Although his Newtown constituency is less than 20 percent of the community’s population, 112th District Republican State Rep JP Sredzinski considers the entire community when handling legislative business.

Running unopposed this year gave the incumbent lawmaker a chance to articulate his thoughts on more than a dozen issues during the latest segment of The Newtown Bee Friday Forums, which was webcast at noon on October 2, and is available for viewing now on the newspaper’s Facebook site and YouTube channel.

View the webcast here:

With no need to frame himself against a challenger, opening and closing statements were shelved to open up time for what proceeded as more of a conversation between Sredzinski and Newtown Bee Editor Nancy Crevier.

He began by addressing concerns initially expressed during the 2020 primary elections about the integrity of voting given the COVID-driven decision to permit absentee balloting by all registered Democrats and Republicans, and whether those concerns persisted, as early balloting began for the presidential election a few hours before the interview.

“I expressed concern because of some of the issues that came up with the absentee mailings that went out,” he said.

Pointing out that he supported distributing absentee ballots for COVID-era voting by mail, Sredzinski added, “Even in the general balloting we have seen mistakes in addressing, the way these ballots have been offered to people, and so I think it’s important that we take a close look at what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”

The GOP lawmaker then moved on to his efforts and accomplishments on behalf of his district residents, including his position on the police accountability legislation; issues he was looking forward to addressing related to the Newtown’s aging population; and sharing advice he would give Governor Ned Lamont regarding the state’s coronavirus response.

“The governor has done a good job — I will give him credit. As far as advice for him, I would tell him he’s got to look at the data... look at the curve, which has been flattened significantly,” he said. “The only difference the governor and I would have is, I would have allowed fall football this year. Otherwise the governor should keep doing what he is doing and we’ll get through this.”

Moving on, Sredzinski reflected on attempts last session to pass a comprehensive vaccination requirement for all public school children; his thoughts on distributing a COVID-19 vaccine; and steps he would take to address a looming state deficit without further burdening state taxpayers.

“You literally have to take a look line-by-line through the budget to see where we can go,” he said. “One of the areas we spend a lot of money on is the University of Connecticut.”

Reminding viewers he was a UConn grad himself, the lawmaker added that the entire state university system as well as the Department of Corrections were fair game for possible budget reductions.

The 112th District lawmaker then responded to questions about the future of accessible health care coverage; his thoughts on the state’s reputation of being unfriendly to business; and how matters in Washington impact the state, Newtown, and his constituents.

Sredzinski concluded by discussing his ability and willingness to work in bipartisan fashion with Democratic colleagues, and detailed some of the strengths he possesses that make him a good lawmaker. Visit The Bee on Facebook or YouTube to hear lawmaker’s responses to all the questions posed.

The next segment in The Newtown Bee’s Friday Forums series, currently scheduled for October 23, will host local voting officials who hope to bring viewers up to date on absentee balloting for the general election, and what people planning to turn out to the polls in person on November 3 need to know before heading out.