Senators Looney & Duff Applaud West Coast Health Alliance, Call for Northeastern States to Follow Suit

Today, Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) applauded the announcement of the West Coast Health Alliance. The Alliance is a collaborative effort between the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington to provide region-specific health and vaccination recommendations to residents.

This announcement follows growing accusations of politicization at federal health institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control. Critics have pointed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who operated an anti-vaccine organization for profit for several years before being named to lead major American health institutions. Kennedy recently fired CDC Director Susan Moranez, who said she was ousted for disagreeing with his changes to vaccine recommendations. Several other department leaders resigned in response, and more than a thousand current and former staffers have protested his leadership in recent weeks.

Kennedy replaced Moranez with Jim O’Neill, a former presidential speechwriter who has no experience in medicine or science.

The West Coast Health Alliance also comes amid reports that Connecticut was one of eight states to send public health officials to a recent meeting about forming their own regional alliance. Such an effort would allow states to make health recommendations and guidance directly to the public. Sens. Looney and Duff encouraged Connecticut officials to pursue these partnerships.

“With COVID vaccines restricted to the public for the first time, and guidelines for their use suddenly changing more than four years after they were first used to save hundreds of thousands of lives, the government has gone from heavily encouraging vaccination to sowing distrust in it,” said Sen. Looney. “Those who can remember the scourges of polio, measles, and other illnesses that plagued, sickened, and killed Americans before vaccines know this is a dangerous direction. It follows conspiracy theories with no evidence over years of trusted, published data. Connecticut should turn away from that path. A northeastern collaborative effort to provide residents with science-based advice and recommendations can make sure our state is focused on health above narrative and reality over propaganda.”

“It’s odd that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. opposes vaccines when his own Centers for Disease Control estimated this year that COVID vaccines saved more than 5,000 lives, prevented 13,000 ICU visits, and averted 68,000 hospitalizations just in the winter of 2024. The COVID vaccine has saved 2.5 million lives across the globe since its introduction,” said Sen. Duff. “When his own staff is resigning and walking out of offices to protest his actions, it’s clear we can no longer fully trust the CDC, FDA, or HHS. It’s with that foresight that I commend the West Coast Health Alliance and call upon Connecticut and our allies in the Northeast to follow suit. The people of New England and the Northeast, home to some of the best colleges and health care in the nation, deserve confidence when researching the best health decisions for themselves.”

The West Coast Health Alliance will coordinate health guidance across its three states. It will focus on evidence-based immunization recommendations and provide residents with consistent and credible health information.

According to media reports, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington cited the politicization of the CDC and the mass firing of doctors and scientists as reasons for the Alliance. The HHS responded with a politicized statement attacking Democrats.

On the same day the Alliance was announced, Florida’s surgeon general declared that the Republican-led state would move to end all vaccine requirements for children.

Looney, Duff Urge Connecticut Towns, Cities to Review Connecticut Conference of Municipalities Priorities

Following the Manchester Board of Directors August meeting which addressed whether the town’s membership in the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) aligned with Manchester’s needs in light of CCM’s opposition to a key pro-housing bill passed by the General Assembly and then vetoed by Governor Lamont, Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) urged other Connecticut towns and cities to review their residents’ priorities and compare them to those of CCM.

Should town and CCM priorities differ, the Senate leaders said, municipal leaders should consider whether their municipality’s membership remains beneficial to them.

“No two towns in Connecticut have exactly the same needs, but many of them know we’re facing a deepening housing crunch,” said Sen. Looney. “For an organization purporting to represent the best interests of municipalities to emphasize rejection of already-passed legislation that would help address local housing needs suggests a disturbing gulf in priorities. I would encourage municipal leaders to take time to review CCM’s advocacy role and compare the benefits of membership with its messaging efforts opposing policies that could help them. The results could be striking.”

“I applaud Manchester leaders for recognizing their priorities supporting housing and labor may run in opposition to those held by organizations they are members of,” said Sen. Duff. “With CCM taking a more active role in calling for action on key legislation, I encourage more leaders to take time to reflect on best practices and next steps in rectifying the potential gap between their priorities and CCM priorities.”

CT Insider reported in August that Manchester’s Board of Directors voted to write a letter to CCM following the organization’s opposition to House Bill 5002, a major affordable housing bill that would have created significant new opportunities for housing units and alleviated the state’s housing crisis as well as spurring needed economic development. While CCM’s opposition alleged the bill would remove local control over zoning, Manchester’s response stated the bill’s policies were essential to combating homelessness and housing insecurity in Connecticut, issues that represent critical pressures on Connecticut residents and municipalities alike.

CCM was a leader in an effort to lobby Governor Lamont after House Bill 5002 passed both chambers of the General Assembly. While Lamont did not express opposition to the bill prior to its passage, he would ultimately veto it following a weeks-long campaign of opposition by detractors, leaving Connecticut’s housing shortfall of hundreds of thousands of units unaddressed.

In fact, CCM’s own messaging in April, in reference to its claims of municipalities being underfunded by the state, cited “surging” housing costs as a key issue impacting state residents. Its June statement in response to Lamont’s veto also recognizes “the urgent need to expand housing opportunities across the state” – in response to rejection of a bill passed by both chambers seeking to do just that.

Senator Looney Urges PURA to Hold AVANGRID Accountable for Betrayal of UI Retirees

HARTFORD – Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) urged the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) to hold AVANGRID accountable for its broken promises to United Illuminating (UI) and UIL Holdings retirees. In a letter sent to PURA Chair Marissa Paslick Gillett, Senator Looney urged the Authority to require AVANGRID to honor commitments made during its 2015 acquisition of UI.

“When United Illuminating was acquired by AVANGRID the agreement included guarantees that retirement benefits (including pensions and healthcare) would not be adversely affected by this transaction,” Looney wrote. “However, as the attached documents illustrate, on June 30, 2025, non-union UI/UIL retirees received a notice from AVANGRID stating that, effective January 1, 2026, AVANGRID plans to eliminate the current Medicare Part B premium reimbursement and transition the current Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) to a Contingent HRA which reduces the annual base subsidy by almost half for each retiree and their eligible dependents.”

Senator Looney emphasized the severity of this reversal, calling it “a betrayal of these employees and of the terms of the 2015 acquisition agreement.”

Looney also noted the company’s current request to raise rates, writing: “It appears disingenuous for the company to claim it needs to increase rates to cover retiree costs at the same time it is breaking its promises and cutting retiree benefits.”

The retirees themselves have raised these concerns. In letters dated July 29, 2025, and August 19, 2025, the group of more than 200 retirees called on AVANGRID to cancel its planned actions and on PURA to enforce the company’s commitments to employees.

Senator Looney concluded his letter with a direct call to action for PURA: “I urge you to include in the rate case decision a requirement that AVANGRID live up to its longstanding commitment to its retirees.”