User:AlekseyFy/Dan Debicella

Daniel Charles Debicella (born October 24, 1974) is a Republican politician and businessman currently representing the 21st district in the Connecticut State Senate.

Personal life and background
Debicella was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Shelton, where he currently resides. He graduated from Shelton High School in 1992. He holds a degree in finance from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Debicella is currently an Assistant Vice President of Marketing at The Hartford. Previously, Debicella worked as Director of Strategy at PepsiCo, an online business owner, and a management consultant. He currently serves on the board of various community organizations.

Prior to being elected to the Connecticut State Senate, Debicella served on Shelton’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation for seven years, four as its chairman. Debicella acted as the Fairfield County regional chair for Rudy Giuliani's unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign.

State Senator
Debicella was first elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 2006 and subsequently re-elected in 2008. He succeeded George "Doc" Gunther, the longest-serving state legislator in Connecticut history, after working as his campaign manager for several elections.

In the State Senate, Debicella is a Deputy Minority Leader and sits on the Appropriations (ranking member), Higher Education (ranking member), Public Health (ranking member), and Regulations Review committees.

Quality of life issues
Debicella has generally been against government involvement in health care, although he co-sponsored a bill that requires insurance companies to cover autism diagnosis and treatment. Debicella has proposed a bill that would allow individuals and families who receive a physical exam and all age-appropriate preventive tests to deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses from their state income tax.

In committee, Debicella filibustered a controversial bill, which was ultimately vetoed by Governor Jodi Rell, that would have allowed children of illegal immigrants who graduated from a Connecticut high school to apply for in-state tuition. In June 2009, as political backlash against Senate Democrats, Debicella filibustered another bill that would have attracted qualified teachers to needy districts by explaining how much he liked the bill while running out the clock to prevent a vote on it. Two weeks later, he co-sponsored and voted for the bill when it went back up for a vote in a special legislative session.

During his first term in the State Senate, Debicella served on the Environment committee. In response to plans the Environmental Protection Agency had for waste deposit in Stratford, he co-sponsored a bill that prohibited individuals and government agencies from depositing more than 1,000 cubic yards of asbestos-laden soil near residential areas without approval from two-thirds of the municipality's legislative body. The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters gave Debicella a 58% rating on their 2008 scorecard.

Debicella has co-sponsored multiple bills to prohibit the expansion of Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. Debicella co-sponsored a bill that expanded Operation Fuel, a program that provides a $500 credit for Connecticut seniors 65 or older whose income is at or below the state median, to assist with their home heating costs.

Debicella voted against the creation of SustiNet, a program that would provide government-run health care for all Connecticut residents. He also voted against allowing municipal, small business, and nonprofit employees to join the state employees' health insurance pool. Debicella supports having a “three strikes” law in Connecticut, which would automatically impose a life sentence upon anyone convicted of three violent felonies. He voted against abolishing the death penalty in the state and supports reforms to make it "more workable." Debicella voted against a bill that increased penalties for trafficking firearms in the state and required lost and stolen firearms to be reported within 72 hours.

Economic issues
Debicella joined other Republicans in opposing bills requiring businesses to provide paid sick leave to their employees, as well as a bill extending benefits for workers injured on the job. Debicella opposed a bill that called for a ban of trans fat in Connecticut restaurants, which was proposed by leading Senate Republicans. He has repeatedly voted against raising the minimum wage. Debicella was endorsed in the 2008 election by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and, in March 2009, was named a "Guardian of Small Business" by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. The Connecticut AFL-CIO gave Debicella a 29% rating on their 2008 scorecard.

Debicella criticized a $22.2 million bailout of the University of Connecticut Health Center as "a little bit of unreality" due to the state's budget deficit, but ultimately voted in favor of it. He was one of three State Senators to vote against a bill allowing municipalities to delay their property revaluation process until 2011. He was also the lone vote against a bill that gave the town of Westport control over a shellfish bed.

In 2009, Debicella has opposed Democratic budget proposals, claiming they would "force the largest tax increase in Connecticut history and unacceptable levels of borrowing." He has joined other Republicans in supporting a budget that calls for significantly less tax increases and spending than the Democratic one.

Social issues
Debicella was one of three State Senators to vote against requiring health care facilities to provide emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. While defending this vote during the 2008 campaign, Debicella stated, "On the rape bill all I voted against was a bill allowing morning-after contraception to be issued to victims." This comment was heavily criticized by Democrats, including his opponent, Janice Andersen, who called it "insensitive to rape victims." Debicella defended his position by explaining that he supports access to emergency contraception but opposes forcing Catholic hospitals, who would have been affected by the bill, to go against their religious beliefs, and said Andersen was "using an emotional issue for political gain."

Debicella co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to enforce equal pay for equal work laws for women, which strengthened penalties for companies discriminating pay levels based on gender.”

Debicella voted in favor of a bill codifying the Connecticut Supreme Court's recognition of same-sex marriages, but only after including protections for religious institutions and organizations. He also introduced amendments requiring schools to notify parents when marriage and sexuality were being discussed, and allowing parents to remove their children from such discussions, neither of which passed. He was endorsed in the 2008 election by the Family Institute of Connecticut, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

Governance issues
Debicella supports referendum and initiative as well as a constitutional convention. Debicella was one of two Senators to oppose a "clean contracting" bill designed to prevent the no-bid contracts and special treatment for contractors that were prevalent in the scandals of Gov. John G. Rowland's administration. Debicella was strongly critical of a bill that would have given the state comptroller the tie-breaking vote in the event the governor's budget office and the legislature's fiscal office did not agree on the size of the state budget deficit, calling it "cumbersome", "political", and an "an unnecessary institutionalization of political conflict".

Run for Congress
On August 10, 2009, Debicella filed papers with the Connecticut Secretary of State to be a candidate in the 2010 election for Connecticut's 4th congressional district seat. He already has at least two primary challengers and would oppose first term incumbent Democrat Jim Himes in the general election.