State Rep. Heroux Assigned to 3 Committees

State Rep. Paul Heroux, whose 2nd Bristol District includes most of Attleboro, received his committee assignments this week. The first-term Democratic legislator will serve on the following committees:

• Mental Health and Substance Abuse
• Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities
• Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets

Heroux wrote in a press release that he was pleased with the assignments. He wrote a brief statement on each of them:

"Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Committee is essentially the House bond rating and debt watchdog committee, and I am very pleased to be on this committee. There is good debt and bad debt. Smart investors know that good debt results in an economic return on the investment. Bad debt results in a loss of money. I intend to not be so cavalier with our taxes and debt obligations." 

"I campaigned on increasing access to and awareness of the importance of mental health care. With the very high rate of mental illness in our criminal justice system, especially our prison system, the committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse was a natural fit for me. And with the increased attention turned toward persons afflicted with mental illness since the Newtown, Conn. shooting, it will be very important to balance protecting persons afflicted with mental illness from being demonized and from keeping guns out of the hands of people who truly are unfit to carry." 

"It is the job of any elected official to protect citizens. As I see it, my role on the committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities will be to protect people with disabilities and to make sure that children grow up in a safe and healthy environment."