I Gotta Testify
CT, CT-Gov, Jodi Rell, Tunxis CC, Video Posts 6 Comments »Update: I just received disappointing news from CT-N:
Thanks for your inquiry. Unfortunately, CT-N was not able to cover the Appropriations committee on 2/21. During the height of the legislative session, we frequently are faced with more events on any one day than we have the crew or resources to cover. Since we had just covered an Appropriations hearing on 2/16, we turned our attention on Wednesday to hearings of other committees that had not been covered as recently.
So…there will be no video of Spazeboy at the L.O.B. Sorry y’all.
So last night was my first experience testifying before a legislative committee. The Appropriations Committee held a public hearing last night on Governor Rell’s Higher Education Budget Recommendations, and I went with seven other Tunxis students to speak in favor of the CAPCS grants and additional funding for full-time faculty.
Here’s an excerpt from my written/spoken testimony:
I am delighted that Governor Rell has recommended a 12.8 million dollar increase in funds for the CAPCS program. As a recipient of CAPCS grants, I fully support this increase in funding. If not for the CAPCS grants, I might not be speaking in this room today. Not because the grants gave me the power of speech, but because they made it possible for me to switch from full time worker to full time student. They made it possible for me to focus on getting ahead instead of getting by. I know that the people of the great state of Connecticut have invested in me, and I intend for them to realize a return on that investment.
Of the eight of us from Tunxis who attended the hearing, three of us had signed up to testify. Rasheed, who is Vice President of the Tunxis Student Government, spoke eloquently (but nervously!) on behalf of Tunxis. Tinisha gave what was probably the most impassioned testimony of the evening, rousing all of the sleepy legislators.
When CT-N airs the hearing, I hope to post video of the “Tunxis Three” testimony.
Lastly, State Rep. Tim O’Brien has a report on my testimony from last night at his new blog:
Finally, the Appropriations Committee, which I am not a member of, has been holding hearings on Gov. Rell’s proposed budget. The public portions of the hearings are held in the evenings, and today’s hearing included funding for the state’s public colleges and universities. I mention this because a New Britain resident, known for his blog “spazeboy”, testified in support of funding for community colleges. He is a student at Tunxis Community College. He was very articulate and raised good points.




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