HOUSE DEMOCRATS • MIKE LAWLOR • NEWSROOM - 2010
Newsroom - 2010
February 19, 2010
Rep. Lawlor Celebrates USPS Decision To Keep East Haven Trolley Square Post Office Open
February 8, 2010
Rep. Lawlor Calls For State Investigation, Potential Revocation Of Liquor License At East Haven Bar
January 22, 2010
Rep. Lawlor Encourages East Haven Residents To Consider New Appliance Rebate Program
January 18, 2010
More Progress Needed For Criminal Justice Reforms - Hartford Business Journal
January 8, 2010
Rep. Lawlor Urges Governor To Release Local Road Repair Funding
January 7, 2010
Statement Of State Representative Mike Lawlor In Response To Governor Rell’s Announcement This Afternoon Regarding The Sex Offender Facility
January 7, 2010
Rep. Lawlor: State Needs To Move Forward On Completion
of Planned Sex Offender Treatment Facility
February 19, 2010
State Representative Mike Lawlor (D-East Haven) today is praising a decision by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to withdraw their proposal to close East Haven’s Trolley Square post office.
Lawlor, with other state and local officials, vigorously advocated keeping the station open, explaining the importance that the town’s only post office has to the community. He credited the support of hundreds of citizens in East Haven who attended public hearings and protests with showing postal officials how important the station is to the town.
“We are thrilled that we got the word that the Trolley Square station will remain open,” Lawlor said. “Through a campaign of phone calls, letters, protests, and meetings with postal officials, we have convinced the USPS how important having this station is for our community. In particular, when it comes to the seniors in our town who rely on easy access to a nearby post office, closing this station would have been a hardship on them. It is to the credit of everyone in East Haven who joined us in speaking out for our post office that it will remain open.”
Lawlor noted that if the station had closed, the next closest post office would have been located on Frontage Road in New Haven in an area that is divided from the rest of East Haven by I-95, has no sidewalks, is not directly on a bus line and is not fully accessible.
Last August, East Haven Mayor April Capone Almon and Lawlor held a demonstration with dozens of seniors from the town to show how difficult it would be for seniors travelling on public busses to access the Frontage Road facility. Lawlor said this protest demonstration garnered significant attention through the media and played a significant role in the decision by the Postal Service to keep the station open.
“It just wasn’t as practical as it may have looked on paper, and I think the help that we had with people in the community in demonstrating that point played a major factor in convincing postal officials to let the station stay open,” Lawlor explained.
The Trolley Square station was one of about a dozen post office branches statewide that the Postal Service was studying for possible closure due to financial concerns by the USPS.
In particular, Lawlor thanked the help of Mayor Capone Almon and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro for their advocacy.
February 8, 2010
State Representative Mike Lawlor, who represents the Town of East Haven in the Connecticut General Assembly, together with the support of East Haven Mayor April Capone Almon today called for state authorities to urgently determine whether the liquor license at an East Haven bar that was the site of a triple shooting this weekend should be suspended or permanently revoked.
The incident occurred at Mango’s Bar on Hemingway Avenue at 1:43 a.m. on Sunday. Police found three victims with non-life-threatening gun shot wounds. The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived.
“I urge you to reach out to the East Haven Police Department and the Division of Criminal Justice as soon as possible to determine whether the liquor permit for Mango’s should be suspended immediately and/or revoked permanently pursuant to Section 30-55 of the Connecticut General Statutes,” Lawlor wrote in a letter Monday morning to Jerry Farrell, the Commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection, which operates the Liquor Control Commission.
“As you are well aware, Section 30-86 of the Connecticut General Statutes strictly prohibits the serving of alcohol to intoxicated persons. You may also be aware that Section 53-206d prohibits possession of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol,” he wrote in his letter.
Lawlor and Capone Almon said the state investigation is necessary because the Liquor Control Commission can act and shut down the bar immediately if the evidence warrants it.
Rep. Lawlor’s letter to the commissioner.
January 22, 2010
State Representative Mike Lawlor, who represents the Town of East Haven in the Connecticut General Assembly, is encouraging the residents of his town to consider a newly launched program that could give consumers in Connecticut rebates ranging from $50 to $500 for buying new energy efficient appliances for their homes.
The appliance replacement rebate program, funded through federal stimulus dollars, applies to Energy Star qualified refrigerators, freezers, washers, air conditioners, and central air systems that were purchased by residents of the state between the dates of January 25 and April 30, 2010. The appliances must replace an existing, less efficient model and cannot be a first-time new appliance purchase.
