January 5, 2011
Q&A: STATE REP. JASON ROJAS
Manchester Patch
State Rep. Jason Rojas, a Democrat who represents portions of East Hartford, Manchester and Glastonbury, sat down with Manchester Patch for a frank discussion on some of the major issues the state legislature will be faced with in the coming session.
The following are excepts from a Jan. 4 interview with Jason Rojas, a Democratic Connecticut State Representative for the 9th District, which encompasses portions of East Hartford, Manchester and Glastonbury:
Manchester Patch: Jason, you're a 34-year old Democrat who is preparing to start his second two-year term in the Connecticut House of Representatives. What got you into politics at such as early age?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: For some reason as a kid I was always into reading newspapers. For whatever reason I'd read them cover-to-cover since I was probably 8 or 9 years old, and I remember somewhere around that time I said to myself, "I want to be mayor (of East Hartford, my hometown) some day." From then on, I went to middle school, I went to high school, and just started getting involved in all the clubs and all the councils.
It was something I just knew I wanted to do. I have this real affinity for my town…there was always just this commitment to community that I just always had in me for whatever reason, and I think it goes back again to my high school days, doing all the community service, running all the programs, being an ambassador to the community and to other high schools.
Manchester Patch: This is forecasted to be a very difficult budget year for the state of Connecticut. Are you at all worried about or do you have any reservations about serving in the legislature during such a difficult economic climate?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: It is what it is. I always look at political office as an opportunity, you take advantage of it and you take what comes with it, and for me it came with a really tough budget two years ago and I think this year will be a continuation of those same difficulties.
Manchester Patch: And how do you think the looming budget deficit, which is projected to be almost $3.6 billion in the coming fiscal year, is going to affect the average Connecticut resident?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: I think everybody is going to be impacted and has been impacted already by the budget for the last two years. Luckily, Gov. Malloy has been very, very honest about setting people's expectations for what's going to happen over the next two years, and I think we'll really see a lot of that come out in February when his budget is released.
The budget is going to impact all of us in a number of different ways, and that's not necessarily a negative thing. It's not entirely a positive thing either.
Manchester Patch: Well, what's your opinion on how to fill the budget deficit?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: It's a mixture of everything. The one thing that I think is different this year than two years ago is I don't think borrowing is really on the table at this point, so you're going to see a mix of spending cuts – very real spending cuts – and you are probably going to see an equal mixture of tax revenue increases as well.
Manchester Patch: And do you yourself support one or either of those measures?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: Not really. I think it's still too early, and it's so large that it's impossible for anybody to commit to anything right now. I think the best thing we can do as a legislature is go into this with an open mind, and that's both on the spending side and on the revenue side.
Manchester Patch: What would you say are the major issues that residents most care about or are most affected by are in the three communities in your district?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: When I walk around the neighborhood, it's depending on where you are in your life. For young families, they want to make sure that education is properly funded. If you're a senior citizen on a fixed income and your retired, you're worried about your property taxes going up every single year. And of course those two are linked, because education is primarily funded through property taxes, so it's balancing that that is the battle.
Manchester Patch: And your committee assignments, you were recently named vice chairman of the influential Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, and Education Committee and re-appointed to the Planning and Development Committee. Why did you seek those committee appointments?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: I think tax policy probably makes the world go round, so when we're talking about business, when we're talking about the individual person, tax policy really either encourages healthy business development or it discourages it.
And I think for a long time – or at least the record shows – that we haven't been very good at creating jobs here in Connecticut for the last 20 years, so we need to look at tax policy that allows us to raise revenue to provide services, but also doesn't discourage business owners from expanding and creating jobs.
Manchester Patch: And probably one of the most infamous campaign questions last November was "how do you create a job?" So, Jason, how do you create a job?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: It's funny, because I was just reading something that talked about the same question. How do you create a job? There has to be demand for certain products or services for a job to be created, and I think what we need to do is make sure that people are getting the work, so that they're making some money, and then they're going out there and spending. Everybody knows our economy is driven by consumer spending, so you want to create jobs because you get money in more people's pockets. I do believe that money in the hands of the average person is better spent than in the hands of government.
Manchester Patch: On the education front, funding through the $787-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is coming to an end this year, which helped plug a lot of holes in state and local budgets and education budgets over the past two years. When that money goes away, where is the money going to come from to fill those holes?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: It may not come at all. I think what's going to happen over the next few years is that towns and school boards are going to be forced to work together to provide services for less money, and I think we're already seeing that. Out in Norwich they're talking about working together to provide transportation.
Manchester Patch: If there were one thing you could say to your constituents or residents of your communities about the next two years, what would that be?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: I would say to them "keep an open mind." I think most of what's going to get reported in the news is probably things that are going to get them all fired up and are going to be presented in a way that's entirely negative. And we have our colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are going to take every opportunity to make sure that anything that we propose is not good, and that's simply the politics of it.
But I would say to keep an open mind, because there are going to be some huge changes, and change in any place - but particularly in a place like Connecticut – is difficult.
Manchester Patch: This is the first time since 1990 that a Democrat has sat in the Governor's office, and Democrats control both the House and the Senate. What do you think relations will be like with your Republican colleagues in the next two years? Do both parties need to work together to solve some of the problems currently facing Connecticut?
State Rep. Jason Rojas: There's always an opportunity (to work together), it's a matter of whether we take advantage of it. That's the big question: are we going to act like adults and work together, or are we going to allow the politics of things to get in the way of doing the job that we were elected to do? I think there is an opportunity (to work together), because Republicans and their districts are as impacted as mine are.
At the end of the day, the party doesn't matter to the average person at home. What they want us to do is just get the damn job done.