Chris Poulos

This week, the Drive In Community Pavilion was renamed the Joseph J. Laporte Community Pavilion, in admiration of Mr. LaPorte’s enduring impact on our town. His unwavering commitment to youth sports, town parks, and civic engagement has left an indelible mark on the fabric of our community well deserving of this recognition.

This week, I was pleased to welcome State Rep. Jane Garibay, House Chair of the Aging Committee, to the Calendar House where we presented a check for $99,700 to a group of seniors and Southington’s Director of Senior Services, David Lapreay.

This week, I stopped by Southington High School and made a surprise classroom visit during which I presented the Valedictorian, Salutatorian and Essayist with official state citations for their academic achievement. I was joined by Superintendent Steven Madancy, Principal Michael Crocco, Board of Education Chair Colleen Clark, and other school administrators and staff. I was honored and proud to recognize Southington’s top trio for their academic and community accomplishments.

It was an incredible privilege this week to recognize retired Deputy Chief Bill Palmieri as Southington UNICO’s 2024 Gold Medal Award winner.

The 2024 legislative session proved that bipartisanship and fiscal responsibility are at the core of the Connecticut General Assembly, and as your State Representative, I am proud of the role that I played in crafting sensible laws for our state. My priority this session was simple: Address the needs of the average Connecticut resident. Responding to the concerns of seniors was paramount, and we proudly passed legislation to improve their quality of life. We continued historic levels of funding for public education, expanded incentives for small businesses and job growth, addressed public safety concerns, and provided long overdue benefits for our Veterans

Veterans put their lives on the line for our country. This is a small way to say, “thank you for your service.” HB 5491 establishes a property tax exemption for veterans who have a service-connected permanent and total disability rating as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

This week, I had the opportunity to welcome some of my students from Joel Barlow High School in Redding to the State Capitol.

This week we had an excellent turn out for my Veteran’s Coffee Hour and Legislative Q & A at the Calendar House. It was a privilege to partner with the Southington Veterans Committee and Connecticut Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) to offer our residents an update on the legislation impacting Veterans and the share information about the state resources and benefits available to those who have served.