The one-week event eliminates Connecticut’s 6 percent sales tax on all clothing and footwear costing less than $300 per item from the third Sunday in August through the following Saturday. The increased exemption replaces the standard $50 exemption for clothing and footwear.

Since sales tax is calculated after the use of any coupons or discounts, if the final price is less than $300, the sale is exempt from taxes. Clothing or footwear under $300 either rented or put on layaway is also tax-free.  Purchases totaling more than $300 will have sales tax calculated on the full cost.

Rep. Tony D’Amelio and Sen. Rob Kane (R-32) welcomed Connecticut’s “American Idol” contestant Katie Stevens of Middlebury and her parents Mark and Clara Stevens to the Capitol Tuesday.    Governor M. Jodi Rell proclaimed Tuesday May 4, 2010 as “Katie Stevens day” in honor for the Pomperaug High School senior who was a contestant on this year’s season of the show.

“Katie has definitely made a positive  impact on the state,” Rep. D’Amelio said.  “I’m certainly not alone in saying I can’t wait until she’s back performing in the state with the upcoming Idol tour.  It’s a safe bet there will be a huge caravan of vehicles from Middlebury those nights.”

To watch a video of Stevens being introduced in the Hall of the House click here.

Please click this link to read my Common Sense Commitment to Connecticut.

To view a flyer for this event click here.

 It hasn’t taken long for the budget that the majority passed in October to fall apart entirely.  Since it was based on borrowing an unprecedented $1 billion, one-time gimmicks, increased taxes on people and businesses, depleted our Rainy Day Fund and increased spending, it was bound to happen.  That is why I voted against this measure.

Just before Christmas the legislature reconvened to address the growing deficit which State Comptroller Nancy Wyman has estimated to be at $513.3 million.  The majority demonstrated more of the poor accounting that got us where we are today.  They offered a package that could only find $12 million in cuts to state government and its bloated bureaucracy, underfunded state employee pensions and increases taxes and fees yet again.  In other words, the majority didn’t want to make any tough choices.  Instead, they intended to pass the burden on to the people of Connecticut who are already struggling in this economy.

Governor Rell vetoed this package which would have dug our hole even deeper.  In her veto message she noted that the spending of the legislature has far exceeded the ability of the people of the state to pay the tab.

One unfortunate result of the mismanagement of this crisis in the legislature is that Moody’s Investment Services and Fitch Ratings have revised their outlook on Connecticut’s general obligation bonds from “stable” to “negative.”  The Treasurer’s office states that this lower rating could cost Connecticut an additional $80 million per year.

House and Senate Republicans offered an alternative plan last year which preserved aid to towns and cities, preserved essential services, and placed the state budget back in balance without increasing taxes.  The majority weren’t interested in the types of common sense solutions.  They believe you aren’t paying enough taxes already.

Our high deficit is proof that the majority’s policies, or lack thereof, just aren’t working.  The people of this state are tightening their belts while they face layoffs, foreclosures and a tough time making ends meet.  The people of this state have to live within their means and state government must as well.  It is my hope that Democrats will make a greater effort to work with Republicans in the legislature and Governor Rell to find some common solutions to this crisis.  Business as usual won’t cut it any longer.

State Representative Tony D’Amelio and House Republicans once again offered real savings to eliminate the state’s $466 million deficit by real spending cuts this evening after Democrats, for the fifth time in 13 months, once again avoided dealing with Connecticut’s flowing red ink and instead opted for more tax hikes and borrowing for operating expenses.

The alternative Republican deficit mitigation plan has no tax hikes and eliminated the entire deficit built into the Democratic budget just two months after it was passed with no Republican votes. The Democrat’s plan included a $77 million tax hike to settle estates and a one-time state employee pension fund grab for another $100 million. Overall, the Democrats reduced spending by just $12 million with $5 million of that coming from the fund that underwrites political campaigns.

“Here we are in another special session, and it doesn’t look like the majority party has learned anything from the last four times we did this,” said Rep. D’Amelio. “Eventually they will have to come to terms with the fact that we can’t borrow anymore, we can’t tax anymore, and we can’t procrastinate anymore. There needs to be a fundamental change in the way we do business and that starts with making difficult choices and reducing spending.”

Republicans restored critical funding for endangered programs such as the Licensed Professional Nurse courses at community colleges and eliminated the Citizens Election Fund altogether. Cafero said the Republican plan to reduce spending in most state accounts by 7.8 percent was the best approach because most critical programs were retained.

