The news report was part of an ongoing series on regionalism WNPR began airing earlier this month, beginning with a report on discussions by elected officials from Farmington Valley towns on "pooling" resources. The following week, the topic was covered in-depth on the station's morning call-in program "Where We Live."

Cathy's comments were both timely and necessary, considering remarks by Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) Executive Director Jim Finley, which were featured in the same report. His disingenuous claim that unions are obstacles to towns working together demanded a rebuttal, which Cathy was able to offer not just as the President of a union that represents public service workers in State, municipal, and local school agencies, but also as a local elected official.

As Cathy pointed out, we have supported regional cooperation for years, and our Municipal Division's Councils contain numerous bargaining units that represent workers who serve more than one town or school district. In fact, we have advocated regionalism not just to consolidate services, but to raise standards for low-wage public employees, such as school bus drivers, paraprofessionals, and food service workers, who have been undervalued for years.

Then there's the example of the landmark healthcare "pooling" bill we moved the State legislature to pass earlier this year. In fact, we first supported what eventually became the Connecticut Healthcare Partnership (CHP) over seventeen years ago to reduce overall costs, expand coverage, and help offset rising property taxes by combining State and municipal employees in a single health plan.

The version lawmakers passed this past spring went even further by including small business and non-profit employees, as well. Though Governor Rell vetoed the bill when it was sent to her desk, we remain committed to working with our partners in the Universal Healthcare Foundation to "pool" workers in a single plan to expand the range of quality, affordable choices available for working families.

Sunday's Hartford Courant featured a lengthy editorial promoting the obvious advantages of regional cooperation, although it dismisses other options for resolving our economic crisis, such as revenue enhancement. As Business New Haven reported in an article on expanding regionalism earlier this month, local elected officials know that their constituents are counting on critical services in these difficult times...

And as union members, we will continue to build partnerships with local elected leaders to find solutions to this economic crisis that preserve the vital public services we deliver!