Tag: Senator Somers

State’s Leading Voice for Small Business Backs Heather Somers for Second Term

Posted on by Heather Somers

GROTON — State Sen. Heather Somers of Groton announced Monday the endorsement of NFIB Connecticut PAC. The organization described itself in the endorsement as “the leading small-business association in the nation with thousands of members in Connecticut representing a cross-section of the state’s economy.”

“It is vitally important we continue to elect results-oriented leaders with experience in business to fight for lower taxes, smarter, less onerous regulations, and a strong business climate that gives small businesses and families the chance to succeed,” Somers said. “I am honored to accept NFIB’s endorsement and remain absolutely committed to fighting for the kind of policies that will lift Connecticut small businesses and create jobs.”

The endorsement letter from NFIB Connecticut PAC thanked Senator Somers “for standing with NFIB on the issues important to small business.”

“The NFIB CT PAC believes that you will be committed to the needs of thousands of Main Street small businesses and their employees in Connecticut when you are elected to serve in Hartford,” said the letter signed by NFIB CT PAC chair Wendy Traub and Grassroots Manager Sharon Sykes. “Thank you for standing with NFIB on the issues important to small business… best wishes for your campaign.”

“NFIB is the leading small-business association in the nation with thousands of members in Connecticut representing a cross-section of the state’s economy,” the endorsement letter continued. “For more than 75 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today.”

In addition to NFIB, Somers has received the endorsement of the Connecticut Association of Realtors and recognition from eight organizations for leadership on health care issues.

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Senator Somers: Opponent Desperate for Debate About Process to Distract from Radical, Malloy-Inspired Agenda

Posted on by Heather Somers

GROTON — State Sen. Heather Somers of Groton slammed her Democratic opponent Thursday for trying to generate a debate about process in order to distract from the issues — and for avoiding opportunities to answer questions of critical importance for Connecticut voters.

“My opponent is clearly desperate to engage in a debate about process in order to distract from the issues that are critically important to the prosperity of our region and Connecticut families,” Somers said. “It is clear he is more interested in scoring cheap political points than attempting to defend his extreme, Malloy-inspired agenda and the impact it would have on eastern Connecticut’s economy.”

Somers noted that Bob Statchen skipped a recent candidate forum hosted by the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Connecticut and the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors and has ducked committing to a scheduled debate on October 16 to be hosted by the HBRAC.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for a political candidate to claim an opponent is avoiding debates — while skipping candidate forums and ducking debates that are actually scheduled and on the books,” Somers said. “This is the kind of political nonsense my opponent has learned from the school of Dan Malloy that voters are so tired of hearing.”

Somers also pointed out that it was her campaign that suggested high school students be given an opportunity to participate in The New London Day debate to be held on October 17.

“My opponent claims he wants to give high schoolers a chance to participate in the process — yet he’s done nothing to help facilitate an actual opportunity for that to happen,” Somers said. “In contrast, my campaign has suggested to The Day that all high schoolers be given an opportunity to participate in their scheduled debate.”

“I spend every day fighting for results for eastern Connecticut, challenging the status quo in Hartford and working for stronger, more prosperous communities,” Somers continued. “I am thrilled to have so many opportunities to discuss all that we’ve been able to accomplish, and all that we can do together to improve our state, at forums, debates and with voters door-to-door.”

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Senator Somers Receives State Medical Society Award for Leadership in “Promoting the Practice of Medicine”

Posted on by Heather Somers

GROTON — State Sen. Heather Somers of Groton accepted the “2018 Legislative Recognition Award” from the Connecticut State Medical Society at an event in North Haven Thursday, it is Somers’ eighth award this year from various health care and advocacy organizations related to her leadership on the issue of health care as Co-Chair of the Public Health Committee.

“I am incredibly honored to receive this recognition for the work we’ve done to improve the quality, availability and cost of health care for Connecticut families,” Somers said. “Whether working to expand telemedicine opportunities, fighting the scourge of opioids, ensuring we are attracting physicians to work here in Connecticut, bringing care to those most in need or holding state agencies who are failing those in their care accountable, I am immensely proud of the results I’ve been able to achieve.”