D’Amelio noted that the majority has just raised taxes by $1.5 billion and borrowed billions more to pay for operating costs. “Now they have voted to borrow more for operating costs from the state employee pension fund while taking another $77 million from estates,” D’Amelio said said. “The only way to properly address this deficit is to make cuts.”

Given the fact that Connecticut’s hostility to businesses large, small and in-between is being replicated on the national level by the Democrat-dominated Congress and the Obama Administration, it probably will take more than two years before our state’s economy even remotely resembles pre-recession levels.

If I sound pessimistic about Connecticut’s economic future, it is because the state legislature’s super-majority Democrats currently have the votes to do pretty much what they please – and that usually means ramming massive new spending programs through the General Assembly, imposing crippling new tax hikes to pay for their excesses, and overriding Governor Rell’s vetoes of measures that are unaffordable during normal economic times and totally unsustainable during a major recession.

On July 20th, Democrat legislators overrode several of her vetoes, locking in even more spending.

Currently, the state legislature’s non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis estimates the deficit at about $8.5 billion over two years, most of which relates directly to the majority Democrats’ addiction to lavish government spending programs.

The additional spending included in most of the bills Governor Rell vetoed that became law after the override votes will mean even higher deficits in the near future and almost certainly lead to another round of tax hikes.

It is a vicious cycle that will mean prolonged economic stagnation and joblessness in Connecticut long after low-tax states in the south and southwest have recovered from the recession and are creating jobs.

While my Republican colleagues and I have drafted another ‘No Tax Increase’ budget that keeps funding for municipalities and local school districts at current levels and does not cut funding provided to cities and towns from Indian casino revenues, the majority Democrats’ most recent budget plan would increase taxes by $1.8 billion, including a 15 percent increase in the surcharge on corporate profits.

Their budget plan would underscore Connecticut’s reputation as one of the least business-friendly states in the country (Expansion Management Magazine has rated the Connecticut General Assembly as the nation’s ‘Least Business-Friendly Legislature’).

Over the past two years, 26,000 Connecticut businesses have shut down, and, since January 2009, a record 7,000 Connecticut businesses have closed their doors, according to the Secretary of the State’s Office.

Over the same two years, Connecticut sustained a net loss of 53,000 jobs. The state’s unemployment rate currently stands at 8 percent and is likely to go higher in the months ahead. By the time the recession ends, Connecticut is projected to lose between 78,000 and 110,000 jobs, according to the University of Connecticut Quarterly Review.

Connecticut has been dead last in job creation since 1991; and since 1990, taxes and spending have grown at triple the rate of inflation, according to the Tax Foundation.

As businesses in Connecticut have closed over the years, jobs have dried up and the state’s population has declined precipitously. A greater percentage of young people have left Connecticut than any other state, and from 2006 to 2007, we lost almost 43,000 taxpayers to other states, taking with them over $3.2 billion in income.

After the last census, Connecticut’s population had eroded to the point that we were one of only a few states to lose a Congressional seat.

Will we lose another one after the 2010 census?

If the majority Democrats’ budget plan or something like it is adopted in the days or weeks ahead, and job-killing tax increases take effect, no one should be surprised to see the unemployment rate hit double digits and thousands more abandoning Connecticut for good.

At that point, losing another Congressional seat may be among the least of our worries.

“Other questions on my survey include abolishing the death penalty, enacting a ‘three strikes’ law targeting repeat violent offenders, tax incentives to stimulate business growth and create jobs and eliminating the law that provides taxpayer dollars to fund election campaigns and using funds earmarked for the program to mitigate the deficit,” Rep. D’Amelio said.

“I’d like to invite every 71st District voter to respond to my survey,” Rep. D’Amelio said. “It only takes a minute or two and it will help guide my votes on the budget and other issues that will be coming up during the 2010 legislative session.”

Fedele, a former Stamford state representative, said Ciotto and Rep D’Amelio are “all about family and faith” and “embody all that’s good about being Italian.”

When Rep. D’Amelio was first elected to the state House of Representatives in a special election January 23, 1996, he “automatically bonded” with Fedele and other Italian-American legislators, including former state Representative Chris DePino, R-New Haven, House Republican leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, and John E. Piscopo, R-Thomaston, who helped familiarize him with House rules and procedures.

House Republican legislators “all feel like family,” Rep. D’Amelio said.

“I still can’t believe I’m here serving in this great place,” he said.