Month: November 2017

Bye Welcomes State Reopening of “Care4Kids” Program

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Bye Welcomes State Reopening of “Care4Kids” Program

State Senator Beth Bye (D-West Hartford), who spent years in the private sector developing ways to improve early childhood education and child care, is welcoming the announcement that the State of Connecticut is reopening applications for its “Care4Kids” program, thanks to the state legislature’s appropriating nearly $31 million for the program over the next two years.

Care4Kids is Connecticut’s child care assistance program for low-income families. It closed new applications to most families in August 2016 after the federal government instituted several new costly mandates, including ongoing professional development, background checks for providers, and new eligibility standards for families. As a result of those increased costs, an estimated 5,800 fewer children were served by the program.

Sen. Bye voted for a bipartisan state budget that made re-funding the Care4Kids program a priority in the 2018-19 biennial state budget, securing $10.25 million in state funding in the current FY18 fiscal year, and another $20.5 million for FY19. With her advocacy on behalf of school readiness, Sen. Bye has been involved in opening access to preschool since 1997. Sen. Bye was also a lead sponsor of the Smart Start initiative, which has helped public schools open preschool seats across Connecticut.

“For all of the compromises in the state budget that made it an affordable but complicated document, one of the shining successes is the money we were able to set aside for Care4Kids, which is really a national model for quality child care for working poor families,” Sen. Bye said.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday that the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood has reopened the Care 4 Kids program and eligible families on the wait list can now begin to enroll for the state’s primary child care support. There are 56 West Hartford families and 30 Bloomfield families on the waiting list.

Families who registered on the wait list will begin to receive requests to apply in phases starting today. Consistent with state rules, enrollment begins with the highest-need families and those families who have been on the wait list longest.

For more information, please visit www.ctcare4kids.com or call 1-888-214-KIDS (5437).

Senate Majority Leader Duff and Senator Osten Seek Examination of Eversource’s Storm Response

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Senate Majority Leader Duff & Senator Osten Seek Examination of Eversource’s Storm Response

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today wrote to the leaders of the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee asking that they convene an informational public forum to examine Eversource Energy’s seeming lack of proper storm preparedness and lack of a quick, effective storm response in advance of and following the damaging windstorm of October 29-30 which left more than 100,000 Connecticut residents in the dark for multiple days—particularly residents of eastern Connecticut.

“Once again, too many customers were left in the dark without adequate communication from Eversource,” said Senator Duff. “To make matters worse, residents of New Hampshire received automated telephone updates regarding power restoration efforts in Connecticut and vice versa. I believe that a review of Eversource’s storm response is particularly warranted in light of Eversource’s new request of state regulators to approve a three-year, $336.8 million rate increase for the company, which would raise the average Connecticut consumer’s electricity bill by 6.8 percent.”

“A review by the Energy and Technology Committee is necessary to ensure that the state, utilities and municipalities are following the 42 pages of recommendations of the Two Storm Panel, which I served on six years ago,” Sen. Osten said. “Reviews of natural disaster responses should occur on a regular basis here in Connecticut.”

In recent years, Senate Democrats led passage of storm response legislation requiring the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to study and then establish minimum performance standards for emergency preparation and response for every electric company and gas company in Connecticut. These standards addressed:

  • Minimum staffing and equipment levels for outage planning and restoration (linemen, technicians, etc)
  • Targets for recovery and restoration of service based on the proportion of affected customers
  • Mutual aid agreements with out-of-state companies to bring in surplus workers as needed
  • Communication between utilities and customers, including during non-business hours, and to notify the public of service restoration estimates and dangerous conditions
  • Communication between and amongst utilities and government officials
  • Tree-trimming practices to reduce outages due to fallen limbs
  • Safety standards for employees of each utility, mutual aid crews and private contractors

Noncompliance with PURA’s performance standards could result in penalties of up to 2.5 percent of an electric or gas company’s annual distribution revenue, approximately $25 million in the case of Connecticut Light & Power. The penalties would be assessed as a credit on customer bills, and would not be recoverable by the utilities through increased rates.

Download a copy of the letter to the leaders of the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee.

Senate Majority Leader Duff and Senator Osten Seek Examination of Eversource’s Storm Response

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Senate Majority Leader Duff & Senator Osten Seek Examination of Eversource’s Storm Response

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today wrote to the leaders of the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee asking that they convene an informational public forum to examine Eversource Energy’s seeming lack of proper storm preparedness and lack of a quick, effective storm response in advance of and following the damaging windstorm of October 29-30 which left more than 100,000 Connecticut residents in the dark for multiple days—particularly residents of eastern Connecticut.

