The legislative session that ended recently was the most difficult I’ve experienced since the people of New London sent me to Hartford to represent them 12 years ago. There were hard decisions that had to be made, and we made them.

Not everyone got what they wanted, but we came together from small towns and big cities, rural environments and urban settings, and we talked, and we argued, and, yes, we fought, but in the end we passed a budget that puts people first. It is a budget that allows our state to move into the future in a world that is growing more complex with each passing day. We owe it to our children to help them prepare for that day, and I think this budget does that.

People who know me will tell you I don’t always blow my own horn enough, and maybe they’re right, but I felt I had to say something about the good things that came out of the legislature for New London − the city that I love.

There are many things I could mention about the recent session, but my proudest achievements came in the field of education and programs that help kids.

Top on that list was getting New London back on the priority school funding list. The bottom line is that our city now stands to get up to $98 million in state aid as the high school building project goes forward.

As has been widely reported, New London was removed from the list, a decision that could have cost city taxpayers dearly. I am proud to report that I was able to get that decision reversed.

As part of a gun violence prevention grant, I was able to secure $40,000 for New London youth football, the same amount for peewee baseball, plus $71,000 for the group Writers’ Block. All these programs help keep our inner city kids off the streets and busy with positive activities.

We must recognize that our city does not have the tax base to fund many of the things people in wealthier towns take for granted, and that is why my work to shore up New London's financial situation was very important, too.

As we know, almost half of New London's land is occupied by non-taxable nonprofit groups. Our nonprofits are valuable, but they do not produce the tax revenue we desperately need in New London. With that in mind, I fought hard to increase state aid under the PILOT program that helps New London and other cities with a great deal of non-taxable property, and also to increase the ECS fund, the state program that helps municipalities to pay for their schools.

Working with our legislative leadership, I was able to secure $1.4 million in additional funding for New London in the two PILOT program categories for the second year of the two-year budget approved in Hartford.

In addition, I was able to get language in a bill to get the city a $1.5 million reimbursement that it has been unable to collect because the paperwork got lost. Mayor Finizio's administration didn't lose the paperwork, but they couldn't get the state to release the money. I am happy to report that soon after I received a request from the mayor's office, I was able to introduce the language necessary to get the money owed to New London placed in the budget.

I also got $400,000 released from Department of Economic and Community Development so the city can move forward with Fort Trumbull development necessary to expand the city's tax base.

I was also happy to secure $170,000 to bring the Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival back to the city.

I mention these highlights from a difficult session because I strongly believe they will improve our city and help the people who live in this beautiful community.

Over the years, I've been a welder at Electric Boat, I've been a small businessman and I have been what they call a community activist. In that last role, I stood up to the drug lords who were ruining my neighborhood. That is what got me on the path of public service and serving as the people's representative in Hartford. If I had to describe my political philosophy, it would be that I want to help people who can't help themselves. 

In the 2015 legislative session, New London came out a winner.

Ernest Hewett represents the 39th House District in the Connecticut legislature, located in New London.