New Britain State Delegation Takes Office

Newly elected Sen. Rick Lopes (D-6) and Rep. Manny Sanchez (D-24) have officially joined the New Britain state legislative delegation.

They join State Rep. Bobby Sanchez (D-25), State Rep. Peter Tercyak (D-26) and State Rep. William Petit (R-22) in representing neighborhoods in New Britain. All of them were sworn in to a new term of office on Wednesday at the start of the 2021 legislative session.

All of the members of the New Britain delegation were elected on November 3, 2020.

Sen. Lopes is veteran legislator, but takes on a new role. Until Wednesday, he was the State Representative for the 24th Assembly District. Now, he represents all of New Britain and Berlin and neighborhoods in Farmington as the 6th District Senator.

“I am humbled and honored to represent the people of New Britain, Berlin and Farmington in the State Senate,” Sen. Lopes said. “I thank everyone for the trust you have placed in me and I will continue to work hard for you.”

Lopes’ biography says that he was a Broad Street community organizer in 1994, “Starting as the staff for the Broad Street Collaborative, a group of residents and business owners, Rick was instrumental in transforming the Broad Street group into the state’s first Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ).”

“Since 1993,” Lopes’ biograph says, “Rick has run a small property management and maintenance business that operates in West Hartford, New Britain and Hartford.”

Sen. Lopes serves as Chair of the legislature’s Housing Committee and serves on the Appropriations Committee, Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, Planning and Development Committee and Transportation Committee.

Rep. Manny Sanchez, who succeeds Sen. Lopes as the 24th District State Representative, said, “Today, thanks to the voters of New Britain and Newington, I was sworn in as the next State Representative for the 24th district.”

“It was a long journey to get to this point,” Rep. Sanchez of the 24th District said, “and I know that every experience along the way made me better suited to serve my constituents.”

New Britain’s new State Representative added, “I’ll never forget the look on my mother’s face, the woman who went through so much to raise me, when I showed her my office for the first time. I am truly grateful and blessed for every person who helped me along this journey. With this new experience will come new challenges, and just know that I’m ready. I can’t wait to get to work!”

Rep. Sanchez of the 24th District has already taken a leadership position in the legislature, having been named Vice Chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee. It is unusual for a first term legislator to be elevated to a committee leadership position. Rep. Sanchez also serve on the legislature’s Appropriations Committee and Education Committee.

“These committee assignments and leadership position will allow me to hit the ground running on behalf of the issues voiced by my constituents,” said Rep. Manny Sanchez.

Rep. Bobby Sanchez continues his work serving as Chair of the legislature’s important Education Committee. He also serves on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee and Housing Committee.

“I’m so humbled and grateful to the people of New Britain for their support the past 10 years,” said Rep. Sanchez of the 25th. “Today I was sworn in to my 6th term representing the 25th Assembly District, my hometown of New Britain and the State of Connecticut.”

“It will be a challenging session, we have seen inequities in education, housing and heath care just to name a few,” Rep. Bobby Sanchez continued. “I will be advocating like I have always done for more education funding, equal pay for pre-school teachers, minority teacher recruitment, elimination of the car tax and much more. It wont be easy, it never is, but we must carry on with the peoples work.”

Rep. Bobby Sanchez’s biography says that he,

is a longtime leader in the New Britain community. Before joining the state legislature, he served on the New Britain Board of Education, where he was a strong voice for quality education and efficient administration. Bobby is also well known for his work at the Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc., where his efforts have led to a stronger Head Start education program in New Britain.”

The dean of the delegation, New Britain’s longest-serving state legislator, is Rep. Tercyak, who was first elected to represent New Britain’s 26th District in 2003.

Rep. Tercyak’s biography says , “Raised with a strong belief in the importance of activism and community service,” he, “has worked on campaigns to reform managed care, provide job security and crack down on the rising cost of prescription drugs.”

A Registered Nurse, Rep. Tercyak’s biography says that he, “has cared for thousands of patients with psychiatric and substance abuse problems.”

Rep. Tercyak is in leadership in the State House of Representatives, in the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker, and serves on the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, Public Health Committee and Energy and Technology Committee.

Rep. Petit’s district is primarily in Plainville, but represents neighborhoods in New Britain’s northwest. He will continue serving as the Republicans’ Ranking Member of the legislature’s Public Health Committee, and serves on the Energy and Technology Committee and Education Committee.

“I am pleased to begin a new legislative session starting today,” said Rep. Petit. “We have a tremendous amount of work to remedy the problems that have been caused by the pandemic – issues with our economy, small businesses, public health among many others.”

The 2021 regular legislative session on continues from Wednesday to June 9, 2021.