The Peru Gazette

“In terms of substance, I expect the new legislative session to be
 very similar to the past two with a heavy emphasis on strengthening the 
economy and improving our business climate with the goal of job creation.
Because revenues remain weak and the full financial impact of Sandy is 
still unknown, I anticipate another fiscally austere state budget.

“In terms of style, I hope to see a continuation of the bipartisan
and constructive dialogue between both houses of the Legislature and the
 governor.  We have a lot of complex issues to deal with and, given our 
political and geographic diversity, differences can only be resolved if
 lawmakers are willing to accommodate other points of view.

“My focus remains on mandate relief, in particular giving schools and 
local governments more flexibility in managing through their own financial
 challenges.  Medicaid and pension reform mandate relief will help on the 
local level, in addition to some other smaller measures also already 
enacted, but clearly more needs to be done.”