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October, 1998
NEW TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM TO BENEFIT GRADES 1-8
"As a result of my efforts, I am delighted to announce that the Rocky Hill Student Activity Fund is the recipient of a
$5,000 grant from Connecticut Innovations, a division of the Connecticut Department of Economic Development," said Representative Richard D. Tulisano, D-Rocky Hill.
Representative Tulisano secured the grant from Connecticut Innovations earlier this fall and the money is earmarked
toward the purchase of a computer/technology program to benefit all students in grades 1 to 8.
According to Connecticut Innovations, "This program directly enhances the learning of telecommunications as outlined and
recommended by the Rocky Hill Technology Committee."
Representative Tulisano added, "I am pleased any time I can contribute to the higher education of students. This grant will
go to far to assist these kids interested in telecommunications." |
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October 19, 1998
TULISANO CALLS FOR NEW WARNING LABELS ON AIR GUNS
State Representative Richard D. Tulisano, (D-29th district), Majority Whip, today called on retailers of air guns, BB guns
and similar items to warn purchasers in writing that the possession of such an item on school grounds, whether or not during school hours, will lead to one year's expulsion for students.
"If voluntary warnings do not work, I will seek mandatory legislation in the next session of the General Assembly,"
Tulisano said. "The current state of the law is a trap for the unwary, and has led to the actual or threatened expulsion of students who believed they were not breaking any law. Since many of the pseudo guns are not 'firearms', and are sold as legal devices which young people could possess without suffering any penalty, A becomes the trap which catches the unsuspecting student"
Tulisano said: "The school expulsion law authorizes expulsion from school for the possession on school grounds' of a
dangerous weapon. The latter could be almost anything, depending upon its use in the criminal law. Unfortunately, many school boards, rather than using the discretion given them and acting in a judicious manner, use the possession of any air gum BB gun and similar instruments as a reason to expel for one year. This is without regard to the facts of any individual case or the merits of expulsion with regard to any student who stands accused before the school board, in spite of the dear intent of the legislation."
Tulisano said he has asked the Office of Legislative Research to survey school boards to determine the kind of devices
otherwise legal to own and possess that they have determined in any circumstances to he a dangerous weapon for expulsion purposes in order that all students receive fair warning as to the ramifications of possessing the same, whether or not on school grounds. |
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October 16, 1998
TULISANO CALLS FOR STATE TAX CREDITS FOR DEPENDENT CARE
State Representative Richard D. Tulisano (D-29th district), House Majority Whip, today proposed that the state adopt "a
series of tax incentives for families who provide care to elderly parents at home, as well as provide at-home care for a disabled spouse or homebound child."
Tulisano, the veteran dean of the House of Representatives, said "such a plan could help reduce long-term care expenses
and strengthen families. " According to Tulisano, the National Conference of Legislatures said 13 states provide credits against state tax liability to people who provide elder care by piggybacking on the federal dependent care income tax credit.
"From time to time, our General Assembly has considered the possibility of enacting such legislation, but we have failed to
do so," Tulisano said. "If we truly believe, as I do, that government has either a positive or negative role in family stability, then we should be proactive and do whatever we can to enhance family responsibility. We should encourage people to be concerned for their own and should not be punished for exercising societal responsibility.
"I believe that by providing elder care incentives, not only do we enhance the quality of life of our senior citizens, but we
also strengthen families and reduce the very expensive long-term care expenses that are born by the taxpayers. These incentives may be offered through tax breaks to offset tax expenses, on behalf of the elderly person's behalf, as well as employers' sponsored incentives, non-financial in nature, such as flexible schedules," Tulisano said.
"As our population ages, we in government have a responsibility to investigate ways in which a quality of life for all of our
citizens may be improved," Tulisano said. |
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September, 1998
TULISANO ANNOUNCES TRAFFIC LIGHT INSTALLATION
AT DANGEROUS INTERSECTION
State Representative Richard D. Tulisano (D-Rocky Hill) announced today that the state Department of Transportation
will place a traffic light at a potentially dangerous intersection in Rocky Hill.
