Gilbert Poly-Sci Students Get Budget Briefing

WINSTED — Rep. John Rigby stopped by The Gilbert School this morning to chat with a classroom full of political science students. The teenagers invited Rigby to the school to discuss the state budget. Finance Committee member Rigby, of Colebrook, started by explaining the process used to build state’s biennial spending plan. From there, Rigby talked about this fiscal year’s projected deficit — now at roughly $460 million. In turn, the students described their efforts to organize local debates ahead of the town’s last municipal election. One teenager asked what politicians were doing to make life better for young people — specifically, what can elected officials do to keep young people in the state? Rigby talked a bit about his concerns on that subject — a high number of 18 to 34-year-olds bolt every year — and told the students about a proposal Republicans crafted that would have a percentage of the income tax young people pay go into savings accounts they could later tap for down payments on homes.