Transportation Committee Hears Haskell-Steinberg Bill to Promote Electric Vehicles
Today, the Transportation Committee heard legislation introduced by State Senator Will Haskell (D-Westport) and State Representative Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport) that would permit electric vehicle manufacturers to sell electric cars directly to the consumer. Currently, Connecticut residents are required to purchase an electric vehicle, such as a Tesla, elsewhere. Connecticut is an outlier in the region, as most neighboring states do not require cars to be sold through a dealership and instead can be purchased by a consumer directly from a manufacturer.
“Our current state law makes for bad economic policy and bad environmental policy,” said Sen. Haskell. “With 40% of carbon emissions stemming from the transportation sector, we should be doing everything we can to put more drivers behind the wheel of an electric vehicle. Instead, we’re pushing them across the border and forcing them to make this purchase elsewhere. I’m glad the Transportation Committee has agreed to consider this overdue reform, and I look forward to fighting to make electric vehicles more affordable and accessible.”
“Every major car manufacturer has embraced electric vehicles as our inevitable future,” said Rep. Steinberg. “Yet our state continues to frustrate sales of EVs by sticking with an antiquated law which forbids sales directly to the consumer, while virtually every other state has abandoned this restriction. CT will fall behind other states, damaging our economy and environment, all because entrenched interests cling to the status quo. It’s long past time for our state to take action on facilitating EV sales.”
Senate Bill 127, “An Act Concerning The Sale of Electric Vehicles In The State,” would amend state statutes to allow electric vehicle manufacturers with sustainable business models and electric-only production to be granted new or used car dealer’s licenses. Manufacturers would still be required to meet Connecticut’s strong consumer protection laws.
The EV Club of Connecticut has fought for this legislation, citing the state’s slow progress toward a stated goal of putting 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030. While Tesla is permitted to conduct test drives at its Milford location, customers must drive to Mt. Kisco, New York to pick up their vehicle. As other electric car manufacturers, such as Lucid and Rivian enter the marketplace, Connecticut and its residents are at a disadvantage in accessing these 21st century vehicles.
Energy & Technology Committee Hears Biogas Legislation in Effort to Support Environment, Innovate New Energy Sources
Energy & Technology Committee Hears Biogas Legislation in Effort to Support Environment, Innovate New Energy Sources
Today, the Energy and Technology Committee, co-chaired by State Senator Norm Needleman (D-Essex) held a public hearing considering legislation seeking to improve energy consumption and use while attempting to reduce solid waste, benefitting the state’s efforts to improve efficiency for better energy performance and reduced environmental impact. It comes two years after the General Assembly approved legislation that promoted the production and installation of anaerobic digestion energy consumption methods, which sees organic matter like animal waste used to produce energy resources, and would further strengthen that method of energy production.
“I’m highly supportive of deriving energy from anaerobic digestion, as it’s a lovely solution to two problems: finding efficient renewable energy sources and disposing of waste that would otherwise be pollutive,” said Sen. Needleman. “Farm waste is normally just waste needing to be disposed of, but it can be used to make biogas similar to natural gases we use today. This supports new, innovative energy solutions just as much as it supports reducing waste and putting it toward a better cause.”
Among the legislation heard today was House Bill No. 6409, “An Act Concerning The Solicitation Of Biogas Injection Proposals From Anaerobic Digestion Facilities.” As written, if the legislation is approved into law, state departments would be allowed to solicit energy proposals from any facility that can convert food or animal waste into biogas. The resultant gas, as long as it would be suitable for injection into the state’s natural gas distribution system, would then enter the energy marketplace. Proposals would be considered on merits including energy customers’ best interests, alignment with waste management policy goals and potential positive impacts for the state’s agricultural industry, among others.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, anaerobic digestion sees bacteria break down organic waste matter in the absence of oxygen. Equipment allows the bacteria to break down the waste, creating biogas and other byproducts that can be used much like natural gas and other fuels are used today to create electricity, heating or vehicle fuel.
Looney Submits Testimony Supporting Labor Committee Proposals
Looney Submits Testimony Supporting Labor Committee Proposals
Today, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) submitted testimony to the Labor and Public Employees Committee in support of SB 658 An Act Requiring Employers To Recall Laid-Off Workers In Order Of Seniority, SB 660 An Act Expanding Workers’ Compensation Benefits For Mental Or Emotional Impairments Suffered By All Workers, SB 666 An Act Concerning Workers’ Compensation Benefits For Certain Mental Or Emotional Impairments And Mental Health Care For Correctional Staff, Emergency Medical Staff And Dispatchers, and SB 668 An Act Concerning A Fair Work Week Schedule.
