With Trump Poised to Name Anti-Choice Supreme Court Nominee, Senate Majority Leader Duff, Senate Democrats and Advocates Vow to Fight Back Against Attacks on Women’s Health Care
Standing alongside advocates and members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) today issued a warning that laws protecting women’s reproductive health are under attack both in Washington D.C. and in Hartford. Senator Duff also called out organizations like the Family Institute of Connecticut for its campaign to limit access to women’s reproductive health.
“It took less than one week for President Donald Trump to issue an executive order threatening a woman’s right to choose,” said Senator Duff. “It is an unfortunate reality that the battle over women’s health issues has returned to Connecticut. At every turn, we will fight back against organizations like the Family Institute and others who are determined to undermine the progress we have made.”
“We will ensure that Connecticut’s continue to be a state where women’s health care is protected, regardless of what happens in Washington,” said Senator Mae Flexer (D-Danielson). “We must take action so that women will continue to have full access to health care in our state. We cannot just sit by and assume that these rights will be maintained for decades to come.”
“No one has a right to interfere in the relationship between a woman and her doctor,” said Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague). “This is about women’s health; this is about having choices relating to pap smears, contraception and breast exams; it is about cancer screenings; it is about making sure that when you go to the doctor, you have coverage and access to quality care.”
President Trump is expected to announce his nominee to the United States Supreme Court later this evening. Senator Duff expects President Trump to make good on his campaign promise to nominate someone opposed to protecting women’s reproductive health laws.
Last week, Senator Duff joined a bipartisan group of legislators highlighting proposed legislation aimed at preserving access to women’s preventative health care and contraception.
The bills include:
Preserving requirements in the Affordable Care Act requiring no cost-sharing for women’s preventative services, and to further improve contraceptive access
Preserving constitutional rights to health care against federal threats and to codify the principles of the Supreme Court’s decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt
Preserving requirements in the Affordable Care Act requiring that nursing mothers be provided with a breast pump, and to improve protections for nursing mothers in the workplace
Improving current workplace protections for pregnant women
Nearly 500,000 Connecticut residents act as caregivers, and many of them feel unprepared to provide the technical care needed to keep their loved ones healthy. Senate Democrats partnered with AARP to pass the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, which guarantees that caregivers are given follow-up care instructions when a patient is discharged from the hospital or nursing home and to reduce costly hospital readmissions.
The CARE Act will better prepare family members and friends to perform the critical task of helping our loved ones remain in their homes and physically recover. Additionally, The CARE Act was specifically designed to alleviate the stress and uncertainty caregivers face, and will empower them to keep their family members in the community and out of the hospital.
The CARE Act requires hospitals and nursing homes to:
Provide each patient with the opportunity to designate a caregiver during the patient’s admission to the hospital or nursing home
Make reasonable attempts to notify the designated caregiver if the patient is to be discharged back to his or her home, and
Provide the caregiver with instructions on how to perform medication management, wound care, injections or other medical tasks for the patient when the patient returns home.
Our veterans answered the call of duty, so when they return home to Connecticut, the state should be there to lend a helping hand. As policymakers, we must use every tool in the toolbox to improve the lives of these veterans and their families and do everything we can to assure that they earn a good living—either by being employed in a business owned by another, or, in many cases, by starting and maintaining their own successful business.
Veteran entrepreneurs serve our country all over again by creating good jobs for their fellow citizens. That’s why Senate Democrats led passage of a new law to help small businesses that are 51 percent owned by a veteran. The legislation provides veterans an edge in bidding for state contracts by providing for a 15 percent preference for their business’s bids.
Public Act 16-184 makes Connecticut the 12th state in the country to provide a preference or set aside for veteran-owned businesses when it comes to state contracting. This was a continuation of a multi-year focus by the General Assembly, led by the Senate Democrats, on improving the lives of our vets, supporting them in every way possible, and helping to ensure they can earn a living.
Connecticut is one of the most “veteran friendly” states in the nation. Other groundbreaking pieces of recent veterans legislation include:
The highly successful “STEP-UP Employment Program for Veterans,” which has helped hundreds of veterans find high-quality employment.
The “Veteran’s Opportunity Pilot Program” to help homeless vets find jobs.
