LWVCT Support HB 7306 Section 9 (d) AAC Government Administration
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GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE March 9, 2007 League of Women Voters of Connecticut Support for HB 7306 Section 9 (d) AAC Government Administration
The League of Women Voters of Connecticut, a state-wide organization of over 2,400 members encourages informed and active participation in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Our members frequently appear at the Capitol or the LOB for meetings with the Executive Branch or legislators, and to testify at public hearings. We believe that such public input is an important part of the government process. However, the parking situation the Capitol or the LOB makes it extremely difficult for the public to participate. Allow me to cite just a couple of examples, although there have been many more such instances :
To testify at the February 2 hearing of the Transportation Committee, I spent 35 minutes trying every available lot, public or private, to park my car. I was finally able to use the farthest lot serviced by the Capitol Shuttle, paying $8.00 and waited an additional twenty minutes for the shuttle to arrive. A colleague was told that to be able to testify at a 10AM public hearing, she needed to arrive before 8:30AM in order to get a parking space at the LOB garage. This represents a significant barrier to public input.
For several years, Representative McCluskey has been working with the League and the leadership to remedy the situation. Recently, Speaker Amann and Representative McCluskey were instrumental in making the parking lot at the corner of Capitol and Oak Street available to the public. We applaud their initiative and thank them; however, we are now being told that this arrangement will not continue and public parking will be banned from that lot soon.
While the League is a strong supporter of public transportation options for coming to the Capitol, these are not presently available. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Active participation of citizens is critical to our governmental process. We support HB 7306, section 9 (d), although we would prefer that the remedies proposed by that section be implemented during the current legislative session, to permit an early, if not immediate increase in the parking spaces available to the public. We hope the committee will act favorably on this section.
Thank you very much.
Jara N. Burnett LWVCT President |
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