Below is the testimony from Senator Looney:
Good morning Senator Kushner, Representative Porter and members of the Labor and Public Employees Committee. I would like to express my support for SB 658 An Act Requiring Employers To Recall Laid-Off Workers In Order Of Seniority, SB 660 An Act Expanding Workers’ Compensation Benefits For Mental Or Emotional Impairments Suffered By All Workers, SB 666 An Act Concerning Workers’ Compensation Benefits For Certain Mental Or Emotional Impairments And Mental Health Care For Correctional Staff, Emergency Medical Staff And Dispatchers , And SB 668 An Act Concerning A Fair Work Week Schedule.
SB 658 would create protections for laid off workers by requiring that they be rehired in order of seniority. This will protect workers who have been laid off such that when they are called back, they will return to their former jobs at their former rate of pay and conditions of work. It would protect these employees from being forced to re-apply for their jobs as if they were new employees and being hired at a much lower rate of pay. This protection will be needed as our economy improves as we get COVID under control. The last year has been a long year for employees in our state as they have struggled with the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. We owe them a fair deal and a level playing field as they work to regain their former economic standing.
In 1993, the General Assembly made a mistake; it changed the law and denied workers’ compensation benefits to employees suffering from a mental or emotional impairment as a direct result of witnessing the death or maiming of another human being whose death or maiming was caused by an act of a person. In recent years medical science has made it increasingly clear that a mental health impairment is as disabling as a physical impairment. Today there is a far more sophisticated understanding of the causes and seriousness of mental and emotional impairments. It is time to correct that mistake and allow all workers who suffer a mental or emotional impairment in this way access to workers’ compensation regardless of whether the employee suffered a physical injury. SB 660 would provide this protection for all employees and I believe that would be the best path forward. SB 666 would build on PA 19-17 and expand the categories of employees who could receive workers’ compensation for this type of injury. I would, of course, support those efforts as well.
Since 1993 advances in neuroscience have demonstrated that the injuries caused by the trauma of witnessing a violent death or maiming are indeed real and when such injuries occur in connection with employment they should be compensable to the extent that the General Assembly provided coverage to first responders in PA 19-17 . The coverage in that Act limits benefits to 52 weeks after the diagnosis date. It also prohibits any of these benefits from being awarded beyond four years after the qualifying event that formed the basis for the PTSD and it prohibits an officer or firefighter who is receiving PTSD benefits from receiving workers’ compensation permanent partial disability benefits. The act further limits an officer’s or firefighter’s PTSD benefits by prohibiting them from exceeding the officer’s or firefighter’s average weekly wage when combined with his or her other benefits, including those received from contributory and noncontributory retirement systems, Social Security, and long-term or short-term disability plans.
The more limited legislation would not assist employees such as teachers and other employees who witness school shootings such as at Sandy Hook or co-workers at the Lottery Corporation or Hartford Distributors. None of these employees would have a compensable injury without a physical component. It is beyond time for a change to reflect current scientific understanding of the causes and effects of mental impairments.
SB 668 would require employers to provide employees with at least 24 hours’ notice of their shifts. This would greatly improve the quality of life for shift workers who currently have little control over their own schedules and can be left in a nearly impossible scramble to make arrangements for child care and other matters. The bill will not prohibit employees from working if they receive less than 24 hours’ notice of their shift, as long as they mutually agree to do so with their employer.
Thank you for hearing these bills that will protect Connecticut’s workforce as the state recovers from the COVID pandemic.
Sen. Cabrera Issues Statement on Eversource Seeking to Collect Millions of Dollars Spent on Tropical Storm Isaias from Ratepayers
Sen. Cabrera Issues Statement on Eversource Seeking to Collect Millions of Dollars Spent on Tropical Storm Isaias from Ratepayers
HARTFORD, CT – Today, state Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) released the following statement regarding recent news Eversource is seeking to recover millions of dollars from Connecticut ratepayers due to costs related to Tropical Storm Isaias. Sen. Cabrera represents three towns, Beacon Falls, Bethany and Naugatuck, that are in Eversource’s service area, and were adversely affected by the company’s slow response to the tropical storm.