The award from the Connecticut State Medical Society recognized Somers for “dedication to preserving and promoting the practice of medicine in addition to your efforts to identify and address existing barriers currently hampering the recruitment and retention of physicians in Connecticut.”

In addition to the award Somers accepted Thursday, the freshman legislator from Groton has been recognized by eight different organizations with awards for her work this year as Co-Chair of the Public Health Committee.

  • The Arc New London County – Legislative Service Award
    • Presented: June 19, 2018
    • For efforts on behalf of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
  • CT Children’s Medical Center-Recognition Award
    • Presented: September 12, 2018
    • For tireless advocacy on behalf of their most vulnerable patients and helping to facilitate their ECMO team.
  • Radiological Society – Patient Hero Award
    • Presented: September 13, 2018
    • For advocacy for patients and legislation that will encourage women to have life saving breast cancer screenings.
  • CT State Medical Society – 2018 Legislative Recognition Award
    • Presented: September 27, 2018
    • For tireless efforts on behalf of the physicians of Connecticut and the patients they serve.
  • Keep the Promise Coalition – Legislative Leadership Award
    • To Be Presented: October 9, 2018
    • For protecting the rights of people living with mental health challenges.
  • CT Association of Optometrists – Certificate of Recognition
    • To Be Presented: October 2018
    • For outstanding leadership in promoting quality and safe vision care services for patients.
  • Hartford County Medical Association – Legislative Citation
    • To Be Presented: October 10, 2018
    • For advocacy for Hartford County physicians and their patients.
  • CT College of Emergency Physicians – 2018 Legislator of the Year Award
    • To Be Presented: October 24, 2018
    • For Senator Somers’ work on SB-378.

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Senator Heather Somers to Participate in Debate Hosted by Connecticut Homebuilders

Posted on by Heather Somers

GROTON — State Sen. Heather Somers of Groton accepted an invitation Wednesday to participate in an upcoming debate hosted by the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Connecticut and challenged her Democratic opponent, who skipped a recent candidate forum, to swiftly agree to participate in the important discussion on key issues facing the state.

“Changing course in Connecticut to kickstart our economy and housing market, to invest in job training and workforce development and to support the trades have been among my top priorities in office,” Somers said.

“Under the last eight years of ruinous leadership from Gov. Malloy, Connecticut’s housing and construction industries have been held back from reaching their potential,” Somers continued. “The tax-hiking agenda of this governor and Democratic leaders in Hartford has left Connecticut with the slowest home value growth in the nation,” Somers noted, according to a recent report from the Yankee Institute.

“I am thrilled this important voice for an industry impacted by the Malloy economy is getting engaged to sponsor an open and fair discussion of the candidates’ differing plans to bring greater prosperity to our state,” Somers said.

Somers said she hoped her Democratic opponent, who recently skipped a candidate forum hosted by the HBRA and the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors, would agree to participate in the debate.

“I hope my Democratic opponent will swiftly agree to this important debate and answer tough questions about the impact his radical, Malloy-inspired plans would have on Connecticut workers, families and small businesses,” she said.

The debate is scheduled to be held October 16 at 6:00 p.m. at the Mystic Luxury Cinemas. Candidates for the neighboring 20th State Senate District were also invited to participate.

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Somers: Potential Racist Intimidation at State Agency Demands Immediate Answers and Greater Accountability from Malloy Administration

Posted on by Heather Somers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday September 10, 2018

Senator Somers: Potential Racist Intimidation at State Agency Demands Immediate Answers and Greater Accountability from Malloy Administration

Deeply Disturbing Images and Information Increase Questions Surrounding Culture and Management of DDS and Other State Agencies

GROTON — State Sen. Heather Somers of Groton reacted Monday to information and photographs claiming a noose was left hanging in an office at the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) in Torrington and was discovered by an African-American employee.

