Norwalk legislators highlight Hartford’s priorities

The Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce hosted its 2023 Legislative Forum at the Norwalk Inn last week, with the city’s Hartford-based legislators elected officials offering updates on the General Assembly’s priorities and challenges.

State Senator and majority leader Bob Duff was introduced alongside Representatives Kadeem Roberts of District 137, Dominque Johnson of District 143, and Tracy Marra of District 141. Marra, who represents portions of Darien and western Norwalk, was the sole Republican legislator.

Rep. Lucy Dathan (D-142) did not stay for the full event due to her Hartford schedule. She highlighted her main legislative focus was House Bill 5001, which she said is designed “to ameliorate the waitlist for services for folks in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) community.” She explained that the number 5001 indicated the bill was considered the top priority for the legislative chamber.

“It has been very difficult in the past few years, and under the budget crisis we have really peeled back to very basic public services for these folks, and they really need to be served,” she said. “Whether it’s housing, whether it’s transportation, whether it’s day services, all of these things are super important for this community.”

The forum was moderated by Harry Carey, the director for external affairs at AT&T, who asked Dathan how a bill centered on IDD assistance became a top legislative priority. She replied that it was the result of decades of it being considered a low priority, noting that the last major assistance bill for IDD individuals was focused on children and school and many of the beneficiaries were now in their twenties.

After Dathan’s departure, Carey reminded the audience that the legislative session was in the midst of dealing with thousands of bills “which range from the ridiculous to the sublime,” and encouraged the audience to take the opportunity to get to know their legislators better.

Rep. Dominique Johnson (D-143) noted the diverse geography of her district, which covered the city’s Cranbury and East Norwalk neighborhoods and part of Westport.

“It’s a really great district,” Johnson said. “When you start talking to folks on their doorsteps, you realize how much we all have in common. And I’m very happy that I was assigned to the three committees I sought to be on. I will be representing us on higher education, employment advancement, and the judiciary.”

Rep. Tracy Marra of District 141 was the sole Republican legislator in attendance. She represents most of Darien as well as the affluent Rowayton section of Norwalk, and she praised the community involvement of her constituents. The Kentucky-born Marra also noted she has only lived in the area since 2014 after living with her family in Bermuda.

“I chose this area, I chose to live here and my heart is here,” Marra said, “and I’m happy to have brought my experiences from overseas and my experiences from Kentucky.”

Marra sits on the education, transportation and public health committees. A trained pharmacist and mother of three, she indicated her experience aligned with her assignments and highlighted her work on bills to allow the sale of over-the-counter drugs via vending machines.

Rep. Kadeem Roberts (D-137), who represents most of South Norwalk and much of the city’s urban core, formerly served as a Norwalk common council member. He sits on the Committee on Children as well as the education and housing Committees.

“Education, housing and children, these topics touch on me, and we have to talk about how they touch aspects of homelessness,” Roberts said, noting he grew up in low-income housing and was concerned about the lack of affordable housing in the state.

State. Sen. Duff, who represents all of Norwalk and the northern section of Darien, has served as the from District 25 since 2005, making him the most senior legislator in attendance. Duff is the majority leader of the Connecticut Senate and co-chairman of the executive and legislative nominations committee as well as the vice chairman of the legislative management committee.

Duff highlighted the state’s improving financial situation, and changes seen locally.

“We see people moving to Connecticut,” Duff said. “One of the reasons why my district actually shrank a little bit to have fewer voters in Darien is because with the census more people were moving in.”

The outlines of Roberts’, Marra’s and Johnson’s districts had all also changed due to the influx of new residents and businesses as well, according to Duff.

“That doesn’t mean that there aren’t challenges, but we’re in a good place and hopefully we can make some good changes and help people who need to be helped who have not had that opportunity over the last few years,” Duff added.

A wide-ranging discussion of legislative topics followed, with several topics with major ramifications for Fairfield County Businesses.

Kimberly Henrikson, the executive director of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, noted that as her nonprofit is spread across several buildings they receive four separate electric bills ”“ she asked what the state can do to help manage rising electricity costs.

“The first thing I would do is to make sure you go to energizect.com and find another supplier of your energy,” replied Duff. “I switched twice already and the work that we’ve done on the energy committee prevents any company from charging you if you cancel your contract.” He noted that by switching he had lowered his prices from 24 cents per kilowatt-hour to 16 cents to 10.6 cents.

The topic of affordable housing drew the sharpest divisions between Marra and her Democratic colleagues. Roberts noted discussions about increasing the affordability minimum outlined in 8-30g from 10% in some instances to 20%, but noted “in all honesty, there’s just a lot of conversation” regarding bills to modify the controversial statute with not many front runners.

Marra replied that there were “bills coming out that I think we are going to be looking at tweaking.” In particular she said Bill 6633, “An Act Concerning a Needs Assessment and Fair Share Plans for Municipalities to Increase Affordable Housing,” was concerning as it would impose a “top-down approach” on towns in Fairfield County where demand for housing is lower than in neighboring communities.

“I think it’s important when you think about affordable housing that you should probably think of it in a more holistic way,” Marra said. “When you have a community that has a development they should be involved in the conversation. This is a community that they have lived in for their life and they should really have a say in how their community evolves.”

“I’ll just say that there’s a hundred thousand job openings in the state,” Duff responded when handed the microphone. “And we are probably 120,000 short of the total housing units in the state that we need. Businesses will not come to the State of Connecticut if there aren’t the employees to fill those jobs. It’s not rocket science ; this is something that is a responsibility for every single community in the state of Connecticut, they have to step up to do this.”

Photo: (From left) State Sen. Bob Duff and State Reps. Dominique Johnson, Tracy Mara and Kadeem Roberts. Photo by Justin McGown.