Rep. Tulisano was acting upon the request from a constituent to increase safety at the intersection of West Street at
Gilbert Avenue. The Rocky Hill resident said the "T-shaped" intersection is dangerous, particularly for those motorists exiting Gilbert Avenue to take a left onto West Street. Also, development has increased in the area over the past five years.
Tulisano requested a traffic signal study from the DOT, which found that a three-year accident study, from Oct. 17, 1994
to Oct. 16, 1997, revealed a total of eight accidents, including five rear-end accidents. A 24-hour traffic count also confirmed the intersection warranted a traffic signal.
"It's important that citizens know they can call their legislators to let us know about potentially dangerous traffic situations,
before a bad accident or tragedy occurs," Tulisano said. "The people who experience driving the roads are the ones who know best. The DOT won't automatically know about dangerous traffic patterns unless we let their engineers know."
The new signal will be installed in 1999.
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September 13, 1998
LIES ABOUT SEXUAL ACTIVITIES
AREN'T LIES ABOUT GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
Recently we have experienced a day-by-day badgering and a continued undermining of the ability to govern, as a result of
an almost obscene' fixation on what clearly is our president's obscene fixations.
In the law, there have been established rules known as legal fictions and, perhaps over the years, in the way we viewed
our president, we created a kind of legal fiction that enabled him to maintain moral leadership, which we also require of him.
No doubt about it, what has happened, and is happening, raises questions as to whether this incumbent will be able to
continue to lead and whether the presidency is already moribund as a result of the behavior of all involved.
The question is, are lies about ones sexual activities sufficient reason to overturn the popular election of the leader of the
strongest nation on Earth?
Is the furor created by what all admit are the activities surrounding an extramarital affair worthy of risking the ability of this
nation to lead or worth the risk of the damage it does to our economy?
I believe it is a well-established, but not often acknowledged, fact that lying about sex, and one's sexual activities, is not
uncommon among individuals, including elected officials.
Should we expect more from our president? Do we expect that he is not going to lie any less than any husband or wife
who was engaged in an improper relationship? The question is simple. Is this the appropriate basis to remove from office an individual who was elected?
Acknowledging the fact such activities may have influenced people not to elect him, the fact of the matter is that these legal
fictions which we have engaged in for over 200 years allowed us to make choices about leaders by judging their political activities, social policies, economic beliefs and commitment to democracy and freedom.
A person who rejects, as did Richard Nixon, the democratic process and abuses the office in order to subvert the
electoral process, his activities are now I equated with activities of private and personal inadequacies, which one may judge morally. But are they the same politically?
With good reason, it seems, and knowing the frailties of human nature, the unwritten rule until recently was that sexually
peccadilloes of our leaders were to be deemed not worthy of comment.
Rather, we were more concerned with their lies about government activities as they affected individuals, or activities which
tended to undermine the basic principles by which we govern ourselves.
My mother used to say when someone would gossip about the failure of someone else's child, don't- say anything about
someone else's personal behavior because it just may turn out to be yours!
Civility in public discourse should require us to judge ourselves in the same vain. That is not to say that if someone fails in
their public obligations and duties to the people, or uses government for self-gain, that they should not be subject to criticism and condemnation.
We ought to begin to distinguish the difference, or our whole electoral process is in jeopardy. Where do we go from
here? Is it almost too late for the current president?
America does not rule, and should not rule, by force of arms. We rule ourselves by faith and commitment. When the faith
has been jeopardized, when all activities are subject to questions, it may be time to move on.
For us, we must examine whether we will allow ourselves in the future to judge other leaders in the same manner. Perhaps
our fragile democracy will not be able to withstand this kind of scrutiny. |
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September 10, 1998
TULISANO CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATION
INTO ACTIONS BY HMOs
Saying "who's next?" Majority Whip. State Rep. Richard D. Tulisano, D-29, responded to a recent report that HMO's in
Eastern Connecticut are abandoning health plans for the elderly. The veteran legislator is calling for a full investigation by both the Insurance and Judiciary Committees of the General Assembly. A letter, sent by Rep. Tulisano, requests the Chairmen of both Committees to determine the reasons for the abandonment, whether or not such practices encourage companies to compete for the most lucrative markets, and to determine whether or not such actions are nothing more than well-planned discrimination against the elderly.
