11 Facts About James Amann

James Amann was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives and represented the 118th Assembly District, which includes part of Milford, Connecticut.

In 2005, his first year leading the House of Representatives as Speaker, James Amann was instrumental in the passage of landmark transportation, campaign finance reform, organ donor, medical malpractice reform and stem cell research legislation.

Speaker James Amann is responsible for creating the Legislature's Select Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Also during the 2006 session, James Amann crafted new legislation creating film and media tax incentives to bring production work from these industries to Connecticut, and led passage of a new autism pilot program and a historic 10-year, $2.3 billion transportation investment initiative.

James Amann is generally considered among the more moderate Connecticut Democrats.

James Amann proposed giving legislative leaders sharing power with the governor on choosing projects for state bonding because of the record debt run up by the Governor.

James Amann opposed a proposal by Republicans to suspend the state's gasoline tax over the summer months claiming that there is no evidence the oil industry will pass the savings on to the consumers and the proponents offered no way to pay for lost state revenue.

James Amann eventually compromised with Rell and the Republicans and supported a budget that exceeded the state spending cap and raised the cigarette tax, but did not raise the state income tax.

On January 31,2008, James Amann announced his creation of an exploratory committee to explore the possibility of a run for governor in the 2010 election.

James Amann is the first candidate to create an exploratory committee for the 2010 election, and as of December 2008 had raised $50,000 for his campaign.

Shortly thereafter, James Amann decided not to accept the job offer, as there was a massive outcry from voters who opposed the move during the state's financial crisis.