Pat Widlitz Says Farewell to the Legislature

Longtime state Rep. Pat Widlitz, the co-chair of the powerful House Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, will be on the campaign trail this summer, she said yesterday — ​“but not for myself.”

Widlitz, a Democrat who represents the 98th Assembly District (Guilford and two sections of Branford), told the Eagle in an exclusive interview that she will not seek reelection this November. She will retire at the end of her current term on Dec. 31.

She has served 20 years as a state legislator. Before that she held local office as a Guilford selectwoman and as a member of the Board of Education. She turns 69 in July.

Widlitz, who started her career as a mathematics teacher, said she is at point in her life where this is the right thing for her do: ​“I am excited about it. I feel this is the next part of my life that is going to be just as good as the previous part, if not better.”

The town of Guilford is home to Widlitz and state Sen. Ed Meyer, (D‑12), who also represents Guilford and Branford, two of six towns in the 12th Senate District. Meyer recently announced his retirement at the end of his term after 10 years in the Senate. Click here to read about that.

During her 20 years in state office, Widlitz has focused on environmental issues, a natural decision, she said, because of the need to protect the Guilford and Branford shorelines. She fought and won a key battle in 2001 with Islander East, which proposed installing a natural gas pipeline across Long Island Sound to Branford or Guilford. She was also part of a coalition in 2007 to defeat the Broadwater LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) terminal in Long Island Sound.

Legislative Highlights

Looking back over her long career in Hartford, Widlitz said she is most proud of leading the debate in the House that brought Jackson Labs to Connecticut and negotiating long into the night on recycling bills that, as law, have make industries responsible for end-of-life decisions regarding televisions, computers, mattresses and paint disposal.

She also led the negotiations and the debate on the climate change act of 2004 and the climate solutions act of 2008, working closely with Gina McCarthy, then the head of state’s Department of Environmental Protection and now chief of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. ​“I had the privilege of working with her to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare for the impact of climate change.”

She and Rep. Lonnie Reed (D‑Branford) worked for three years to give towns and cities greater involvement in where cell towers are placed in a community. ​“We had to come up with a better way of doing things,” she said, adding, ​“municipalities needed to have input … and to use the latest technology that is the least intrusive.”

The governor signed the bill into law on a warm summer day in August 2012 in Stony Creek.

One of her pet projects involved helping to create and keep running the Amtrak shoreline trains, which former governor John Rowland wanted to close. Widlitz took up the charge and saved the shoreline railroad operation. She has been a major player in its continued expansion. 

Over the years she has fielded complex and difficult budgets, drawing colleagues from across the aisle to participate in the process, her colleagues said. She is deft, assertive and willing to fight for what she believes, even if her bill wound up on the other side of midnight, cast aside because time ran out. Her response? She once said on the Eagle’s BCTV program that her plan always included next year.

On The Campaign Trail for Other Candidates

“I intend to be very supportive of our local candidates, including Lonnie Reed, who is a star in the state legislature. I intend to help Lonnie in any way I can. I also want to be very supportive of Governor [Dannel P.] Malloy’s reelection. I think he is an outstanding leader, and he has a vision for the state of Connecticut to be economically prosperous.” She also said she plans to campaign for Ted Kennedy Jr. if he chooses, as expected, to run for Meyer’s state Senate seat.

Asked whom she might support for her seat, she said: ​“As I make this decision to retire at the end of my term, I am encouraging Sean Scanlon to run for this seat, knowing he would be a very capable state representative to serve the 98th District.”

Scanlon, 27, a Guilford native, is director of community affairs for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy. He has not yet announced his candidacy but is expected to shortly.

On the Republican side, Cindy Cartier, a Guilford attorney, has said she is thinking about making another run for state office. In the past she lost to both Meyer and Widlitz. A mother of three young children, one newly adopted, she said recently she is still thinking it over.

Reaction from Colleagues

Her statehouse colleagues offered words of praise for Widlitz upon learning of her pending retirement.

“Pat is among the most respected members of the General Assembly,” said House Speaker Brendan Sharkey. ​“Pat is among the most respected members of the General Assembly. She has a unique combination of intelligence and grace that has brought her the admiration of her peers. I can’t say how much I will miss her.”

Sen. John Fonfara, D‑Hartford, her co-chair of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, described Widlitz this way: ​“Her instincts are incredible. She has always listened and then advocated for her constituents, her colleagues, never for herself. She is patient and very respectful, but never confuse that with weakness. She is as tough as nails when she has to be. Never seeks attention but is incredibly effective. My one regret is not having but two years to work alongside her.”

Rep. Vincent Candelora, R‑North Branford, said in a statement: ​“Rep. Widlitz will be greatly missed in the General Assembly. I truly admire her for her dedication and devotion to public service, her district and the State of Connecticut. This is a tough year. We are losing too many good ones from both sides of the aisle.”

​“She is more than just smart, she’s wise,” said state Rep. Reed, who has worked side by side with Widlitz for six years. ​“Pat sees problems from every angle and is an incredible negotiator, keeping people at the table when tempers get hot. And working with her is such fun! We will always be friends and see one another, but this wonderful chapter is ending and I feel a real sense of loss.” 

What’s On Her Plate Now?

Until she retires at the end of December, Widlitz said, she will continue to seek to shepherd a number of major bills toward passage, including the Connecticut Aerospace Reinvestment Act. This bill was passed unanimously by her committee last week and now heads to the floor of the House and the Senate.

“My goal is to bring that across the line. It will be a huge economic benefit to the state,” she said. 

If the bill is approved, the United Technologies Corporation (UTC) has promised to invest $500 million to upgrade and expand its aerospace research, manufacturing and manufacturing facilities over the next five years. She said she is working with the governor’s office and with the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) along with the legislature to pass the bill in what she describes as ​“a complicated negotiation.”

“This will insure that Connecticut will remain at the center of UTC’s aerospace and development activities for years to come. During the same period UTC expects to invest up to $4 billion in the state plus the legislation does not require any borrowing or cash payments by the state. What it does allow is for UTC to use already earned tax credits toward its future corporate and sales tax, which is a huge benefit to the Connecticut economy. It will also grow well-paid skilled workers.

“This is the future of Connecticut. It establishes us as a manufacturing capital. UTC is also enhancing their global headquarters here.” She said hundreds of suppliers contract with UTC, including 18 companies in Branford.

Looking back, she said, as an interview with the Eagle approached the end, ​“sometimes the most rewarding accomplishments are those that affect your constituents.

“Early in my career, there was a Guilford student who was in the third grade at the time. He had been born with one leg, and he had learned to balance a two-wheeler but he couldn’t quite get up the hills of North Guilford when he went biking with his family and his siblings. His family wanted to get him a helper motor for his bicycle.

“But you needed to be 16 and have a driver’s license.” So this issue required legislation. “ I fought for him, and he and his classmates followed the process. He came to the Capitol to speak.

“I had to fight the Department of Motor Vehicles to have him get that motor on his bike. He passed a very difficult obstacle, course and he was ultimately given permission through the legislation to get one. Today that young man is a very successful attorney,” she said.

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