“Once again, too many customers were left in the dark without adequate communication from Eversource,” said Senator Duff. “To make matters worse, residents of New Hampshire received automated telephone updates regarding power restoration efforts in Connecticut and vice versa. I believe that a review of Eversource’s storm response is particularly warranted in light of Eversource’s new request of state regulators to approve a three-year, $336.8 million rate increase for the company, which would raise the average Connecticut consumer’s electricity bill by 6.8 percent.”

“A review by the Energy and Technology Committee is necessary to ensure that the state, utilities and municipalities are following the 42 pages of recommendations of the Two Storm Panel, which I served on six years ago,” Sen. Osten said. “Reviews of natural disaster responses should occur on a regular basis here in Connecticut.”

In recent years, Senate Democrats led passage of storm response legislation requiring the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to study and then establish minimum performance standards for emergency preparation and response for every electric company and gas company in Connecticut. These standards addressed:

  • Minimum staffing and equipment levels for outage planning and restoration (linemen, technicians, etc)
  • Targets for recovery and restoration of service based on the proportion of affected customers
  • Mutual aid agreements with out-of-state companies to bring in surplus workers as needed
  • Communication between utilities and customers, including during non-business hours, and to notify the public of service restoration estimates and dangerous conditions
  • Communication between and amongst utilities and government officials
  • Tree-trimming practices to reduce outages due to fallen limbs
  • Safety standards for employees of each utility, mutual aid crews and private contractors

Noncompliance with PURA’s performance standards could result in penalties of up to 2.5 percent of an electric or gas company’s annual distribution revenue, approximately $25 million in the case of Connecticut Light & Power. The penalties would be assessed as a credit on customer bills, and would not be recoverable by the utilities through increased rates.

Download a copy of the letter to the leaders of the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee.

Senator Duff Named Finalist in National Ideas Challenge

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Senator Duff Named Finalist in National Ideas Challenge

Work on Occupational Licensing Reform is recognized as one of most innovative/impactful state or local policy proposals in “Future of Business” category

Washington, DC—The NewDEAL announced today that, through his efforts to reform occupational licensing and increase access to good jobs, Senator Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) has been named a finalist in the 2017 New Ideas Challenge—a competition among rising and innovative state and local policymakers to propose the best ideas for expanding opportunity and improving government in the new economy. A full list of finalists is below.

Of fifty proposals evaluated by an esteemed and diverse panel of judges, Duff’s occupational licensing reform is a finalist in the “Future of Business” category, which includes ideas that spur innovation and entrepreneurship. Legislation he spearheaded would phase out unnecessary occupational licenses for jobs that don’t have educational or professional prerequisites, like Residential Flat Glass or Automotive Glazier, making it easier for people to enter the workforce and start a business in these fields.

“I am honored to be named a finalist and to be included in this group of talented and innovative leaders across the country,” said Sen Duff. “Here in Connecticut and across the country we need to create more pathways to career opportunities and jobs. This is an exciting opportunity to share Connecticut’s model legislation with other legislatures and to learn from other outstanding work being done to help more Americans get ahead and have access to the opportunities they deserve.”

“In a world being rapidly transformed by the forces of globalization and technological innovation, and where Americans have lost faith in government to solve pressing issues, the New Ideas Challenges shows how a group of innovative state and local officials are rising to the challenge of finding solutions for the new economy,” said NewDEAL Executive Director Debbie Cox Bultan. “Senator Duff and his fellow finalists have made proposals that, together, set a governing agenda for the country to follow and for making the economy and government work better for the American people.”

In its third edition, this year’s Challenge seeks to identify effective ways to address profound anxieties resulting from a new economy that has left many Americans behind. The Challenge is open to the 155 members of the NewDEAL (Developing Exceptional American Leaders), an organization chaired by U.S. Senator Mark Warner and former Delaware Governor Jack Markell to support state and local pro-growth progressive elected officials through the exchange of ideas and engagement with other top public, private, and non-profit sector officials.

The competition’s six categories cover ideas that:

  • provide better access to the high-quality education and training required for workers to excel in the new economy;
  • spur innovation and entrepreneurship;
  • strengthen communities and recognize that everyone benefits when more people have the best chance to contribute positively;
  • adapt government programs and services to meet the evolving needs of citizens and operate as effectively as possible in the new economy;
  • improve access to safety net and other programs that are critical for supporting healthy and secure families in the new economy; and
  • address challenges that have become particularly acute in rural communities.

