Month: February 2019

Senator Haskell Introduces Legislation To Aid Municipal Leaders

HARTFORD, CT – Today, State Senator Will Haskell (D-Westport) announced legislation he submitted to the General Assembly that would provide relief to municipal governments. This legislation aims to provide towns with increased budget stability and greater flexibility when publishing public notices. These changes would solve problems that have frustrated municipal officials in recent years.

“Immediately after Election Day, I reached out to the municipal leaders in my district to learn how I could support their important work. These bills stem from those conversations, and I’m grateful for their input and advice,” said Sen. Haskell.

Senate Bill No. 466, “An Act Prohibiting the Executive Branch from Making Rescissions to a Town’s Education Cost-Sharing Grant During the Fiscal Year,” would restrict the Governor from revoking or canceling Education Cost Sharing grant funding from a town during a fiscal year.

Over the last several years, the executive branch has sought to make drastic cuts to school funding several times, including a potential executive order in 2017 that would eliminate Education Cost sharing funding entirely for more than half of the state’s school districts. The proposals, and the disruption they created for municipal budgets, negatively impact a town’s abilities to make responsible and forward-looking fiscal decisions.

“While we’re facing a statewide budget crisis, taking money that’s already been promised to schools and pulling it away, leaving towns and cities to deal with possible deficits of millions of dollars, is not the answer,” said Sen. Haskell. “It’s time for our state government to take a cue from municipal leaders and plan responsibility for their fiscal future. No governor should have the ability to threaten such massive cuts, especially when the funding is dedicated to something as important as our students.”

“This is a wonderful example of sound thoughtful legislation,” said Weston First Selectman Christopher Spaulding. “It is extremely difficult for municipalities to reopen the budget process. As a result, impacts tend to be less efficient and more impactful, negatively, to citizens.”

Senate Bill No. 515, “An Act Permitting the Online Publication of Legal Notices by Municipalities,” would allow towns and cities to post legal notices online.

This bill would give municipalities more freedom, modernizing statutes that currently require them to post notices in newspapers and in public settings. Current rules restrict municipalities and force them to undergo costly means of communication that are frankly outdated. By allowing them to post these publicly on websites, towns and cities can better advertise matters of public interest where residents will actually see them.
“I represent some towns that don’t have a local newspaper. Why should they be forced to pay for legal notices to be printed in a neighboring town’s paper when instead they could be read by everyone on a local digital news source?” said Sen. Haskell. “We need to modernize our laws to reflect increasingly digital landscape, as citizens are turning more and more toward to the internet for their news. In addition to boosting transparency, this will reduce the significant costs involved with paying to post notices in newspapers, savings municipalities thousands of dollars annually.”

“This is clearly needed in a town like Weston,” said First Selectman Spaulding. “At this point we have little to no realistic circulation of any print media. As such, we have to use neighboring communities’ publications and have serious concerns of posting without adequate exposure. At this stage of media reorganization, this legislation simply makes sense.”

“We support the modernization of CT laws to allow digital publication of public notices because the cost of newspaper advertisements has grown to be a significant expense for our town,” said New Canaan First Selectman Kevin Moynihan.

Senate Bill No. 670, “An Act Lowering the Excess Cost Threshold for Special Education,” would amend state laws to reduce the reimbursement threshold for special education costs from a current rate of 4 ½ times the average cost per pupil to two times the average cost.

“Given the tremendous unpredictability surrounding special education costs, I believe the state should play a larger role providing relief to local education budgets,” said Sen. Haskell. “I am eager to maintain a high quality education for students of every ability. Yet too often, towns are forced to make cuts elsewhere in order to fund programs for a small number of students. This bill is especially important in districts with higher rates of per-pupil spending.”

“Given Weston’s deep devotion to the principle that every child deserves a quality education and given that costs in this area easily outpace revenue and Cost of Living/inflation growth, any relief we can get in this area would be of immense benefit,” said First Selectman Spaulding.

Senator Haskell Lauds Advancement Of Nursing Home Legislation

HARTFORD, CT – Today, State Senator Will Haskell (D-Westport) lauded the advancement of legislation he introduced to the General Assembly that would increase oversight and transparency of nursing homes throughout the state, protecting their patients. The legislation underwent a public hearing in front of the Public Health Committee this week.

Senate Bill No. 375, “An Act Concerning Nursing Home Staffing Levels,” is intended to ensure nursing homes adequately and accurately report the number of staff working in patient care. This would make sure nursing homes are not misreporting staff levels and would provide additional information to patients and their families.

“Research shows that nursing homes will often report administrative staff, and other staff members who don’t directly care for patients, in direct care roles,” said Sen. Haskell. “That skews numbers that directly correlate to patients receiving the care they need and the care they deserve. About one in every six Connecticut residents is over the age of 65. This is an issue that will directly impact their health. I applaud the Public Health Committee for discussing this important bill and I look forward to continuing to work to get it passed.”

“There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates a link between adequate nurse staffing and better patient outcomes,” said testimony submitted by the Connecticut Senate Democrats. “When nursing homes are short of staff, nurses and aides scramble to deliver meals, ferry bedbound residents to the bathroom and answer calls for pain medication. Essential medical tasks such as repositioning a patient to avert bedsores can be overlooked when workers are overburdened, sometimes leading to avoidable hospitalizations.”

Testimony submitted by the Connecticut Department of Public Health said there are national concerns about nursing home staffing being too low during the weekend.

“When nursing home staffing levels are too low, both patients and staff are put at risk,” said Sen. Haskell. “Patients may have to wait for care, or receive inadequate care, while staff members are tasked to take care of too many patients. This can even lead to injuries, for instance if a patient falls out of their bed trying to find help or if a staff member tries to lift a patient by themselves because there is no one to help them. We need to do right by our elders and those we trust to take care of them.”