“Eversource seeking to recover funds from Connecticut ratepayers after the companies’ poor response to Tropical Storm Isaias is entirely unacceptable,” said Sen. Cabrera. “Many across the state, and specifically in my district in Naugatuck, Beacon Falls and Bethany, were left without power for days due to the slow storm response from Eversource. This resulted in many, who had stockpiled groceries due to the pandemic, watching their food spoil and medications that required refrigeration go bad. The cost burden of Isaias should not fall on the shoulders of Eversource’s customers who suffered through days of miscommunication and a long-lasting power outage. During a time when some Connecticut residents and families are struggling financially, I find it incredibly inappropriate to expect them to foot the bill for Eversource’s errors. I urge the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to deny these costs being levied on Eversource’s customers.”
In 2020, Tropical Storm Isaias tore through Connecticut, leaving hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents without power. In certain parts of the state, some were without power for up to nine days. To address Eversource’s poor storm response, the General Assembly passed a bill which will require electric utility companies to pay customers a maximum of $250 for spoiled food and medication if a power outage lasts longer than four days. Additionally, for outages lasting longer than 96 hours, customers are to be credited $25 per day.
About Sen. Cabrera: The senator was the first in his family to attend college, earning a degree in Political Science from Quinnipiac University. The senator is a business representative with UFCW Local 919 and has devoted the last 25 years fighting for working families across the 17th District and country. Sen. Cabrera is Senate Chair of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Vice Chair of the Labor Committee.
Eastern CT Democrats Write Reps. DeLauro & Courtney Urging Investment in Regional Public Works Projects
Eastern CT Democrats Write Reps. DeLauro & Courtney Urging Investment in Regional Public Works Projects
Eastern Connecticut’s Democratic state legislative delegation has written newly minted House Appropriations Committee Chair Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd) and Congressman Joe Courtney (D-2nd) and proposed a list of regional public works investments that they believe could bring environmental, employment and economic benefits to the region – if the federal government thinks big about pulling America out its coronavirus-induced recession.
State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) and state Representatives Christine Conley (D-Groton), Emmett Riley (D-Norwich) and Kevin Ryan (D-Montville) wrote U.S. Reps. DeLauro and Courtney today and identified approximately two dozen projects in Norwich, Franklin, Bozrah, Sprague, Ledyard, Hebron, Lebanon, Marlborough, Montville, Columbia, Lisbon and Groton that could benefit from an investment in federal funding, which they likened to a modern version of the Works Progress Administration program unveiled in the mid-1930’s by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
“Today, we face a similar need,” the eastern Connecticut legislators wrote. “As you may know, the total non-farm employment in Connecticut is down 101,000 jobs, or about 6%, from December 2019. In eastern Connecticut, we have fared even worse, losing more than 12,000 jobs, nearly 10% fewer jobs than we had in December 2019.”
“We have spoken with towns in the 19th District (and bordering towns) and detail below some of the most important projects as identified by local leaders. You have indicated that earmarks may be brought back; as such, these projects have value as regional assets, provide resources for addressing environmental concerns and relate to addressing needs that some of these small towns do not have the capacity to handle,” they wrote.
The proposed projects include: upgrades to sewer treatment plants, water systems and electrical substations; natural gas line expansion; sewer line expansion; upgraded water pumps and storage; new public works and public safety buildings; drainage, culvert and bridge work; ADA upgrades at public buildings; a boat launch expansion and upgrades; road work; and fire department buildings and equipment.
Senator Anwar Joins Stakeholders, Calls for ‘The Right to Housing’
Senator Anwar Joins Stakeholders, Calls for ‘The Right to Housing’
This afternoon, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) joined stakeholders from the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, the ACLU and local charities helping the homeless, among others, to call for the passage of legislation affirming the “Right to Housing.” Legislation regarding the prospect, which would overhaul current housing practices to not only assist the nearly 3,000 homeless individuals in Connecticut but more than 100,000 renters struggling to afford rent, has been introduced to the General Assembly as Senate Bill 194, “An Act To Establish The Right To Housing.” Initially proposed in winter 2020 before the first domestic outbreaks of COVID-19, this legislation is only more pressing due to the ripple effects caused by the resultant pandemic.
“Everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and decency,” said Sen. Anwar. “The push to make housing a right in Connecticut comes from loving thy neighbor, not only the one next to your home but the ones in your community who may not have a home. It is also about the need to invest in our workforce, because prevention is better than cure. The state has done a good job historically in preventing homelessness and addressing housing challenges, but more can always be done. Our pre-pandemic strengths have helped many during the pandemic itself, but if we build on the strength, we can further bolster our resources.
