From the Courant:

“If you want people to participate, you can’t bar the door and tell them to go away when they show up,” said Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, co-chairman of the legislature’s Elections Committee.

The bill under consideration would allow voters to visit the Registrars of Voters offices to register on Election Day, or else go to the polls to vote after showing proper identification. The same legislation limits use of the presidential ballots to recent Connecticut residents who were unable to register in time to vote for president.

Presidential ballots allow unregistered voters to vote in presidential elections.

The issue of same-day registration has been before the General Assembly for years. In 2003, lawmakers passed a bill, but then-Gov. John G. Rowland vetoed it, saying there were not enough protections in the system to prevent fraud.

Same day registration makes sense. Legislation should try and make it easier for someone who is eligible to vote, to vote. The registration process is somewhat archaic.

In other news, State Comptroller Nancy Wyman announced that Connecticut is projected to have a $560 million dollar surplus, about $18 million more than previous estimates. From The Courant: :Wyman credited the surplus to higher-than-expected revenue from the tax that corporations pay on their profits. That tax is expected to bring in more than $800 million by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, or about $110 million more than original estimates.

Meanwhile House Minority Leader Larry Cafero announced bills to reduce the income tax paid by seniors in Connecticut. Again form the Courant:

One bill would phase out the personal income tax on pension and Social Security income for seniors 62 years and older. A second bill would expand a new property tax freeze program to more elderly people.

A third bill would provide a local property tax credit up to $750 for seniors 65 and older who do volunteer work. The credit would be based on the number of hours volunteered. The proposal is based on a program in Massachusetts.

Of these three bills, the property tax freeze is an important one. Particularly for a senior that has been living in a home for a number of years. Too often, seniors move away from the Connecticut towns they’ve lived in for years because they can no longer afford to live there due to rising costs. There should be no reason to keep raising property taxes on their homes, when they are at a life stage of fixed income.

Source: The Courant, Newswires, March 3, 2007