Sen. Gillibrand pays tribute to Geri Shapiro's lifelong career in public service 

Judge orders Trump to reinstate probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies

Port Jervis School District to retire 'Raiders' name and logo

Grand jury report finds absentee ballots mishandled during 2023 Tuxedo Park elections

Town of Yorktown enacts new Tobacco Control Law

Hudson Valley residents concerned over impacts from federal cuts to health care programs

hudsonvalley

News 12 Staff

CTPP31B_2025-03-01-16-52-17

I'm Mark Suddall. Welcome back to Power and Politics. Connecticut Republican Party chair Ben Proto joins us now. Welcome. Thank you, Mark. It's good to be back in person for the first time, usually it's by Zoo. That's right. It's nice to finally have you here in person. Hey, what are the biggest issues right now that you see in the legislative session? I think there's a couple. Things Obviously the elec our electric rates are always gonna be top of the issue and now we have the whole Pura reassignment uh with the Marissa Gillette situation, you know, the Senate Republicans have asked that her nomination be put on hold. They have some more questions that they want to ask. I think that's a good thing. Um, you know, this is, I think, a really bad deal for the people of the state of Connecticut to create this quasi public agency to put 5 people there simply to put Marissa Gillette there. She's the primary reason why our electric rates are where they're at. Um, she's not a regulator, uh, and as a result, you know, we've seen problems, uh, on both from both Eversource and United Illuminating. Um, and unless and until the Democrats are willing to address the public benefits charge on our bill, our bills are never going down. What else with the session, uh, obviously the fiscal guard rails, uh, you know, the Republicans want to keep them where they are. Governor Lamont has indicated he might be willing to move them a little bit. The Democrat leadership in the House and the Senate want to really move them and and open up the floodgates for more spending and more taxation, um, and I think that's gonna be a big issue. Um, I think we're gonna see, uh, education become an issue we just saw with a special bill that just ran on, um, the special ed funding, uh, and Governor Lamont has indicated he's not particularly happy with how that was put together and I think he's torn between whether or not to veto or not because I think if he vetoes it, it will be overrated. Uh, and he will lose that veto, um, so I think he's being put between a rock and a hard place by his own people, um, and obviously I think once, you know, kind of outside the legislative session a little bit, but within it is the whole William Tong, uh, being the single most afflicted person in the country with Trump derangement syndrome. Donald Trump, excuse me, Donald Trump lives rent free on his head on a daily basis and as a result, you know, we've seen some legislation that has been moved to try to address issues that are never going to occur to fear monger into into the public as to what Donald Trump is doing, and I think that's being pushed by the Democratic leadership and the legislature as well. Now earlier in the show we had the head of the Democratic Party here in Connecticut, Roberto Alves. What do you think of him? Look, I, I've actually have never met Roberto. I know of Roberto, um, uh, you know, one of the things I said when he became chair, I was asked for a comment. I said, well, you know, between being the mayor of one of the largest cities in the state, being a candidate for reelection and being a the state chair, knowing how much I travel around the state. I wish Roberto great luck in trying to find time to sleep um and actually do his job as the mayor of Danbury so um uh you know I think you know the governor asked him to to take this job. I think there was a reason for that you know I think the governor is concerned about what he saw. On the 2024 election with really the cities moving away from the Democrat candidates, so I think he looked for a chair out of a city out of an urban city. O Roberto Hispanic, so I think he, you know, we saw the Hispanic vote moving towards Donald Trump and more Republican, so I think he's trying to figure out how to counter that. Um, I wish Roberto a lot of luck. Uh, I know how difficult this job is, um, and, uh, I think between trying to do all three of these jobs that he's got to do over the next 12 months, yeah, good luck finding time to sleep. Now arrests have been made, as you know, in the Bridgeport ballot fraud case. How do the Democrats move on from this black guy in Bridgeport? They don't, um, and at some point the Democrats in Hartford are going to have to admit that that this is an issue for them. Um, look, for the first time. In in my lifetime in politics we've always known this is going on. You now have a Democrat who has been indicted who has said I was just doing what I was ordered to do by the Democrat leadership um and so we're beginning to see uh the stuff flow up the the pole, not down the pole, and as a result um I am going to be uh sending a letter and I think the legislative leaders will also be sending a letter to Attorney General Bondi asking for the Department of Justice to open an investigation. Into election fraud and absentee ballot fraud not only in Bridgeport but across the state of Connecticut on the Democratic side because Mark when we look at all of the uh arrests and indictments that have been made over the last decade or so for election and absentee ballot fraud, every one of them has been a Democrat and not just in Bridgeport here in uh in Stanford, the former town chair was convicted. Not pled guilty, convicted on 14 counts of absentee ballot fraud. We've seen absentee ballot fraud convictions and guilty pleas in Hartford and New Haven, so it's not limited just to Bridgeport. Bridgeport people were just dumb enough to get caught on video doing it, and that really opened it up when we saw it and, and when if they're willing to do it to themselves in a primary. Democrats are willing to commit absentee ballot and election fraud against other Democrats. You know they will do it in a general election to win that election. So yeah, I think the Department of Justice needs to step in and open a full investigation into Connecticut's entire election system at this point. Now speaking of convictions, a convicted murderer, murderer, and cannibal, Tyrese Smith, recently released from prison. You are outraged by this. I think pretty much everybody in Connecticut is outraged by this other than maybe the members of the psychiatric review board who let him go because he somehow has been rehabilitated to the point where he is allowed to go to 168 towns in this state. He just can't come to Bridgeport, uh, because I, I don't know what Bridgeport does to him, um, but this was. Travesty, um, this is, I think, further indication of the Democrats' willingness in the legislation that they have passed over the last few years for early release programs, pardon programs, uh, that have really been coddling criminals, uh, at the expense of the law abiding citizens of Connecticut and putting our safety and our health at risk by putting these people back on the street. This is a man who's clearly. Mentally ill and should not be on the streets of the state of Connecticut or any other state in this country. Ben, I wish we had more time. It was always, uh, good to talk to you. You too, Mark. I appreciate being here. I look forward to coming back. All right, thank you. Thank you. Well, should we continue to change our clocks twice a year? That has some states on watch.

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CTPP31C_2025-03-01-16-57-58

Well, next week we set our clocks ahead one hour, but President Trump says he wants to do away with daylight saving time. It's not so easy. Connecticut lawmakers started the clock to keep daylight saving time permanently back in 2018. Connecticut is one of seven states that wants to do that. I certainly would like to have as much light during the course of the day as possible. If it stayed the way it is. I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Daylight saving time started as a wartime measure during World War One to conserve energy by adding extra daylight hours in the evening, reducing the need for artificial lighting. Polls have shown Americans prefer permanent daylight saving time. Supporters say it increases outdoor activity and saves energy. But some experts say the time changes twice a year interrupts people's sleep rhythms. State lawmakers say changes take time and are complicated. If we change it here but New York doesn't change it or Massachusetts doesn't change it or Rhode Island doesn't change it. And we have commuters who go in and out of the city all the time. It's gonna create a little bit of chaos. One viewer sent us this on X saying clock changes need to end but with permanent standard time instead. Congress would have the final say. Only time will tell. And only Arizona and Hawaii have done away with the time change, choosing to observe standard time year round. Well, that's all our time. I'm Mark Suddall. Thanks for watching.

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Roberto Alves and Ben Proto discuss their priorities with Mark Sudol. 

Power & Politics: 1:1 with Connecticut's Democratic, GOP party leaders

Roberto Alves and Ben Proto discuss their priorities with Mark Sudol.

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