Submissions to the New Ideas Challenge were evaluated by eight judges:
Ami Bera, Congressman (CA-07)
Emily Cain, Executive Director, EMILY’’s List
Jim Kessler, Senior VP for Policy, Third Way
Bruce Reed, Co-chair of Aspen Future of Work Initiative & former Chief of Staff to VP Biden
Mark Riddle, President, New Leaders Council
Joe Sandberg, Founder & CEO, Aspiration.com, an Founder of CalEITC4Me
Neera Tanden, President & CEO, Center for American Progress
Leena Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner

The six winners of the New Ideas Challenge will be announced on Thursday November 16 at the seventh annual NewDEAL Leaders Conference in Washington.

2017 New Ideas Challenge Finalists:

The Future of Workforce
Community College Gap Assistance—Senator Kate Bolz, Lincoln, NE
Code Louisville—Mayor Greg Fischer, Louisville, KY
Empowerment School Zones—Senator Eric Lesser, Longmeadow, MA

The Future of Business
Occupational Licensing Reform—Senator Bob Duff, Norwalk, CT
Resource Innovation Campus—Councilmember Kate Gallego, Phoenix, AZ
BankLocal—General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island

The Future of Communities
Rapid Assessment and Support Services Diversion—District Attorney Charles Branson, Douglas County, KS
Kids’ Home Run—Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, West Sacramento, CA
Collective Impact on Homelessness—Mayor Ben McAdams, Salt Lake County, UT

The Future of Government
Denver: An Entrepreneurial City—Mayor Michael Hancock, Denver, DO
Data Science for Water Infrastructure—Mayor Stephanie Miner, Syracuse, NY
OregonSaves 2.0—State Treasurer Tobias Read, Oregon

The Future of Families
Whole Child Leon: Building Community Support for our Youngest Children—Representative Loranne Ausley, Tallahassee, FL
Make Head Start A Full Day Program—Councilmember Hans Reimer, Montgomery County, MD
Supporting Workers in the Gig Economy—Assemblyman Troy Singleton, Mount Laurel, NJ

The Future of Rural America
Rural Economic Advancement Of Colorado Towns—REACT—Senator Kerry Donovan, Vail, CO
Rural Infrastructure, Transportation and Innovation Act—Senator Jennifer Schilling, La Crosse, WI
Statewide Imagination Library Partnership—Representative Clarke Tucker, Little Rock, AR

Senator Hartley E-News: Honoring Connecticut’s Heroes on Veterans Day

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Moore Welcomes Reopening of Connecticut’s “Care 4 Kids” Program

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Moore Welcomes Reopening of Connecticut’s “Care 4 Kids” Program

Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) today celebrated a most-welcome announcement that the State of Connecticut’s “Care 4 Kids” program is reopening its application process, thanks to the state legislature’s appropriating nearly $31 million for the program over the next two years.

Care 4 Kids helps low income families in Connecticut pay for child care costs. In August 2016, it closed new applications to most families after the federal government instituted several new costly mandates, including ongoing professional development, background checks for providers, and new eligibility standards for families. An estimated 5,800 fewer children were served by the program as a result of those increased costs.

After these cuts in services, Sen. Moore, Senate Co-Chair of the Children and Human Services committees, participated in a Care 4 Kids working group with providers and various organizations to discuss possible solutions to the impending financial impact families. Sen. Moore and child care advocates made re-funding the Care4Kids program a priority in the 2018-19 biennial state budget and secured $10.25 million in state funding in the current FY18 fiscal year, and another $20.5 million for FY19.

“After fighting tirelessly to secure funding for the Care 4 Kids program in the state budget, today it gives me great pleasure to see the program being rebooted to include more families,” Sen. Moore said. “Because child care is often one of the biggest monthly expenses families will face, sometimes working parents are forced to quit their jobs to care for their children. This program helps keep parents at work and their children in good care.”

Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced today that effective immediately, the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood has reopened the Care 4 Kids program and eligible families on the wait list can now begin to enroll for the state’s primary child care support.

Families who registered on the wait list will begin to receive requests to apply in phases starting today. Consistent with state rules, enrollment begins with the highest-need families defined by priority groups and those families who have been on the wait list longest.

For more information, please visit www.ctcare4kids.com or call 1-888-214-KIDS (5437).

Senator Osten E-News: Honoring Connecticut’s Heroes on Veterans Day

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Senator Bye E-News: Honoring Connecticut’s Heroes on Veterans Day

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Senator Larson E-News: Honoring Connecticut’s Heroes on Veterans Day

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Senator McCrory E-News: Honoring Connecticut’s Heroes on Veterans Day

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