Robert Farr, State Representative from the 19th Assembly District, will speak to the Y's Men of Westport/Weston at their first weekly meeting of 2006 on Thursday, January 5th. His talk is titled "Technology in Government; Reforming Criminal Justice: Two Current Issues in Connecticut." The meeting begins at 10AM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East Representative Bob Farr is the Ranking Member of the General Assembly's powerful Judiciary Committee and is also a member of the Appropriations Committee. Throughout his legislative career, Representative Farr has held other positions within the House Republican caucus such as Assistant Majority Leader and Assistant Minority Leader. He also has served as Ranking Member of the General Assembly's Environment Committee and Appropriations Committee. Bob Farr was re-elected to his 12 th term as the 19 th Assembly District's state representative on November 5, 2002, pledging to continue to carry on his tradition of service to his Avon, Farmington and West Hartford constituents. The Connecticut Police Chiefs Association honored Representative Farr as its 2001 “Legislator of the Year” for his continued efforts to bolster public safety in Connecticut. He was cited for his involvement in every major public safety issue since he was elected in 1982, including devoting hundreds of hours to identifying and apprehending criminals with outstanding re-arrest warrants. During the 2002 legislative session, Representative Farr cosponsored a law establishing terrorism as a crime in Connecticut. The law also creates the crimes of contaminating a public water or food supply and damaging public transportation property for terrorist purposes. In addition, it defines fabricating weapons involving chemicals, disease organisms or radiation as terrorist crimes. Representative Farr has always worked for legislation to improve the quality of public education in Connecticut and to secure state funding for local school construction, addition and renovation projects. The 2002 school construction bill authorized funding for additions and other improvements to the Aiken School, the Wolcott School and the Sedgwick Middle School in West Hartford. During the 2002 legislative session, He also supported a law that requires school boards to develop policies addressing bullying and ensuring that time is made available during the day for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Students are not required to recite the pledge under the act. The ecology of Long Island Sound was given additional protection under a law Farr supported during the 2002 session that established a one-year moratorium on new state approvals for proposed energy and telecommunications lines to be built across the sound. The moratorium provided enough time for a comprehensive evaluation of all issues involving such projects. Representative Farr is Chairman of the Re-arrest Warrant Task Force, which is charged with bringing hundreds of wanted felons with outstanding re-arrest warrants to justice. The task force is working with various state departments to track down those who continue to flee from justice. To date, their results have been successful. Representative Farr continues to be a leader in reforming the state's welfare system, reducing the tax burden for families, improving public safety, and providing quality health care for Connecticut residents. As a sponsor of the original ConnPACE prescription drug program, Representative Farr voted during the 2001 session to increase income eligibility limits for the prescription drug program for the elderly. Under the new law, income limits increased to $20,000 for single persons and $27,100 for married couples on April 1, 2002 . Representative Farr championed legislation establishing the Zero-Tolerance Drug Supervision Program in 1998 – a pilot program allowing early release of nonviolent drug offenders in exchange for drug testing as often as three times per week. The legislation received national attention from the New York Times as well as WFSB-3 Editorial Board, which called it ‘one of the most important pieces of legislation passed by the General Assembly this year'. Locally, Representative Farr is well known for his commitment to the West Hartford community that goes back to 1976 when he served on the West Hartford Town Council for five years. During this period, Representative Farr served as Deputy Mayor from 1979 to 1981. Born in Hartford on December 28, 1943, Representative Farr earned a Bachelor of Sciences Degree in Engineering from the University of Connecticut and his Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Representative Farr is a partner with Heffernan & Farr Law Offices and a member of both the American Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association.Representative. Farr currently resides in West Hartford with his wife Diana. |