It’s not just about how we treat the most vulnerable but the most in need. If you were living on the street with nowhere to go, how would you find your way out? How will you get a job without a physical address, or access health care? Everything we do is limited without an address. Struggles with mental health or substance use only worsen the problem of homelessness, as do societal pressures. If you’re fleeing domestic violence, where do you go? Too many struggle with these questions. Many must cycle in and out of emergency departments, prisons, mental health institutions and other programs, costing tens of thousands; treating them saves the state as well as improves their lives. We cannot just look at homelessness but the many people barely surviving, close to losing homes. We need to address evictions and prevent them. The pathways to homelessness are known; if we respond to each of them with a way forward, we strengthen our state.”
“When you get down to it, society has failed individuals struggling with housing insecurity,” said Tiernan Cabot, the founder of Hartford regional charity Hartford Bags of Love, which aids homeless people in the Hartford region. “Whether it’s not having a plan in place for people looking to get back on their feet, not giving the help they need for mental health and other issues or outright denying the issue and looking the other way. While numbers of homeless have declined in recent years, we need to do more. The important part of this bill is it doesn’t just seek to end homelessness but prevent it in the future.”
“I’ve lived through homelessness, the shame of not having somewhere to live, the shame of being made to feel ‘less than’ because I didn’t have what people should have,” said Myra Smith, neighborhood services advocate for Christian Community Action.. “Having a discussion about housing is like having a conversation on breathing. It is something that is given in life. Housing is needed, it is not optional. It should be guaranteed and simplified, something that comes along with life. Your body needs somewhere to reside, to take care of family; once you fall into homelessness, it becomes mental bondage. I kept repeating the cycle because I could not get out of the bondage in my mind. I’ve been stable for a decade now, but it took until the age of 30 to get stable, and I still battle with my mind sometimes. That is something people who do not have stable housing face all the time. You can meet basic needs, but what are we doing to make sure this is permanent?”
“While the right is recognized moreso at an international level, the ‘Right to Housing’ has domestic origins,” said Eric Tars of the National Homelessness Law Center, noting President Franklin D. Roosevelt advocated for housing support in the 1930s, one of the many ideas that influenced his “second Bill of Rights.” While resulting housing programs benefitted many, they left out Black and Brown people, Tars said, leading to inequity we still see today.
“Just 100 years ago, there was no temporary assistance for needy families. Before federal welfare was created, states led the way,” said Matthew Morgan, executive director of support charity Journey Home, who noted states initially created unemployment insurance, medical benefit programs and other efforts. It was only then “people realized you could become homeless due to reasons out of their control. We have to create, here in Connecticut, the right to housing. We can create change by protecting the right to housing and could even forge a path for the federal government to follow.”
With nearly 3,000 Connecticut individuals considered homeless, 124,000 renters paying at least half their income to rent and more than 45,000 renters in the state at risk of eviction, the issue of housing insecurity must be addressed on terms of more than just ending homelessness. The stress of housing insecurity can contribute to declines in health, restrictions on employment, developmental issues in children and increased mortality, among others.
If the “Right to Housing,” legislation introduced to the Housing Committee by Sen. Anwar, it would establish a right to stable housing and fight housing loss, increase access to affordable housing and ensure housing meets residents’ basic needs. Among the many tools planned for adoption to help this are ending exclusionary zoning, funding homelessness response systems, providing counsel to individuals facing eviction or foreclosure and lessening the impact of past history on current housing access. The legislation could represent a significant step forward in how society views housing insecurity.
Senator Daugherty Abrams Appointed to Committee to Oversee 2021 Redistricting in Connecticut
Senator Daugherty Abrams Appointed to Committee to Oversee 2021 Redistricting in Connecticut
HARTFORD, CT – State Senator Mary Daugherty Abrams (D-Meriden, Middlefield, Rockfall, Middletown, Cheshire) was appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) to serve on the bipartisan Reapportionment Committee charged with the responsibility of redrawing Connecticut’s legislative and congressional districts. Sen. Abrams joins state Senator Doug McCrory (D-Hartford) as one of Sen. Looney’s two designees.
