nothin Why She Voted No | New Haven Independent

Why She Voted No

Christopher Peak Photo

State Rep. Pat Dillon.

State Rep. Pat Dillon recently wrote the following message to her constituents to explain why she deemed possibly controversial” no votes on two environmental bills that passed in the recently concluded legislative session. (Click here and here to read news stories about those two bills, House Bill 5360 and Senate Bill 9.)

Friends and neighbors,

As I report to you on the work we did in Hartford this year, there were two Environment bills on which I voted no. This may be controversial, so you deserve an explanation.

Both bills were omnibus bills in the last days of session, composed of many bills packed together. Each required my judgment about the merits on balance.

House bill 5360 includes sections about education on climate change and others which I support. But these were outweighed by the public safety risks of section 505, which allows bow hunting anywhere in the state on private property, unsafe for dense urban areas like ours.

Stephen Singley Photo

Central Avenue deer.

The bill does not specify a limit to the lot size, nor requirement for training in use of bow and arrow, and no guidance on who would enforce a requirement that hunters secure the written permission of the property owner. So I voted no.

For example, if the bill is signed by the Governor, it will be legal for a resident of Alden Ave and nearby, and their visitors, to use a bow and arrow to hunt this deer from their property.
 
Senate bill 9, also a composite bill, includes important provisions on renewable energy, but it does so at the expense of solar energy. Our bill analysis states, Sunsets the state’s current net metering program for residential customers when the state’s residential solar investment program expires, and for all other customers, when PURA approves the procurement plan for the new zero-emission, low-emission, and shared clean energy programs.” 

Although I support several provisions in the bill, I support residential solar, and voted no.

Sincerely,

Patricia Dillon

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