A 100 percent exemption from the state income tax for military retirement pay, helping to guarantee a secure retirement for our aging heroes.
The groundbreaking Husky Women’s Veteran’s Program, an initiative focusing exclusively on the unique needs of our returning female veterans.
Special Act 15-1, which improves on-campus services offered at our new “OASIS Centers” to our returning vets who go back to college upon their return home, helping ensure they receive a great education and a solid start in civilian life.
The “Veterans for Agriculture Program,” which requires the state Department of Agriculture to assist vets who want to start an agricultural business.
In 2016 Senate Democrats led passage of new legislation focusing on innovation & entrepreneurship—a new direction in economic development for the state of Connecticut.
To date, the state’s post-recession economic efforts have focused on supporting existing companies and attracting outside firms to relocate here. Through CTNext, we are reallocating existing state resources to focus also on supporting new, homegrown, innovative Connecticut startup companies.
This marks a return to Connecticut’s innovative roots—when Connecticut inventions like the submarine, the helicopter and the hamburger launched entire new industries. This is how Connecticut originally built our tremendous wealth, and it is how we will now create opportunities for our young people and our future.
This new legislation builds upon the work being done at Connecticut Innovations by taking its pilot program for an innovation ecosystem, CTNext, to the next level by:
Setting up CTNext as its own, entrepreneur-led subsidiary of Connecticut Innovations to cultivate and promote the innovation ecosystem statewide—connecting entrepreneurs to one another and to all available resources.
Creating Innovation Places—The bill provides some resources to plan and develop hubs of innovation—concentrated neighborhoods of entrepreneurs, innovators, tech talent, support organizations and research institutions in dense, walk-able, transit-connected, mixed-use areas.
Aiming to unlock the innovative potential of our colleges & universities—The law creates a Working Group of all Connecticut’s public and private college presidents to develop a statewide master plan for higher-ed entrepreneurship.
Focusing on helping companies that make it past the startup stage, to what economists call “Stage 2” or “growth stage” companies. The exponential growth that transforms small, young firms into “growth stage companies” accounts for a great majority of the net job growth in an economy. The legislation does this by:
Funding programs to create the talent pipeline that growth stage companies need to grow
Expanding procurement networks aimed at helping them acquire new customers; and
Providing small grants to help them tackle key growth challenges.
Increasing the number of private venture capital (VC) firms in Connecticut by:
Providing authority for Connecticut Innovations to invest some of its funds into other Connecticut-based venture capital firms, and to establish incentives for those firms to invest in Connecticut companies, or for outside firms to open an office in Connecticut.
Creating an unprecedented estate tax credit for long-term investments made in funds investing in Connecticut companies.
Burdensome property taxes are the biggest concern cited by Connecticut residents and businesses. To provide much-needed relief, Senate Democrats passed historic reforms to the property tax, the car tax and state funding for towns. The changes include:
Diversification of the local tax base by providing municipalities with a revenue source other than property taxes for the first time in state history. A portion of state sales tax revenue now goes directly to towns and cities, resulting in healthier municipal budgets and reduced pressure on property tax rates.
Capping the car tax in all cities and towns at no more than 37 mills. This long-sought reform blunts the impact of Connecticut’s most regressive tax, providing millions of dollars in direct tax relief for Connecticut’s families and small businesses.
Senate Democrats & Consumer Counsel Katz Call for PURA Investigation of Abusive Electric Supplier Marketing Practices
State Senate Democrats and Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz are asking the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to investigate whether Connecticut’s most vulnerable customers are being disproportionately impacted by abusive sales practices and unreasonably high rates for retail electric generation.
The Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) has identified a concerning number of problems in recent customer complaints related to vulnerable populations being adversely affected by electric supplier marketing practices. The vulnerable populations include low-income consumers, senior citizens, consumers for whom English is a second language, and consumers with disabilities.
“In 2014, in response to growing customer complaints and dishonest billing and marketing practices, we took action to create a Bill of Rights for electric customers,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven). “Now, PURA should use that law to investigate reports of potentially abusive practices targeting senior citizens low-income individuals.”