“The information and photographs I received over the past several days are deeply disturbing and demand immediate and transparent answers from the Malloy administration as to what exactly is being done to investigate this incident, what we know about the incident to date and what we know about the status of any employee suspected of engaging in this behavior and their motivation,” Somers said.

Somers noted the DDS incident comes on the heels of a major abuse scandal involving the agency at the Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown — raising concerns about the wider culture and management of the agency.

“This disturbing incident raises very serious concerns that a broken culture that tolerates and encourages abuse and intimidation extends beyond what we uncovered at Whiting Forensic Hospital far deeper into DDS and Connecticut state agencies,” Somers noted.

Somers also pointed to recent incidents involving other state agencies — including the tragic death of a child in the DCF system and evidence of defective care for prison inmates in the DOC system — as evidence of a breakdown of leadership in the administration.

“It is clear greater accountability and transparency are needed from the administration to protect state workers and those in the care of the state,” Somers said.

Somers has been in contact with concerned employees at the Department and pledged to continue to stay engaged until a full accounting of this incident is known and appropriate remedies administered.

“I have already been in contact with concerned employees at DDS and will continue to fight for transparency and accountability across our state agencies,” Somers said.

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The Day: State Bond Commission approves funding for dredging, workforce training for EB

Posted on by Heather Somers

The state will be giving Electric Boat $20 million for dredging to support the launch of submarines from a new dry dock and manufacturing superstructure being built in Groton, and $8 million for workforce training programs to support the submarine builder.

The money was approved by the state Bond Commission on Wednesday.

At Fort Trumbull in New London in May, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that the state would be giving EB $83 million in exchange for the company adding jobs and spending hundreds of millions on capital improvements in Groton. The $28 million approved Wednesday represents a portion of the funding announced by Malloy.

State Sens. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, and Heather Somers, R-Groton, said in a joint statement that “it is important for the state to show strong support for essential workforce training programs such as the state’s Workforce Investment Boards which enhance workforce development statewide benefiting a wide range of job creators — from small mom and pop vendors and manufacturers to larger employers.”

As for the money for dredging, they said “there is a long history surrounding　the need for funding to support dredging, not only at Electric Boat but throughout our state where marinas of varying sizes and boating access points and ports depend on occasional sediment removal to keep our waterways free of buildup that impedes sub movement and shipping traffic.”

Read the full article here.

Letter: Somers got it right on boat taxation

Posted on by Heather Somers

Connecticut’s economy continues to struggle. We are fortunate to have a legislator like state Senator Heather Somers, R-Groton, who knows we need to take bold steps to turn this around.

Somers should be commended for her leadership in seeing that the sales tax on boat purchases is reduced to 2.99 percent starting July 1. This will be a shot in the arm to shoreline marinas and boat dealers who have been losing sales to Rhode Island. More boat sales will translate into greater economic activity to related shoreline businesses like restaurants, hotels and petroleum.

I attended the public hearing on this issue earlier this session held by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. Somers testified and I was greatly impressed with her knowledge of the issue and her presentation to the committee members. She adroitly handled the questions asked of her, and made a very persuasive case. Somers is a businesswoman by profession and she knows what it takes to meet a payroll and expand operations.

The lower sales tax on boat sales will help our shoreline economy. I want to recognize Senator Somers for her key leadership on this success.

Ron Helbig

Chairman

CT Marine Trades Association Inc.

Groton

Read the full letter to the editor here.

The Day: Republicans endorse Heather Somers for re-election to 18th District state Senate seat

Posted on by Heather Somers

Groton — Republican delegates to the party’s convention unanimously endorsed incumbent Sen. Heather Somers this week for the 18th District state Senate seat.

Somers was elected to the seat — which covers Groton, Stonington, North Stonington, Preston, Griswold, Voluntown, Sterling and Plainfield — in 2016.

“I am incredibly proud that in just over one year in office, I have challenged business-as-usual in Hartford, brought greater accountability to public institutions by exposing wrongdoing and demanding reform and delivered results for eastern Connecticut,” Somers said in a news release.