“I am grateful to Sen. Looney for this appointment and eager to serve on this important committee,” said Sen. Daugherty Abrams. “Redistricting greatly impacts equity of access in voting and, as we witnessed in 2020, the importance of voting ease and access are integral to our democracy. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure voting in Connecticut remains a fair, straight-forward and equal process across the state and to identifying areas, through redistricting, in which voting can be made more equitable.”
“The redistricting process is an indispensable part of ensuring the legislature represents the voices of the people of Connecticut,” said Sen. Looney. “I am pleased to name Sen. Daugherty Abrams to the committee and trust her in her dedication to upholding the principal of one person, one vote.”
The eight-person committee is an integral component of a multi-month process outlined by the Connecticut Constitution. Committee members, chosen by the four top legislative leaders and appointed by the governor, will use data from the 2020 Census in redrawing district lines. The committee is expected to prepare and submit a districting plan to the Connecticut General Assembly for their approval.
The redrawing of districts to ensure that everyone’s vote has equal importance is part of a process that takes place in each state of the nation.
Aging Committee Unanimously Approves Sen. Slap’s Anti-Age Discrimination Bill
Aging Committee Unanimously Approves Sen. Slap’s Anti-Age Discrimination Bill
HARTFORD – The legislature’s Aging Committee today unanimously approved a bill championed by state Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford) that would make Connecticut a national leader in protecting older workers from age discrimination.
The bill prohibits employers from asking for an applicants’ date of birth or school graduation and/or attendance dates on job applications. If enacted, Connecticut would be one of just a few states in America that explicitly bans this type of information on job applications.
The bill was referred by the Aging Committee to the state Senate for further action; the Senate could either refer the bill to another committee for consideration, or simply hold a vote on it before the legislative session ends in June.
“Today we moved one step closer to making a critical improvement in state law that will protect older workers,” said Sen. Slap, who is Senate Chair of the Aging Committee. “Hopefully, with the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations picking up, we’ll be reopening more workplaces soon, and companies will start hiring again. And when they do, older workers will know that they have as much of a fair shot at going back to work as anyone else. No one should be vetted for a job simply because of their age, and this bill will help close that loophole in current law.”
Senate Bill 56, “AN ACT DETERRING AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION,” is the same bill that received widespread support last year – including from the Connecticut AARP, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, and a group of West Hartford seniors – before the coronavirus pandemic ended the 2020 legislative session.
With 436,000 workers in their mid-50’s, Connecticut has the 6th-oldest workforce in the nation, with a median age of 41 (as of 2017.) Just 20% of Connecticut employees were over the age 54 in 2008; today that figure is 26.5%, with the health care, manufacturing, educational services and retail trade industries employing the most workers over age 54.
A 2018 AARP survey found about 60% of older workers have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, and 76% of them see age discrimination as a hurdle to finding a new job. Meanwhile, nearly a third of U.S. households headed by someone age 55 or older have no retirement savings or pension, meaning they’ll have to continue working or rely on Social Security in order to survive financially.
Looney Testifies in Support of His PILOT Reimbursement Proposal
Looney Testifies in Support of His PILOT Reimbursement Proposal
Bill will increase funding for cities and towns
Today, the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee held a public hearing on bill introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven), SB 873 AN ACT MITIGATING ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES RESULTING FROM EMPLOYEES WORKING REMOTELY DURING COVID-19, AND CONCERNING THE REMOVAL OF LIENS ON THE PROPERTY OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE BENEFICIARIES AND A THREE-TIERED GRANTS IN LIEU OF TAXES PROGRAM.
The bill will create a new three-tiered PILOT payment system to increase reimbursement for cities and towns for lost revenue due to the exemption of non-profit and government property from local taxable grand lists.
Below is the testimony from Senator Looney:
Senator Fonfara, Representative Scanlon, Senator Martin, Representative Cheeseman and members of the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee:
I am submitting this testimony in support of S.B. 873, specifically in support of the provisions that create a three-tiered PILOT payment system.
As many of you know, Connecticut attempts to reimburse our cities and towns for lost revenue due to the exemption of non-profit and government property from our taxable grand lists. Specifically, we reimburse our municipalities for Colleges, Hospitals and state property located within these municipalities. They are not reimbursed for the full amount of the revenue loss, but by a formula set in statute which authorizes 100% reimbursement for prison property, 77% reimbursement for colleges and hospitals and 45% for all other state-owned property.
