Donald E. Williams, Jr.

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Donald E. Williams, Jr.

Member of the Connecticut State Senate from the 29th district
In office 1993 – present
Constituency	Brooklyn, Canterbury, Killingly, Mansfield, Putnam, Scotland, Thompson, Windham

Born	July 1, 1957(1957-07-01) Cincinnati, Ohio
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Laura
Profession	attorney

Donald E. Williams, Jr. is a Democratic member of the Connecticut Senate, representing the 29th district since 1993 and currently serving as the President Pro Tempore. Senator Williams is an alumnus of the Pomfret School.

Williams has been aligned with Meriden Democrat Thomas Gaffey on a number of initiatives, most notably a bill which banned soda and snack food from Connecticut public schools. [1]. Many parents have derided this bill as the "cupcake bill" and consider it an affront to parental responsibility, as local schools have told children not to bring in sweets for birthday parties.

In March 2008 New Haven schools enforced this law by suspending an eighth grader for selling a classmate skittles [2] In May 2008 a principal in Greenwich was suspended in a dispute over bringing cupcakes to school. [3]

In November 2006 Williams proposed a speech code for Connecticut political campaigns [4]. Critics charged this was an effort to make criticism of incumbent politicians illegal

Williams was a major figure in the 2007 CSU bonding scandal. Governor M. Jodi Rell vetoed a bonding package which included $ 1 billion for the Connecticut State University system. Democrats failed to override the veto because Senator Joan Hartley, chairman of the higher education committee, believed the CSU bonding lacked accountability. Williams then threatened Hartley with political retaliation. [5]. After a revised bonding package passed, it was revealed Williams's ally Thomas Gaffey had an undisclosed intimate relationship with the lobbyist for the CSU system.[6] Williams then flatly denied an investigation into Gaffey's conduct was warranted [7]

On January 22, 2008 Williams voted against the proposal of Governor M. Jodi Rell to enact a Three Strikes Law to mandate life terms for career violent criminals. Rell sought the bill in the wake of the Cheshire home invasion.