“This is a good opportunity for folks in East Haven who have been considering replacing their older, less efficient appliances to take advantage of these new rebates,” Rep. Lawlor said. “In addition to both the economic and environmental benefits of utilizing appliances that use less energy, the purchase of new appliances will also benefit local retailers.”
The rebates apply to Energy Star certified clothes washers ($100 rebate), refrigerators ($50 rebate), freezers ($50 rebate), room air conditioners ($50 rebate), and central air conditioning units ($500 rebate).
Rep. Lawlor noted that these new rebates, administered through a partnership between the state Office of Policy and Management and the utility companies, enhance already existing appliance rebate programs offered in the state that consumers can also take advantage of. The rebates cannot be applied retroactively and are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
Additional information and rebate applications can be found at www.ct.gov/opm/ApplianceRebates and from the Connecticut electric utility companies. Applications will also be available in retail stores after February 1. Consumers can also call 1-877-WISE-USE (1-877-947-3873) for additional information or to request a rebate application be mailed to them.
The U.S. Department of Energy is distributing federal stimulus money nationwide for these appliance rebates. Connecticut qualified for $3.4 million of those funds and will be one of the first states to begin administering rebates under this program.
January 18, 2010
By Mike Lawlor
Two years ago, the legislature, together with Gov. M. Jodi Rell, enacted a series of significant criminal justice reforms.
In the aftermath of the horrifying murders in Cheshire in 2007, policy makers in all three branches of government, on both state and local levels, achieved consensus around two key goals: Repeat violent offenders should be identified, convicted and sentenced to lifelong terms of imprisonment; and nonviolent, less serious offenders should be punished in ways that are cost-effective and prevent crime.
Today, I can report mixed results. First, the good news: Frontline law enforcement personnel have focused their energy on repeat violent offenders and longer sentences are being imposed in our courts. Nonviolent offenders are being diverted to alternative punishments. The state’s total prison population has dropped from a high of 19,900 in February 2008 to a low of about 18,100 today. The inmate count stood at approximately 18,800 just prior to the Cheshire murders. Our prison population is now at its lowest point since 2006 and trending downward. Connecticut’s decision to focus its efforts on violent offenders is yielding the intended results.
Now, the disturbing news: Our state’s budget crisis has put many of the 2008 reforms at risk. For example, budget cuts ordered by the governor have blocked a 2008 budgetary requirement that additional prosecutors be hired and dedicated to career criminal cases. It is worthy to note that in spite of this cut, additional public defenders were actually hired.
The centerpiece of the reform effort, a state-of-the-art criminal justice communication and information sharing network, is pending as it awaits an endorsement from the governor in the form of dedicated bonding and budget funds. Although there is a plan in place for its implementation, there has been no decision by the governor to proceed to make it operational in the near term.
Keep in mind that both the governor’s and the legislature’s post-Cheshire murder analyses pointed directly to the lack of communication among criminal justice agencies as a central fault in the system.
In the case of one of the two murder suspects, the Department of Correction and the Board of Pardons and Paroles were not made aware of the well-documented, high-risk assessment that almost certainly would have affected the manner and timing of [a Cheshire murder defendant’s] release and supervision, which was the result of a lack of interagency file sharing that should have occurred. If a choice must be made, this information system should be priority number one.
There were a number of other significant reforms suggested by frontline criminal justice professionals and then adopted by the Connecticut General Assembly. These included a statewide automated victim notification system; secure sex offender beds for rapists being released from prison upon the completion of their sentences; expanded use of global positioning technology for high-risk offenders; lowered offender caseloads for parole and probation officers; an expanded network of treatment options for nonviolent offenders in order to free up expensive, secure prison cells for violent offenders; more mental health facilities for nonviolent offenders with mental health issues, including many veterans returning from battle and suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome; and a complete overhaul of procedures at the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
All of these have been partially addressed, but remain in jeopardy due to the budget crisis.
Our challenge going forward is to keep our promise to the professionals who work in the criminal justice system and to deliver a smart, efficient and effective public safety product to the state’s citizens.
We have made progress. We have shifted our focus to violent crimes and repeat offenders, and Connecticut’s serious crime rate is down significantly compared to 2006.
To sustain this trend, we must continue to reinvest part of the savings in the very initiatives and programs that have worked. To do otherwise risks a return to a system marked by huge caseloads, overwhelmed police, prosecutors, probation and parole officers, overcrowded prisons and poor results.
The legislature’s Judiciary Committee will lead these discussions as we begin the 2010 session of the General Assembly, and we invite every citizen to contribute ideas and suggestions.