"Pretty soon, only the healthy will have health insurance," said Rep. Tulisano. "This same bait-and-switch scheme
happened a couple of years ago with automobile insurance. But because the law requires automobile insurance, we didn't deal with it. But now, it's time to respond --- we're not talking about a car, we are talking about people's well-being and their lives," he continued.
Tulisano, who has been a critic of many HMO practices in the past added, "We must be concerned with making sure our
citizens have access to affordable health care and an inquiry must be held. Insurance is a risk business and that risk must be spread among large numbers of individuals to make the insurance affordable. If the health insurance business is such that it no longer wishes to take the risk, or that plans are not large enough to make coverage available, then perhaps the State must intervene and develop practices which will ensure that companies who serve the general market don't discriminate against any sector of the population."
Rep. Tulisano continued, "I believe insurers have encouraged individuals to abandon traditional programs for 'low cost'
managed care plans. They manage the 'low cost' by not providing services and they put profit over people. Now, the companies have determined they have miscalculated the costs and risks involved in their plans and are engaged in forcing unsuspecting individuals into more expensive plans because they have already driven competitors out of the market. It's pretty clear that these companies, having abandoned traditional plans for HMO's, now want to correct their miscalculations on the backs of those least able to afford it." |
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July 24, 1998
TULISANO CALLS FOR ALCOHOL DETECTION DEVICES IN AUTOS
TO COMBAT DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED
State Representative Richard D. Tulisano (D-Rocky Hill) is calling for changes in Connecticut's laws penalizing those who
drive while intoxicated, including the installation of an alcohol detection device connected to ignitions in all vehicles.
Tulisano, Majority Whip in the state House of Representatives, said he believes current law focuses wrongly on long-term
license suspension.
"My singular observation is that long-term license suspension often leads to individuals driving without licenses, driving
under suspension and without insurance or other protection for third parties," Tulisano said. "We live in a state without adequate public transportation that requires automobiles for transportation, both for social activities and for employment.
"Individuals often will accept their punishment, but when they feel the penalty is so burdensome as to not fit their offense,
they tend to ignore responsibility particularly in cases when there is no victim," Tulisano said.
Many years ago, Tulisano suggested the installation of alcohol detection devices called the Guardian Interlock System,
and even went so far as to have one installed in his own car. The device requires the driver to blow into a handset that tests for alcohol on the operator's breath. If the operator passes the test, the car will start; if the operator fails the test, the car will not start.
"The interlock safety device is a way to ensure public safety, still mete out appropriate punishment, and have most obey
the law," Tulisano said. "Connecticut already has some of the toughest drunken driving laws in the nation, yet we still have people driving who should not be on the road. This may be the right time to take such a step."
Tulisano has written to the governor asking for his support of the proposal and the support of the governor's work group
studying DWI laws in Connecticut. |
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July 16, 1998
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
STATE REPRESENTATIVE RICHARD D. TULISANO
Mr. Chairman, Delegates:
I accept your nomination, and assure you that I will continue to dedicate myself to meeting and addressing the needs of
this District and State, and of the people who make this State their home.
Unlike many who have come to discount the importance of Government in their lives, I continue to believe that
government, and not the market place, does have a role in assuring each the opportunity to achieve their potential.
In this day, in order to achieve their potential, each of our children, wherever they live, and whatever their economic
condition, should, and must, be provided a quality education from preschool through college.
The economic well-being of our children and their future families, as well as the State and nation, requires that a
commitment must be made to provide that education as part of our public obligation.
Too often we hear today, questions as to need for providing remedial programs for those who have not achieved that
winch a bureaucratic system may have expected of them. The reasons for failure are as numerous as the adversities that have plagued our families: poverty, divorce, violence, the condition that our children are required to grow in should not mean that they are necessarily stuck in that position without an opportunity to make over and achieve that winch many may have never expected them of achieving. They are our great resource.
