Kerry Wood

With the 2019 legislative session in the rear view mirror we are still busy working for our districts and residents across the state.

Governor Lamont recently signed our state's biennium budget, which does not impose a tax on social security and pension income.

I’m proud of the bipartisan work that went into crafting the budget, which is far from perfect. We had to make tough decisions during the budget negotiations. The preservation of this tax exemption is one of the budget’s significant highlights. We also successfully rejected Governor Lamont’s asset test for the Medicare Savings Program for low-income seniors.

In addition to signing the budget, Governor Lamont held the first state Bond Commission meeting, approving $2 million in repairs to the ferry slip areas at the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury commuter ferry on the Connecticut River.

This funding will be used to install new ferry slip dock pilings and wave screens to replace the existing broken or rotting pilings, which are nearly two-thirds of a century old. The pilings are used to guide the barges and diesel-powered tugboats toward the dock and its waiting passenger; the pilings also help prevent river debris (trees) from damaging the docks.

The ferry service between Rocky Hill and Glastonbury is America’s oldest continuously operating ferry, dating back to 1655 when small raft was pushed across the Connecticut River using long poles. At one time, a horse on a treadmill in the center of a boat supplied the power to propel the craft across the river. Today's ferry is an open flatboat named the "Hollister III"; this three-car barge is towed back and forth by the "Cumberland," a diesel powered towboat.

Motorists traveling between parts of south Glastonbury and Rocky Hill can cut nearly 8 miles (one-way) off their trip if they use the ferry.

I am grateful to work alongside colleagues like State Senator Matt Lesser to secure necessary funding for this important project as well as many others.

The state Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) in Rocky Hill also held the grand opening of its renovated C-Wing, an outpatient clinic at its residential facility that provides rehabilitation, educational services, and employment assistance, among others, to veterans.

This is a major milestone for the DVA and will allow it to provide more services to our veterans.

Touring the new C-Wing with Town Manager John Mehr and Mayor Joe Kochanek.

Listening to Commission Thomas Saadi explain the new wing.