All About Mitch
State Rep Mitch Bolinsky is seeking his seventh term as "Newtown's Voice in Hartford", in the Connecticut General Assembly, proudly and passionately representing his hometown with integrity, common sense and reason.
He is an Assistant Republican Leader, serving on the legislature’s powerful Appropriations Committee, Education Committee and Aging Committee, on which he leads as its "Ranking Member". His caucus work includes being a founding member of the legislature's I/DD (Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities) Caucus, CT's Rare Disease Caucus, Animal's Rights Caucus, Firefighter / EMS Caucus, and School Safety Caucus.
Representative Bolinsky is dedicated to providing caring constituent service to the children, families, seniors and businesses in town. His focus on economic development and job creation has made him a highly effective advocate for the people of the 106th District.
Some highlights of Rep. Bolinsky’s accomplishments in office have included:
- Initiated legislation forming CT's Rare Disease Council, focusing resources to improving outcomes for children, adults & families. Collectively, the rare disease community is mighty.
- Secured a $6-mill. Pandemic Relief Grant for CT's Children's Museums, including Newtown's EverWonder, to ensure ongoing operations despite revenue lost to mandated closure. EverWonder's "Pandemic Response" included virtual programming and "At Home Enrichment Kits" to engage homebound kids. They came through for our community. Telling their "story" convinced Appropriations colleagues to come through for them.
- Addressed CT's chronic Blood Shortage, working with local families & Red Cross, expanding donor eligibility to include healthy 16-year-olds, with parental consent. In following year, cosponsored update to expand collection of Plasma products, needed by many for antibody therapies.
- Modified CT Motor Vehicle Safety statutes in support of federal guidance to require seat belt usage by occupants in the back seat of CT vehicles. Estimated to save 17 lives a year on CT highways.
- Collaborated on four straight No Tax Increase, Compromise Budgets, positioning CT to now have more than $4-Billion in budget reserves. The terms "fiscal-guardrails, and "budget sustainability", mean "balanced". In 2023, this allowed Connecticut to CUT taxes - a nice change;
- Introduced legislation to prevent Governor's mid-year cuts to Educational & Municipal state revenue.
- Restored $4.89M Newtown Education funds after Governor's cut; killed plan to hit Newtown with $4M state pension debt; restored $3M municipal cuts - Averting local property tax hike.
- Co-sponsored expanded use of Domestic Abuser registries for women and families; Ended Dual Arrest requirement of in Domestic Violence complaints.
- Endorsed by the CT Business & Industry Assoc (CBIA), National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) & 17,000-member Connecticut Association of Realtors.
- Privacy protections & considerations for local families and first responders after 12/14.
- Secured public hearing for local voices in the Common Core implementation debate to express children, parents & teachers concerns about state testing practices & student data privacy.
- Championed landmark “CARE Act” for seniors in Connecticut. Honored by AARP CT & national.
- Serving as an active advocate for children and adults with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities, and for the early diagnosis of dyslexia. Honored by SEPTO & Decoding Dyslexia.
- Repeatedly preserved Newtown’s historic Horse Guard.
- Secured millions of dollars in state grants for school safety, indoor air quality, infrastructure & local projects including Sandy Hook Streetscape, Hawleyville Sewers and Fairfield Hills Streetscape.
Prior Public Service
- Newtown Legislative Council
- Newtown Legislative Council, Finance & Administration Subcommittee
- Newtown Legislative Council, Ordinance Subcommittee; Vice Chairman
- Newtown Economic Development Commission (2 terms)
- Newtown Board of Ethics (2 terms)
- Local Justice of the Peace (currently joining happy couples)
Earlier Career
Prior to elected office, Rep. Bolinsky worked more than 30 years in the private sector, including five years as Principal of M-Vision Insights, a marketing and regulatory affairs consultancy. In that role he helped advise and provide research and analytical insights to small and mid-sized businesses, primarily operating or investing in the American automotive industry.
From 2007 to 2010, Rep. Bolinsky was Director of Marketing & Regulatory Affairs at IDQ/Interdynamics. During that time, he co-authored state and federal legislation to reduce the effects of global-warming, even developing an industry-first recycling program for automotive A/C coolant. His work was written into Congress’ bipartisan American Clean Energy & Security Act of 2009. As liaison for Automotive Refrigeration Products Institute (ARPI), he partnered with industry peers, legislators, U.S. & state EPA entities, consumer advocacy & environmental groups, achieving positive outcomes. Previously, he was a Senior Product Manager at ITW/Permatex from 2002 to 2007.
Rep. Bolinsky resides in Newtown with his wife of 39 years, Luisa. Their daughter, Rachel is a UConn grad with a Masters from UHart, and is a practicing mental-health provider, licensed by the State of CT. She is married to Adam. Their son, Matthew, graduated PITT undergrad Summa Cum Laude, went on to earn his Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude from GWU School of Law, is a member of the DC and New York Bar Associations, and is a practicing monetary-policy attorney in the Big Apple.
Luisa and Mitch are incredibly proud of the fine people their children have grown to be.
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