She was unopposed at the Republican Convention on Monday and will not face a primary in August.

The Democratic candidates vying for the seat are Bob Statchen and Dan Kelley.

Read the full article here.

The Day: Investment in sub manufacturing training needed to fend off competition, senators say

Posted on by Heather Somers

State Sens. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, and Heather Somers, R-Groton, are urging support for a bill that would provide $10 million in state funding over the next five years to train advanced manufacturing workers for Electric Boat and other employers across the state. They say the proposal will send a message to the Navy and other states competing for submarine contracts that Connecticut supports its submarine industry.

“The Navy needs to know, if Electric Boat is granted these contracts, that they are able to fulfill the contracts by having a skilled workforce,” Somers said Tuesday, testifying in support of Senate Bill 444 at a hearing of the Commerce Committee.

Somers and Formica asked the commerce committee, of which Formica is a member, to raise the bill, which in addition to the $10 million for training programs, would create an innovation hub for plastics manufacturing in an unused 1,000-square-foot lab at Three Rivers Community College, and require the head of the Department of Community and Economic Development to assess the capital needs of the submarine industry every three years.

The $10 million would sustain the Eastern CT Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative developed by the Eastern Workforce Investment Board and the state’s technical schools and community colleges to meet the workforce needs of EB and other manufacturers due to an uptick in submarine construction, and expand it to other parts of the state.

More than 5,600 people have applied to participate in the training pipeline, which now offers curriculums in seven different trade areas. Students are vetted through American Job Centers and spend between 10 and 12 weeks in intensive no-cost training programs, which run five days a week for six to seven hours a day. More than 90 percent of students, or more than 900, who have gone through the program have received job offers immediately upon graduating, according to John Beauregard, executive director of EWIB.

The training is catered to the needs of employers, which have helped develop the curriculums and design the classrooms. “That employer engagement is the ‘secret sauce’ to why the program has been successful,” Beauregard said.

While most of the students have gone on to work at EB, 137 different employers have hired from the program, according to Beauregard. Maura Dunn, vice president of human resources for EB, submitted written testimony in support of the bill, noting the company has hired 750 people from the pipeline and that those who have gone through the program “are better prepared for success.”

Graduates receive an additional 20 to 30 weeks of on-the-job training once at EB, which spends more than $40 million annually on training, according to Somers.

The pipeline initiative was started two years ago with funding from the federal government, which runs out this year. Formica and Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, worked to secure $1.5 million in the biennial state budget passed Oct. 31 to sustain the program. In fiscal year 2018, $500,000 was allotted and $1 million was slated for fiscal year 2019, but the governor’s recent budget proposal cuts that down to $500,000.

Senate Bill 444 would reverse that cut and provide funding to keep the program solvent and expand it to include other workforce investment boards, Formica said, noting that there are smaller suppliers and vendors throughout the state that also need a trained workforce.

Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, a member of the commerce committee, questioned the need for the state to support a privately traded company like EB. Since 1997, Connecticut has provided about $42 million to EB in the form of grants and other subsidies, according to the corporate watchdog group Good Jobs First.

“Twenty-five years ago, I don’t think the government stepped up and did these things. Why should we be funding this?” Fishbein asked.

Somers offered the example of Virginia, which has developed and funded a technology center next to Newport News Shipbuilding, which with EB builds fast attack submarines, “so that’s what we’re dealing with,” she said. The state also has made capital investments in the shipyard.

Beauregard said the “vast majority” of the investment in the program benefits the students. “It changes people from either an unemployed or underemployed situation to now be operating at a full-time job with benefits, so the impact there to Connecticut’s economy is they start to spend some money, they start to spin off other jobs and they are now operating at full potential, full productivity and full earning power,” he said.

Sen. Osten has introduced legislation similar to what Formica and Somers are pushing. Osten’s bill, Senate Bill 3, also would provide funding for training programs, but also proposes funding for infrastructure projects at EB’s Groton shipyard.

Read the full article here.