Sen. Tony Hwang serves food at a local shelter during the Holiday Season

Republican State Sen. Tony Hwang says he’s ready to get to work — even if Connecticut’s towering $1.7 billion deficit will lead to “some hard decisions” during the newly begun legislative session.

“We didn’t get into this trouble overnight, and we’re not going to solve it overnight,” said the 54-year-old senator, whose district includes parts of Fairfield, Westport, Weston, Easton and Newtown. “But our time is running out to fix it.”

The Fairfield resident also opined that money should be spent on modernizing the DMV. “It’s all a part of addressing how we can create a better, more efficient delivery of government services,” Hwang said. “I hope we (the legislature) can take a pragmatic and cautious approach” to that and other issues.Hwang, re-elected in November to his second term in the state Senate after three terms in the state House, maintains a fairly moderate position when it comes to most topics. While state Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano and House Minority Leader Themis Klarides have rejected — sometimes vehemently — the idea of bringing electronic tolls to the state’s highways, Hwang, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee, said, “I’m open to every discussion. I’m not a pure ‘no’ on something like that.”

Although he’s personally against gambling, Hwang declared that he accepts the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of legalized sports gambling being allowed in every state.

Hwang wants to push through legislation that would create a state cybersecurity czar who would report to the Connecticut Department of Public Safety. “That person would be responsible for working with Homeland Security, helping corporations and other businesses fight against espionage and attacks on customer databases, and educating the public about the risks they may not even know they’re facing.”

Hwang said that even though he’s rarely without his laptop or mobile device, he remains concerned that device makers like T-Mobile and Verizon, as well as platforms like Facebook, “continue to use our data in an invasive manner.”

He declined to say if he had anyone in mind for the czar position but said he “has confidence” that Gov. Ned Lamont understands the situation.

Hwang is the minority leader on the Housing and Higher Education & Employment committees. Of the former, he said he wants to address the shortage of affordable housing throughout the state as well as “the incredibly high cost of housing in southwest Connecticut. I hope we can talk about housing solutions that can be a catalyst for reinvigorating not just our urban but also our suburban centers to attract more and more young people to our area.”

As for education, Hwang said he hoped the state would renew its efforts to promote not only the University of Connecticut and other state schools, as well as private institutions like Yale and Trinity College, “but our vocational and technical schools as well. Those need a new, fresh look. There is an ongoing need for delivering a population that is not always interested in a four-year school, who can learn a trade alongside a craftsman. The skills we need are not always acquired in the towers of higher education.”

Hwang said he was confident that he and his fellow Republicans can find common ground with Lamont.

“I’ve met him a few times and he’s always been a gentleman,” he said. “He’s a genuinely likable person and truly seems to be taking a collaborative approach. I’m encouraged. I want him to succeed, just like I want the legislature to succeed and our businesses and constituents to succeed.”

State Sen. Tony Hwang: Legislature must deal with ‘hard decisions’ this year

Bipartisan Bioscience Caucus, BioCT Leaders at their January 30th Joint Press Conference. From left to right: Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-136), Rep. Robin Comey (D-102), Senator Tony Hwang (R-28), BioCT President & CEO Dawn Hocevar, CBIA Bioscience Growth Council Exec. Director Paul Pescatello, Senator Christine Cohen (D-12), Dr. Mark Adams of Jackson Labs, Rep. Bill Petit (R-22).

HARTFORD – Yesterday January 30th, the co-Chairs of the Legislature’s Bioscience Caucus met with their main industry counterpart, BioCT, to discuss the strategic plan developed since the last legislative session, and announce specific goals for the coming session. Alongside co-Chairs State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28), State Senator Christine Cohen (D-12), State Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107), and Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-136) was BioCT President & CEO Dawn Hocevar and Dr. Mark Adams, Director of Microbial Genomic Services at Jackson Labs.

The Bioscience caucus is a group of legislators committed to working with industry partners to create smart policies that encourage growth in one of Connecticut’s strongest business sectors. With some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare, insurance and genomics companies, and several prestigious Colleges and Universities, Connecticut is poised to be a leader in one of the most forward-thinking industries. The Bioscience Caucus is dedicated to ensuring Connecticut takes hold of that opportunity to foster continued innovation and economic growth in the state.