I never forget that as a young man, who decided at the beginning of his senior year, that college was the right thing, I was
given the opportunity to attend the University of Connecticut and at a cost which I could afford. No one assumed a family would be required to bankrupt itself in order to provide its children the essential elements of education. Times have changed - our expectation of government must also change. I remember my W-2 for that year equaled the same amount as my tuition and books. I thank the people of the State of Connecticut who gave a young man from the north end of Hartford a chance to do what no one else in his family had ever done at that point. Not only finish high school, but then go on to college.
College wasn't easy. For whatever reason, my first year at the University required that I take a number of remedial
courses for I had not achieved what was expected of me while in High School, but I was given the chance.
Later on, working my way through college and being a young married man, I chose to go to Law School. Some thought
that it might be "too difficult". But I was given another chance. Again, the people of the State helped by subsidizing University education making it all possible. I ranked first in my class my first year. Sometime later on I received the distinguished Alumni award. All possible, because the system and the people did not give up on one of their own.
Have times changed? Have we given up on our children? Are we prepared to sacrifice in order to provide adequate
education for all? Are we prepared to give those who need assistance the help needed in order to help them achieve? I can't believe that we have become so selfish and so self-centered that we are giving up on the future.
There must be thousands of Richard Tulisanos out there today, who if given the opportunity, would not only make it, but
will help improve the quality of life for future generations.
Government has a role in insuring each and every one of us to receive quality medical care. I do not believe we should
leave it to the market to decide the medical assistance each of us obtain. Do you? In the recent past, we have seen the abuses perpetrated by managed care organizations who have put profit over people. As your State Representative, I have been involved in being a voice for our people in insuring that women be allowed direct access to their OB-GYN, without primary care physician approval.
I co-sponsored legislation which restricted drive through deliveries, as well as requiring proper in patient care for
mastectomy patients. I want to continue to be a voice that speaks out not only about our children, but our health care. As we wait for the Federal Government to insure patients are adequately protected, we in CT have, and must continue to provide those protections now. We must make sure that a patient's health is not compromised by managed care companies.
We must urge our Federal Legislators heed what Judges around the country have urged them to do, and to review
ERISA, which insulates insurance companies and health HMOs from legal attacks. Its purpose, to safeguard the interest of employees, has evolved as the Judges have said, "into a shield of immunity which thwarts the legitimate claims of the very people that it was designed to protect."
We must review our own legislation, and allow patients to sue plans for malpractice when they are denied needed health
care. We must prohibit health care organizations from requiring physicians to hold them harmless for their own bad decisions. We must protect against the practice of restricting a physicians' obligation to provide patients with medications they deem necessary to protect life and limb. We must label the practice of some health care providers of providing "incentives" of physicians to only use medications which they authorize, exactly what it is, kickbacks and payola. For anyone else, it would be a crime.
I ask for your support and confidence as I speak out on these issues, which I believe important to our quality of life. Just
as the old saying goes, No man is an island, none of us should stand alone against forces and organizations with whom we cannot stand up against alone. Our only hope as individuals is to bind ourselves together through a concerned government whose interest are society as a whole. |
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June 11, 1998
TULISANO ASKS THAT FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDS BE USED FOR I-91 SOUND
BARRIERS IN ROCKY HILL
In a letter dated June 10 to Commissioner James Sullivan, State Representative Richard D. Tulisano (D-Rocky Hill) has
asked the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to direct newly appropriated federal highway funds toward the construction of sound barriers on Interstate 91 in Rocky Hill.
"Given the generous highway spending bill that was recently approved in Washington, this seems the ideal time to focus
state infrastructure projects on sound barrier installation," said Rep. Tulisano. "We may not have this opportunity again for a long time."
With this infusion of funding, Tulisano urged state officials to once again consider the construction of sound barriers as a
department priority in areas where need for them has been previously identified. He added that sound barrier installation in Rocky Hill and other communities could be included as part of highway improvements that are ongoing throughout Connecticut.
On behalf of constituents who live along I-91, Tulisano has been lobbying the DOT for over ten years on this issue. He
said, "should sound barriers prove feasible, I think the residents of Rocky Hill have waited long enough. We should move along with the urgency that this project deserves." |