House Republican Press Release

February 3, 2009

Press Office: 860-240-8700

REP. HOVEY APPOINTED TO LEADERSHIP ROLE ON LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES

On Monday, February 2, State Rep. DebraLee Hovey, (R-Monroe, Newtown) was appointed to two leadership positions on committees overseeing the state’s budget process. She will serve as Ranking Member (House Republican leader) of both the Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee and the Health and Hospitals Subcommittee. Both committees are subcommittees of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, on which Rep. Hovey also a member.

The Appropriations Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies. Other issues under the committee's jurisdiction include matters relating to state employees' salaries, benefits and retirement, teachers' retirement and veterans' pensions and collective bargaining agreements and arbitration awards for all state employees.

Rep. Hovey served as Ranking Member of the Legislature’s Education Committee during the 2007-2008 sessions. She noted the state’s ongoing fiscal crisis makes the work of the Appropriations Committee and its subcommittees especially challenging.

“When we are looking at education savings in state government, we must recognize the need to maintain our support for municipalities,” said Rep. Hovey. “One much-needed way to give relief to our local schools would be to remove unfunded mandates, such as the in-school suspension law. It’s crucial to retain as much local control as possible for citizens. The state can hold local schools accountable for funding through such proven methods as the various test score data available.”