CANDARAS TO HOST HOUSE WAYS & MEANS CHAIR’S VISIT TO THE GREATER SPRINGFIELD AREA

Springfield – State Representative Gale D. Candaras (D-Wilbraham) is proud to announce Chairman John H. Rogers of the House Committee on Ways and Means will be visiting the Greater Springfield area on Wednesday, December 3, 2003. Chairman Rogers (D-Norwood) was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representative in 1992 and is currently serving his sixth term in the legislature. In 2001, Speaker Thomas M. Finneran appointed Rogers as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

As one of the chief budget writers for the Commonwealth, Chairman Rogers’ visit to the Greater Springfield area will provide resourceful information which will be drawn upon when his Committee crafts the fiscal year 2005 state budget. Chairman Rogers and Candaras’ schedule on the 3rd will entail touring two of the area’s largest employers and healthcare providers, Baystate Medical Center and the Sisters of Providence’s Behavioral Health Hospital, as well as meeting with the Springfield’s Mayor-Elect Charles V. Ryan, Jr. Rogers and Candaras will also make a stop to be interviewed about the Massachusetts economy on WGBY TV Channel 57’s “State We’re In” television program. The day’s visit will round off at the Affiliated Chamber of Commerce of Greater Springfield’s Government Affairs Holiday Reception, where the Chairman will network with the area’s most influential business people.

When Candaras, Assistant Majority Whip in the House of Representatives and 4th term sitting Representative for the 12th Hampden District, was asked about the Chairman’s upcoming visit and her role in the day’s event, she said, “As he is, one of the people, most responsible for drafting our state’s budget, I am pleased to host Chairman Rogers visits to the Springfield area as well as coordinating opportunities for local officials, business people and citizens to meet with him and discuss our economic issues in western Massachusetts.” (Gale - Same something with that idea in mind.) Candaras, who is looking out for the area’s economic future, praises Rogers' leadership by forgoing his own hectic schedule in his legislative district to visit our community and broaden his firsthand knowledge of the fiscal situation in Western Massachusetts.

For all media inquiries, please contact the Office of State Representative Gale D. Candaras at (413) 599-4785.