Mike Lawlor is a state representative from East Haven, and is chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.
January 8, 2010
State Representative Mike Lawlor (D-East Haven) today called on Governor M. Jodi Rell to release millions in state aid that would fund local paving projects and road repairs in East Haven.
“The withholding of this state money for road repair projects is going to put town budgets across the state on shaky ground,” said Lawlor. “Towns like East Haven rely on this funding, and I hope the governor understands its importance.”
Due to the current budget deficit, the governor has been holding back $30 million in Town Aid Road (TAR) Grants and has not given any indication if they will be released.
“These state grants are given to every municipality in the state annually and help fund the repair work that towns routinely perform to maintain local roads, such as filling in potholes that transpire from normal everyday use,” explained Lawlor. “East Haven and presumably every other town in the state reasonably built these grants into their budgets when they were approving them last year. There is still time for the governor to release the money and prevent the harmful impact that their unanticipated denial will have.”
In the previous fiscal year, East Haven received $203,814 in TAR grants. Typically, towns receive TAR funding in January and July of each year, however none of it has been distributed so far this fiscal year, leaving towns in limbo.
January 7, 2010
“I appreciate Governor Rell’s announcement today that she is willing to move forward on this project, however her decision to start the entire process all over again will just delay this again, perhaps until after she has left office.
“This project is ready to go. A contractor has been selected, a site has been designated, and the money is in the budget. The Judicial Branch and the Department of Corrections can and are prepared to work together and make this a reality in just a few months. The governor should give them authorization to move forward with the existing project immediately instead of starting everything all over again, resulting in even more delays.”
January 7, 2010
State Representative Mike Lawlor (D-East Haven), co-chairman of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, is urging the governor to allow the Department of Corrections (DOC) to continue with a plan it initiated in 2008 as required under Public Act 08-1 to construct a staff secure sex offender treatment facility to house sex offenders who are finishing or have finished their prison sentences.
Included in legislation adopted during the January 2008 special session, when a number of major initiatives focusing on repeat violent criminals were approved, was a provision requiring both the DOC and the Court Support Services Division (CSSD) of the Judicial Branch to each have “twelve beds in staff secure residential sex offender treatment facilities for occupancy not later than July 1, 2008.” Funding for the 24 beds was also approved at the time and continues to be included in the current biennial budget.
Since then, despite the mandated deadline having passed, the project has not been completed and the state continues to lack this type of facility, which most other states in the country have.
Following the adoption of the legislation two years ago, the DOC and CSSD decided to pool their appropriated money and the DOC became the lead agency on the project. The DOC then selected a contractor, The Connection, Inc. based in Middletown, and chose to locate the facility using existing DOC property in Uncasville, adjacent to the existing Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center.
The DOC was then ordered to put the project on hold, where it still remains, and the governor recommended rescinding its budget allocations in the form of lapses due to the ongoing budget crisis.
“The legislature and the governor have understandably had to make many cuts over the past year, but this should not be one of them. Serious, violent sex offenders finishing long prison sentences must not be released directly to the streets,” said Lawlor, who has been a strong supporter of constructing such a facility.
Lawlor explained that this facility would be reserved for high-risk sex offenders who have finished serving long prison sentences. He stressed that this is not an alternative to incarceration. An example of the type of offender who would be put into this facility is someone who is finishing a twenty-five-year sentence, has no place to live after his release, and intends on sleeping at nights in a homeless shelter.
He said, “A nighttime bed in a homeless shelter and unsupervised roaming of our city neighborhoods during the daytime is simply not an acceptable strategy for protecting the public. Every study has shown that serious violent offenders are most likely to reoffend during the first few months following their release from prison.”
He continued, “I am urging the governor to order the commissioner of Corrections to immediately move forward with this initiative. The legislature has left the money and mandate intact throughout the various budget adjustments enacted since the budget crisis began. The governor should also reconsider her decision to block changes in the Judicial Branch budget – including her September 2009 veto – to ensure that CSSD continues to have the funding necessary for its share of this initiative. If the governor were to do this tomorrow, this facility could be up and running by the beginning of the summer. We have no time to waste.”
Lawlor also announced that he and his co-chairman, State Senator Andrew J. McDonald (D-Stamford), have scheduled an oversight hearing of the Judiciary Committee on January 19 at 10:00 a.m. for the committee to review the impacts that the budget deficit has had on the judicial system, including the criminal justice reforms adopted in 2008, and to also inquire about the status of the courthouse closures, the law library closures, and staffing shortages. It will be similar to the oversight hearing the committee held in October 2008, with officials representing several state agencies invited to testify. |