“Customers who are already experiencing financial hardship may be pushed further into poverty by retail rates for electric supply that are unreasonably high,” said Consumer Counsel Katz. “We need to investigate the best ways to protect our most vulnerable populations from such high rates, which may be the result of abusive sales practices. We also can’t forget that when those facing financial difficulties cannot pay their bills, the unpaid amounts are collected from other ratepayers, an amount that was around $50 million in 2016. Whether the general class of ratepayers is subsidizing needlessly high rates charged by some electric suppliers deserves a full investigation.”
“We now have proof that countless seniors and other vulnerable residents of our state have been targeted by deceptive salespeople pushing unreasonably expensive electricity generation contracts,” said Senator Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain). “Unfortunately this does not come as any surprise. I have received calls from these salespeople, as has my elderly mother. We knew to say know, but many have not been so fortunate. Armed with the information collected by the Office of Consumer Counsel, we will be able to take on these shady salespeople and hopefully put a stop to this practice.”
“I was proud to work hard on this piece of legislation to protect consumers, and at the time we passed the Bill of Rights for electric customers it wasn’t certain how many specific cases of abuse were occurring in terms of pricing,” said Sen. Paul Doyle (D-Wethersfield). “Now that more cases have come forward I believe it really provides justification for this piece of legislation. Over time, the evidence has been mounting that this abuse is taking place. I fully support my colleagues and stand with them in asking PURA to investigate whether vulnerable customers are being taken advantage of and overcharged for their residential electricity consumption.”
Publicly available data demonstrates that overall, customers using a supplier have been paying millions more than customers on utility standard service rates. For the rolling year of January 2016 through December 2016, residential customers who chose a retail supplier paid, in aggregate, $59 Million more than the standard service offer. In December 2016, residential utility customers in Connecticut paid, in aggregate, approximately $7.6 Million more than the standard offer for their electric generation. During December 2016, retail suppliers served 29 percent of Eversource Energy (Eversource) residential customers and 35.8 percent of United Illuminating (UI) residential customers.
OCC is keenly interested in reducing the risks and financial burdens of high generation charges for vulnerable populations including those with the least ability to pay. OCC is also motivated to ensure that energy assistance payments are having the maximum possible impact for those customers who receive them.
Consumer Counsel Katz urges consumers who are interested in choosing a retail supplier to shop on www.energizect.com to avoid misleading marketing practices.
Consumers interested in filing a complaint with PURA regarding a supplier may do so by filing a letter in either electronic or paper form with PURA’s Executive Secretary at Ten Franklin Square, New Britain, Connecticut, or emailing PURA.ExecutiveSecretary@ct.gov, or by calling 1-800-382-4586 (toll free within Connecticut); 1-860-827-2622 (outside Connecticut); or TDD 860-827-2837.
More information about the Electric Consumers Bill of Rights:
Public Act 14-75 empowers customers to make informed choices by requiring more informative bills, allowing faster switching among suppliers and prohibiting coercive or deceptive sales practices.
More Informative Billing—PURA must redesign the residential electric billing format by July 2015. In the meantime, customers will receive quarterly notices with the information to be added to bills:
Any change in rate for the next billing cycle, the competing rate of standard service and amount that would have been billed under it, contract terms and expiration dates of current rates, any cancellation fees, a reminder that the customer’s rate is variable as applicable.
Better Online Information—PURA will redevelop the online rateboard where customers may shop for private supplier offers to be easier to use and display up front all that will now be required on bills.
New Marketing Standards—PURA must study and adopt new marketing standards for private suppliers and their sales agents, including a ban on suggestions the supplier is an entity of UI or CL&P, or that customers must choose a private supplier. Greater disclosure of rate and contract terms will be required in all advertising materials.
Transparency in Purchasing—A summary of contract terms must be presented to new customers by private supplier sales representatives at the time of sale, including new rates, rate variability, rate term, contract renewal information, cancellation rights, emissions and resource mixes.
Enhancing Ability to Choose—Utilities must now transfer customers back to standard offer service within 72 hours of their request. PURA will study expediting transfer to and among private suppliers.
Termination Fees Cut in Half—The bill lowers the maximum allowable early termination fee from $100 to $50, so customers can more easily escape a disadvantageous private supplier contract.