The Strategic plan includes five key areas that would make Connecticut the ideal partner for new businesses in the bioscience sector. These include (1) Marketing and Branding, (2) Business Development & Recruitment, (3) Attracting Investment Capital, (4) Infrastructure Improvements, and (5) Workforce Development. Details for each of these key areas can be found in the attached Executive Summary of the CT Bioscience Strategic Plan.

“Bioscience is a critical element to the growth of our economy and for creating important new businesses and well-paying jobs. I am proud to be supporting businesses that enhance the quality of our health and lifestyle. At its core, that is what we are trying to do here in the bipartisan Bioscience Caucus,” said Senator Hwang. “When I look at our State, I see incredible potential in this sector and all we need to do is take hold of this opportunity to create policies that encourage and foster growth in this industry.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the leadership team of the Bioscience Caucus as co-chair,” said Senator Cohen. “This is a fast-growing segment worldwide and Connecticut has seen a tremendous amount of expansion in the bioscience arena. These life-saving innovations are stimulating job growth and breakthrough technologies. I look forward to fostering ideas and legislation that will allow this business community to prosper and ultimately allow Connecticut to thrive.”

“I look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee to champion important initiatives at the state level to assist bioscience companies, like Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, right in my local community,” said Rep. Harding. “Investing in bioscience is investing not only in our economy, but in the health and protection of our constituents, environment and animals.”

“The bioscience industry is on the cusp of changing the world of healthcare and Connecticut is poised to play a significant role in advancing life-saving innovation.” said Rep. Steinberg. “The Bioscience Caucus is committed to fostering the environment for sustained growth of this sector. We can improve the health of our citizens while we create good-paying jobs and lift our economy. I look forward to continuing our dialogue with Academia and Industry on how best to further this agenda.”

“I believe that in order for Connecticut to continue on the road to economic recovery that Biotech and Bioscience need to be part of the solution,” said Rep. Petit, a returning member of the Bioscience Caucus. Connecticut is extremely blessed to not only have magnificent research universities and companies, but a highly trained pool of workers who are ready to compete for those careers. As a state, we need to support development in this area for economic growth in addition to the scientific advances that can be made as a result and we should start by changing or eliminating some of the corporate and business taxes that put us at a disadvantage to border states we are competing against.”

BioCT is the bioscience industry voice for the state of Connecticut, and is dedicated to growing the vibrant bioscience ecosystem in Connecticut by supporting innovation, collaboration, networking, education, talent engagement and advocacy.  They bring together companies, institutions, entrepreneurs, investors, government, service providers, and others, to create a thriving community to improve patients’ lives and public health.

“Key stakeholders from government, academia and industry are collaborating to build upon the bioscience strategic plan to ensure the growth and success of this industry in Connecticut,” said Hocevar. “This growth will increase jobs, recruitment, talent, infrastructure, venture and resources to ultimately improve the health of our residents and save lives. I’d like to thank the leaders of this caucus for their advocacy, along with the many other public officials and stakeholders who recognize the importance of fostering growth in this sector in Connecticut,”

“At The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), our team is making key breakthroughs in the areas of cancer, the human microbiome, systems genetics, and genome-based medicine,” said Mark Adams, Ph.D., professor and director, microbial genomic services at JAX.  “We’re very proud of our scientific collaborations with academic, business, and life science organizations in Connecticut and beyond, many of which have produced multidisciplinary research grants, bringing significant federal investment to the state, and also tremendous hope to people around the world who are affected by diseases like breast and ovarian cancer, heart disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, to name a few. With the support of the Bioscience Caucus and many others, we look forward to our continuing to make important discoveries in Connecticut that impact human health on a local and global scale.”

Paul Pescatello, Executive Director at CBIA Bioscience Growth Council, remarked, “Rarely have the interests of the business community generally and the biopharma sector been so aligned. We look forward to working with the General Assembly Bioscience Caucus to build a more stable long-term fiscal outlook for Connecticut, create transportation infrastructure and enhance incentives to encourage more bioscience research and development in this state.”

Senator Hwang is the co-Chair of the bipartisan Bioscience caucus, which is a group of legislators committed to working with industry partners to create smart policies that encourage growth in one of Connecticut’s strongest business sectors. With some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare, insurance and genomics companies, and several prestigious Colleges and Universities, Connecticut is poised to be a leader in one of the most forward-thinking industries. The Bioscience Caucus is dedicated to ensuring Connecticut takes hold of that opportunity to foster continued innovation and economic growth in the state.