Unfortunately, our financial commitment to this program has not kept up with the need. While in 2000 we funded 100% of what towns were owed under the PILOT formula, this amount has been in steady decline ever since. In fact, if PILOT is funded at the same level in FY 22 as it is in FY 21, our state support will have plummeted to only 24% of what cities and towns are owed, approximately the level provided when the program was first created in the late 1970s. According to data from the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA), in FY 21 our state budget provided $158 million in funding for PILOT. According to the most recent data for FY 22, $613 million is needed to fully fund the PILOT program.
This situation has created a funding crisis for some of our cities and towns. While many municipalities are affected, none are more significantly impacted than Hartford and New Haven. These communities have over 50% of their property that has been designated tax exempt. The underfunding of our PILOT commitment to these two cities creates a staggering hardship.
New Haven receives only $41 million of the $180 million it would be entitled to under the PILOT formula if it were fully funded. Harford receives only $30 million of the $104 million it would be entitled to under the PILOT formula if it were fully funded. This loss of revenue has a direct relationship to the mill rates needed to operate these cities. I have attached a map that indicates what the unfunded portion of PILOT represents in terms of mills for each city and town. For example, In New Haven, this underfunding represents the equivalent of over 21 mills. In Harford it represents almost 18 ½ mills. However, these two cities are not the only ones impacted. New London is underfunded by the equivalent of 6 mills, almost 8 mills in Windham and over 5 mills in New Britain.
This underfunding raises the mill rate in these municipalities, making them more expensive in which to locate businesses and placing an excessive burden on taxpayers least likely to be able to afford it. Simply, this underfunding makes a regressive tax more regressive still.
The proposal in this bill is straightforward. Because it will probably not be realistic to fully fund PILOT at this time, this language prioritizes funding to the struggling communities, large and small, whose grand lists are the least robust.
S.B. 873 creates a three-tiered system that reimburses towns in the following way:
- Towns with an equalized net grand list per capita of less than $100,000 will receive 50% of what they are entitled to under the existing PILOT formula
- Towns with an equalized net grand list per capita of between $100,000 and $200,000 will receive 40% of what they are entitled to under the existing PILOT formula
- Towns with an equalized net grand list per capita of more than $200,000 will receive 30% of what they are entitled to under the existing PILOT formula
- OFA has estimated that PILOT funding will need to be increased by $129 million in order to fully implement this system. Given that PILOT is currently only funded at 24%, all communities that receive PILOT will see their PILOT payments increase under this proposal.
It is time we make a more significant commitment to fund PILOT. Given limited resources, this plan concentrates that investment into the communities that can least afford a reduction in revenue and a state mandated shrunken tax base.
I need to point out that the draft of this bill inadvertently deleted the existing language dealing with what we refer to as our supplemental PILOT payments. This program is part of the overall Municipal Revenue Sharing program that has not yet been fully implemented. I would request that any subsequent draft of this language restore that portion of the statute.
Finally, I would like to express my support for the language in this bill that eliminates liens on property up to $250,000 for individuals who have previously received some form of assistance from the State of Connecticut. The purpose of our public assistance programs is to lift people up and help them carve a path for their financial future. The existing state policies seem to punish those that successfully work their way out of poverty by clawing back the progress they have made.
Thank you for your consideration and for raising this critically important bill.
Senator McCrory Appointed to Serve on Reapportionment Committee
Senator McCrory Appointed to Serve on Reapportionment Committee
Today, State Senator Doug McCrory (D-Hartford) was appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) to serve on the bipartisan Reapportionment Committee charged with the responsibility of redrawing Connecticut’s legislative and congressional districts. Sen. McCrory joins Sen. Mary Daugherty Abrams (D-Meriden) as one of Sen. Looney’s two designees.
“I am humbled to be afforded this responsibility by Sen. Looney. I look forward to getting to work on making sure the residents of our state have their voices represented in the Connecticut General Assembly,” said Sen. McCrory.
“The redistricting process is an indispensable part of ensuring the legislature represents the voices of the people of Connecticut,” said Sen. Looney. “I am pleased to name Senator McCrory to this committee. He is an outstanding public servant and trust his dedication to upholding the principal of one person, one vote.”
The eight-person committee is an integral component of a multi-month process outlined by the Connecticut Constitution. Committee members, chosen by the four top legislative leaders and appointed by the governor, will use data from the 2020 Census in redrawing district lines. The committee is expected to prepare and submit a districting plan to the Connecticut General Assembly for their approval.
The redrawing of districts to ensure that everyone’s vote has equal importance is part of a process that takes place in each state of the nation.