Automatic Notice of New Contract Terms—Customers whose contracts auto-renew or transition to variable rates must receive 45 days’ notice, including a description of new terms and a rate history.
Enforcement—PURA must issue new regulations to target abusive telemarketing, solicitations and renewals, and may investigate deceptive trade practices at will, including targeting of hardship customers. Additional resources for PURA enforcement were provided for in the budget.
New Haven Independent: “We’re very focused on punishment but not as focused on people,” said State Sen. Gary Winfield. “We’re focused on building prisons where we design them in such a way that if you go into prison you are broken. We’re focused on building cells like that that break you. We don’t really just throw these people away. They come back to our communities, back to our families. They come back to us. When we focus on punishment, not people, we create problems for ourselves.”
Hartford Courant: “We are very focused on punishment, not as focused on people… We are focused on building cells like that to break you,” State Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, said. “But after serving their time, inmates.”
New Haven Register: Unknowingly, Winfield offered the press conference’s closing remarks. Winfield said some people believe those placed in solitary confinement wouldn’t be there if they hadn’t committed a crime. It’s based on conditions, Winfield said, but his humanity is not. He asked those in attendance to push their local legislators to stand inside the cell.
CT New Junkie: It is effective, enduring, and revenue neutral. It has already helped thousands of Connecticut families and has the potential to help half a million more households currently spending too much for housing. Equally important, it positions the state for future economic growth and stability.
Duff Appoints Norwalk’s Elsa Obuchowski to Value-Based Drug-Pricing Task Force
NORWALK—State Senator Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) today announced that he has appointed Elsa Peterson Obuchowski of Norwalk to the state task force that is studying value-based pricing for prescription drugs.
Value-based pricing of prescription drugs is an approach to prescription drug pricing that attempts to balance the benefits of a drug with its costs; under such a system, pharmaceutical companies are generally required to detail how they arrive at the retail price of a new drug while also more clearly demonstrating its value to patients, such as proven health outcomes.
“Elsa is going to be part of a broad group of individuals whose talents and interests all coalesce around one very important and fundamental goal: to bring some sanity, some reason to the outrageous cost of prescription drugs,” Sen. Duff said. “Millions of Americans saw their medication costs go up last year; some are paying thousands of dollars a month for one script. We want to get a handle on some cost-containment measures to help Connecticut residents cope.”
Some believe that value-based pricing should also allow drug prices to be set by objective, independent agencies that use evidence and data to arrive at the retail sales price.
The 13-member task force is charged with identifying best practices in the value-pricing of drugs with a focus on improving health and containing initial costs.
“I hope to bring an average consumer’s sensibility and point of view to this very important and complex subject. It’s long past the time for drug prices to come down to real-world levels to help address the real-world medical problems of many drug consumers,” Obuchowski said.
State Appropriations Committee Approves SEBAC Pension Agreement
Plan would reduce State’s unfunded pension liability
The Connecticut General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to move forward a plan to reduce the State’s unfunded pension liability over the next thirty years and fully fund Connecticut’s pension system.
The budget writing committee voted 42 to 12 to move out of committee an agreement struck by the State of Connecticut and the State Employees Bargaining Coalition (SEBAC). The agreement was previously approved by the State Employee Retirement System (SERS), and will next be debated by the full General Assembly.
The plan includes extending the amortization period for the balance of the unfunded liability in a new 30-year period, reduces the assumed rate of return from 8 percent to 6.9 percent and provides a path to fully funding the state’s pension obligations.
Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague), Senate chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after the vote.
“For too long, past legislatures ‘kicked the can’ down the road, and we are committed to ensuring that we meet our obligations while working to provide stability to the citizens of Connecticut,” said Sen. Osten. “The plan we moved forward today is a responsible agreement and one that I am hopeful will be met favorably when it comes before the full General Assembly. The fact that this agreement was approved out of committee in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote shows that we have the fortitude as an elected body to tackle this issue and finally take on unfunded pension liability in a way that best serves taxpayers and the state employees who are owed what they have earned.”
The Senate resolution on the plan passed in a vote of 10 to 2, while the House resolution passed in a vote of 30 to 10.
