Newtown’s state legislative delegation, made up of Representative Marty Foncello (R-107), Representative Mitch Bolinsky (R-106), and Senator Tony Hwang (R-32), have invited the public to attend a Newtown Pre-Session Legislative Forum, at 2 pm Sunday, January 21, at the Newtown Community Center, 8 Simpson Street, where they will be discussing issues they will be taking on during the session.

This forum is an opportunity for taxpayers to ask questions about the state legislature’s upcoming session and discuss legislative priorities with their elected representatives. The event is open to the public.

For more information on Newtown’s pre-session legislative forum, call Jackson Shostak at 1-800-842-1421 or email at Jackson.Shostak@cga.ct.gov.

Another opportunity to hear about the 2024 legislative session comes from our partner, CT Mirror, which will be having its own 2024 legislative preview talk from 7 to 8 pm Tuesday, January 30, at the Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford.

CT Mirror Capitol Bureau Chief Mark Pazniokas will join moderator John Dankosky to discuss the 2024 Connecticut legislative session.

They’ll cover the substance and politics of the session, including: what to expect, potential surprises, and the impact on your state, your community, and your family.

Coffee & light snacks will be available.

During the event, the two will ask questions submitted by the audience in advance. Admission is free. Registration to either attend in person or via live stream may be found at ctmirror.org/2024/01/17/register-2024-legislative-preview/.

Both sessions represent excellent opportunities for all Newtown residents to become more informed about issues facing the Nutmeg State, and the priorities of the legislature in addressing those issues. The session with the Newtown delegation is also a remarkable opportunity to have a say in that process by directly addressing the local representatives and senator.

Laws that went into effect this month from previous legislative sessions include tax cuts, for the two marginal income tax rates for all filers from three percent to two percent and from five percent to 4.5 percent and income taxes on the first $50,000 in taxable income will be lowered for single filers and married people filing separately, $100,000 for joint filers, and $80,000 for heads of household; increasing the bottle deposit from five cents to ten cents, as well as laws concerning helping firefighters, online dating safety, and provisions for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The start of the new legislative session for 2024, which is known colloquially as the “short session” — begins on February 7. Due to the truncated time line of the short session, only bills that come directly from one of the legislative committees will make it to the full General Assembly. The session ends May 8.

Through their frequent interaction with and visits to the office of The Bee, we know our Newtown delegation’s constituent service never really ends. We also know that all three have been working tirelessly in recent months preparing for this current session to ensure the needs of their constituents, including ours in Newtown, are addressed.

We trust Foncello’s, Bolinsky’s, and Hwang’s combined decades of state legislative experience will continue to serve Newtown well, and we look forward to robust input from all three of our delegation members as the current session continues to chug forward toward its early June culmination.

During that time, we encourage all of our state lawmakers to work together as collaboratively as possible, and to the extent they can, shelve the kind of partisan-driven agendas and antics plaguing statehouses across the nation — and even our own US Congress.

Thank you all for your elected service to the Newtown community.