Soto hits ground running by backing nine bills
New London – Freshman state Rep. Chris Soto, D-New London, has wasted little time in pitching his ideas to the General Assembly, introducing, co-sponsoring or in the process of introducing nine different bills aimed at everything from boosting the minimum wage to $15 an hour to addressing the living conditions at sober houses.
Several of the bills would directly impact New London, such as his proposal to give a local legislative body, like the New London City Council, the ability to accept or reject proposals by nonprofit groups to pull their properties off the tax rolls.
“Right now state statutes allow organizations to take property off of the local tax rolls. We used to have PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) to offset that,” Soto said. “If PILOT was fully funding the difference you wouldn’t have an issue. But because it is not … it’s basically an unfunded mandate.”
Soto said there appears to be interest from other municipalities struggling with a limited tax base like New London.
New London Mayor Michael Passero has asked for an outright moratorium on tax-exempt properties for distressed municipalities Like New London. He said about 44 percent of all properties in the city are tax exempt.
“To me it seems like an easy fix for the state,” Passero said. “We’re not asking for any money. It won’t cost the state anything. It’s one of the most infamous unfunded mandates — providing tax exempt status to these organizations despite the costs of services provided by the city. It’s just not fair.”
Soto has also introduced a measure that would seek to better identify the sober houses for recovering addicts by ensuring the landlords are registering as a business “like any other business in the state of Connecticut.”
Soto said he is investigating ways to ensure proper living conditions for those people living at sober houses and sees his legislation as a first step.
The city, under human services director Jeanne Milstein, had initiated a voluntary registration program for the more than 30 sober houses in the city. The sober houses are under no obligation, however, to register with any agency and thus go mostly unnoticed and unidentified while being protected by provisions in the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
“We must first identify who is operating these businesses,” Soto said. “Ultimately we all want people in recovery to have a healthy environment.”
Soto has also sponsored legislation to address financial concerns of the city — asking for a waiver from funds the state claims the city owes on the Jennings Elementary School project and helping to obtain the $500,000 the city expects in reimbursement from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for environmental work at Veterans Field on Cedar Grove Avenue.
In the realm of education, Soto has introduced bills that would standardize financial aid letters from state universities and has asked for all magnet school districts be treated equally when it comes to standards for racial balance and magnet school funding.
Soto said he has drafted a bill asking for the state to honor a 95 percent reimbursement rate set in 2014 for the construction of an arts magnet program that is part of the overall school construction project. The reimbursement rate was tied to an agreement between the school district and the Garde Arts Center that has since dissolved.
Soto, who replaced longtime state Rep. Ernest Hewett, is the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, Executive and Nominations Elections Committee and Housing Committee.
For a full list of bills introduced or supported by Soto visit:www.housedems.ct.gov/soto/article/representative-chris-soto
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