HARTFORD — Rep. John Rigby has offered his support to legislation that would see the Department of Transportation make the repair of deteriorating railroad beds on state roads more of a priority.

Rigby, of Colebrook, recently offered testified in support of S.B. 344, An Act Concerning the Upgrade or Elimination of Hazardous Railroad Crossings at Grade.

The Transportation Committee bill was drafted at the request of railroad companies amid safety concerns. Committee members passed the proposal unanimously earlier this month.

Many railway crossings were not designed for the high-impact—heavy freight trucks, for example—and high volume traffic they see, Rigby said. New England winters have taken their toll, too.

“Railroad freight is an important component of our local economy,” said Rigby, a member of the legislature’s Finance Committee. “Northwest Corner companies depend on trains for shipping and receiving.”

Money is available for such repairs, Rigby said, but a host of other projects end up higher on the to-do list.

DOT has worked to compile a list of at-risk railway crossings, Rigby said. This bill simply provides guidelines for prioritizing and funding this initiative.

“Constituents often say that it’s the little things we do that make a big difference,” Rigby said. “This is just one small step to improve our infrastructure and maintain a healthy business environment.”

The majority-party budget approved Sept. 1 imposes a moratorium on school construction because it uses nearly $8 million in debt service for other pet projects, Rigby said, and cuts state aid to municipalities from the Pequot Fund by $48 million. The majority party rejected Republican proposals seven times since last November to lift or delay municipal mandates because of the state budget crisis.

“The budget they passed earlier this month has hidden costs for communities throughout the state that have already laid off firefighters, teachers, police and town hall employees,” Rigby said. “Over and over we heard rhetoric about protecting towns and cities, but the effects of the state budget are now a reality for these towns.”

Rigby and his colleagues introduced a five-point local mandate relief proposal that they will try to pass next week. The plan was developed in response to mayors and first selectmen and promoted by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, CCM. The proposals that will be offered next week include:

• Delaying implementation of the in-school suspension of students that will require millions to hire additional certified personnel and identify dedicated space;
• Delaying implementation of policies that raises the age of juvenile offenders from 17, a program that will cost towns and police department $95 million in personnel and constructions costs;
• Delaying the requirement that towns and cities post meeting agendas and minutes on the web;
• Requiring a two-thirds majority vote by the legislature to pass any more mandates;
• Adding “services’’ to the list of purchasing contracts that DAS can enter into for municipalities.

“Dairy farms are an irreplaceable part of our landscape and our culture and keeping family farms viable ensures that we retain the ability to produce fresh, local food. We cannot afford to lose them. Once they disappear so do the countless businesses and thousands of jobs the dairy industry supports,” Governor Rell said.

Under the new law, money for the aid will be generated by revenues raised from a $40 fee for recording municipal land documents.

“In this down economy, our dairy farmers had no safety net and were essentially in freefall. I commend the leadership of the General Assembly for their strong endorsement of this bill. The legislation had broad bipartisan support, a testament to the importance and urgency for finding a solution, much sooner rather than later,” Governor Rell said.

Connecticut currently has 151 dairy farms that use over 83,000 acres in cropland, of which 30,000 acres of that in preserved farmland. That is down from 500 farms in 1990 and 210 in 2007. During the first quarter of 2009, state dairy farmers received approximately $1.07 a gallon of milk produced, compared to $1.42 a gallon in 1998, a drop in price of nearly 25 percent.

According to the state Department of Agriculture, which will administer the quarterly payment program, Connecticut dairy farmers lose about $1 for every gallon of milk they produce. The amount of the payment would be based on how much milk each farm produces and the costs to produce it, such as feed, equipment, fertilizer and fuel. The state payment is intended to help the dairy farmer absorb some of the financial losses.

The first state aid check is expected to be issued in October. The state Agriculture Department is sending information packets to all dairy farms explaining the process and the payment schedule. State agriculture officials expect that all dairy farmers in the state will receive a payment. The program will sunset on July 1, 2011.

The legislation, Senate Bill 891, changes the grant formula for the Community Investment Account (CIA), which is funded by the recording fee. Under the former grant structure, the money was divided in four equal portions or 25 percent each to the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism (CCT) for heritage preservation, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) for affordable housing, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for municipal open space and the Department of Agriculture for agriculture viability grants and farmland preservation.

The new law allots 20 percent each to the CCT, CHFA and DEP and will use the remaining 40 percent for quarterly payments to dairy farmers to help them stay in business.

“The State of Connecticut is doing all we can for our dairy farmers, but real, lasting change is urgently needed at the federal level where prices are set,” Governor Rell said. “I have directed Commissioner of Agriculture to work with our neighboring states in the Northeast to help bring about that reform.”

According to a 2009 University of Connecticut economic analysis, the state dairy industry generates:

• As much as $1.1 billion in sales
• Approximately 4,200 jobs
• $145 million to $208 million in personal income

Related industries include feed suppliers, fertilizer and seed suppliers, veterinary services, equipment manufacturers and distributors, processing equipment, packing materials refrigeration, transportation and energy.

In 2008, Connecticut dairy farmers produced 351 million pounds of milk, of which 40 percent was consumed in the state.

For more information on the state’s dairy industry: www.ct.gov/doag

CANAAN—State Rep. John Rigby got a tour of Geer early Friday, when he spent a couple of hours going room-to-room to meet residents and staffers. Geer is an important part of this community, and the entire Northwest Corner. The company, is a family of five inter-related, non-profit, non-sectarian and community-owned corporation. It’s staffed by professionals whose mission is to console, treat, heal, strengthen, and refresh the bodies, hearts, minds and spirits of those whom we serve. In the next three years, Geer hopes to replace its existing 120-bed skilled care facility with a new 135-bed nursing and rehabilitation center, construct a new independent living residence on the pond and begin the development of independent living cottages on the plateau behind Geer Village. During his visit to the Geer campus Rigby listended to staff concerns about Medicare and Medicaid funding.