 minutes of reading a day,” she said.

Terming the last budget session as “the worst” since that of former Governor Lowell Weicker’s income tax, Rep Hovey said she voted against the state budget because it failed to put aside five percent for a rainy day fund and because most of the state surplus is because of higher returns from capital gains taxes that might not be there next year.

She co-sponsored several bills in her first term. Among them was legislation that allows for the immediate loss of a driver’s license if someone is arrested while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Another bill would allow police officers responding to domestic violence situations to determine the aggressor and only arrest that person. Prior to this legislation, all entities involved were arrested, which often made it necessary to place children in temporary foster homes, adding additional trauma to an already traumatic situation.

The new legislation, she said, “protects the children more.”

She said she has been vocal about several issues, one of which was medical malpractice reform. She vowed to continue to be “out front” on that issue. She has also spoken out about unfunded state mandates. “We need local control,” she said.

Another issue she intends to continue to address is what she terms the devastation to trees during development. She said she took photographs to show the Housing Committee the loss of trees that is taking place because of development.

“This is about preserving the environment we live in,” Rep Hovey said. “We need affordable housing but not at the expense of the aesthetics of a community.”

Rep Hovey serves on the judiciary and education committees in the House.

During her two years in Hartford, she has also been appointed to the state Special Education Advisory Board and the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation. She is also affiliated with the Milford Domestic Abuse Center. These organizations, she said, “are very dear to my heart.”

A six-year resident of Monroe, Rep Hovey grew up in Presque Isle, Me. She has served on Monroe’s Inland Wetlands Commission and has been an active member of Monroe’s Republican Town Committee.