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Budget deficit is focus of League of Women Voters breakfast
Written by The Darien Times
Monday, 09 February 2009 14:56
The Darien League of Women Voters started out 2009 with its traditional Legislative Breakfasts, where discussion centered on the challenging economic environment and significant budget deficit.
On Friday, Jan. 23, about 35 members and their guests gathered at the home of Joyce Critelli for the breakfast with state senators Bob Duff and Andrew McDonald. The senators gave an overview of the most pressing issues in Hartford and fielded numerous questions on Connecticut’s budget crisis.
The budget deficit for fiscal year 2009 is currently projected at $922 million, despite reductions of $500 million made to date. By law, Connecticut is required to have a balanced budget, so legislators will be looking at a number of other areas to derive savings, including developing efficiencies, consolidating departments and promoting increased cooperation amongst municipalities. “We’re facing challenging times but with a lot of hard work and bi-partisanship we’ll come out of this a lot stronger,” said Senator Duff.
“The depth and breadth of this recession is unprecedented in Connecticut’s history,” said Senator McDonald. “Emerging from it will only happen with a shared sacrifice by all stakeholders.”
At a second legislative breakfast on Tuesday, Jan. 27, newly elected state Rep. Terrie Wood also spoke of the budget deficit and decline in state revenue. She noted that Fairfield County will probably “take the heat” in the struggle to balance the budget since the county provides over half the income for operating expenses for Connecticut.
She also stated that there’s need to look for ways to reduce costs to municipalities, which are also struggling.
“We have to ease the burden on our towns and cities, and one way to do that is to revisit the unfunded mandates that impose an unnecessary cost,” said Rep. Wood.
As a newly elected official, Representative Wood received her committee assignments, which she shared with attendees at the breakfast.
Transportation was the focus at another league event held Wednesday, Feb. 11. Joseph F. Marie, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, will speak on the topic, “Trains, Planes and Automobiles: Transportation’s Critical Role in Darien.”
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Darien Events
For the second year in a row, Ring’s End Lumber will be the lead sponsor of the eighth annual Opus for Person-to-Person “Big Rig Gig,” which will be held Sunday, Oct. 3.
In addition, Kelly Associates Real Estate, which has supported the event since its inception, will return as key sponsor.
Ring’s End Lumber will judge the “Big Rig Gig” coloring contest. The form will be included as an insert in Thursday's issue of The Darien Times.Darien Town Links
A Better Chance: abcdarien.com
American Red Cross: dsredcross.org
Calvary Baptist Church of Darien: calvarybaptist.darien.org
Center for Hope: centerforhope.org
Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut: childguidancect.org
Children’s Council of Darien: ccd.darien.org
Community Fund of Darien: communityfunddarien.org
Darien Advocates for Education of the Gifted: daeg.org
Darien Antiques Show: darienantiquesshow.org
Darien Arts Center: arts.darien.org
Darien Boat Club: darienboatclub.org
Darien Book Aid: dba.darien.org
Darien Community Association: dca.darien.org
Darien Community Information Network: darien.org
Darien Continuing Education: dariencontinuinged.com
Darien EMS Post 53: post53.org
Darien Environmental Group: darienenvironmentalgroup.org
Darien Fathers’ Forum: fathersforum.darien.org
Darien Fire Department: darienfire.org
Darien High School Girls Swim Team: girlswim.darien.org
Darien Historical Society: historical.darien.org
Darien Junior Sailing Team: sail.darien.org
Darien Land Trust: darienlandtrust.org
Darien Library: darienlibrary.org
Darien Lions Club: darienctlions.org
Darien Little League: dybs.org
Darien Nature Center: dariennaturecenter.org
Darien Players: players.darien.org
Darien Post 6933 Veterans of Foreign Wars: angelfire.com/ct3/darienvfw
Darien Power Squadron: dps.darien.org
Darien Professionals Networking Group: darienprofessionals.com
Darien Public Schools: darienps.org
Darien Republican Town Committee: darienrtc.com
Darien Revitalization Initiative: darienmainstreet.org
Darien Sail & Power Squadron: dps.darien.org
Darien Senior Activities Center: dsac.darien.org
Darien Soccer Association: leagueathletics.com
Darien Technology & Community Foundation: darientechnologyfoundation.org
Darien Times: darientimes.com
Darien United Methodist Church: umcdarien.org
Darien Winter Club: darienwinterclub.org
Darien YMCA: darien-ymca.org
Darien Youth Baseball & Softball: dybs.org
Darien Youth Hockey Association: dyha.com
Darien Youth Lacrosse Association: dylax.com
Democratic Town Committee: dtc.darien.org
Depot, The: dariendepot.org
Fairfield County Football League: fairfieldcountyfootball.org
Family Centers: familycenters.org
First Church of Christ, Scientist: christiansciencect.org/darien
First Congregational Church of Darien: uccdarien.org
Friendly Connections: familycenters.org
ITP Foundation of Darien: itpfoundation.org
Kiwanis Club of Darien: darienkiwanis.org
League of Women Voters of Darien: lwv.darien.org
Middlesex Club: middlesexclub.org
Middlesex Genealogical Society: mgs.darien.org
New Life Christian Fellowship: nlcf.ws
Noroton Presbyterian Church: norotonchurch.org
Noroton Fire Department: norotonfd.org
Noroton Heights Fire Department: nhfd.us
Noroton Yacht Club: norotonyc.org
Obie Harrington-Howes Foundation: ohhf.org
Pear Tree Point School: ptpschool.org
Person-to-Person: p2p.darien.org
Republican Club of Darien: republicanclub.darien.org
Republican Town Committee: darienrtc.com
Rotary Club of Darien: rotary.darien.org
Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church: saintlukesdarien.org
Saint John’s R.C. Church: stjohndarien.com
Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church: stpaulsdarien.org
Saint Thomas More Church: stmdarienct.org
Senior Men’s Association: sma.darien.org
Talmadge Hill Community Church: thcchurch.org
Town of Darien: darienct.gov
YMCA Piranha Swim Team: piranhaswimming.org
Young Life of Darien/Rowayton: darien.younglife.org
YWCA of Darien-Norwalk: ywcadariennorwalk.org
Other Web Sites of Interest:
Connecticut General Assembly: cga.ct.gov
Connecticut State Government: ct.gov
Connecticut Rail Commuter Council: trainweb.org/ct/
Domestic Violence Crisis Center: dvccct.org
Fairfield County Chorale: fairfieldcountychorale.org
Friends of Autistic People: autisticadults.com
Jewish Family Service: ctjfs.org
Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk: jlsn.org
Family & Children’s Agency: familyandchildrensagency.org
Infoline: 211.org or infoline.org
Liberation Programs: liberationprograms.org
Norwalk Hospital: norwalkhosp.org
Norwalk River Rowing Association: norwalkrowing.org
Nursing & Home Care: visitingnurse.net
Pegasus Therapeutic Riding: pegasustr.org
Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE): scorenorwalk.org
Sexual Assault Crisis Center: sacec-ct.org
Stamford Hospital: stamhealth.org
Volunteer Center of Southwestern Fairfield County: ucanhelp.org
Norwalk Youth Symphony: norwalkyouthsymphony.org
U.S. Congressman Jim Himes: himes.house.gov
U.S. Senator Chris Dodd: dodd.senate.gov
U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman: lieberman.senate.gov
State Assemblywoman Terrie Wood: repterriewood.com
State Senator Andrew McDonald: senatedems.state.ct.us/McDonald
State Senator Robert Duff: senatedems.ct.gov/Duff
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