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SENATOR NEEDLEMAN WELCOMES $30,126 IN LOCAL SUPPORTING ARTS GRANTS
Month: October 2026
SENATOR MARX WELCOMES $66,992 IN LOCAL SUPPORTING ARTS GRANTS
SENATOR MARX WELCOMES $66,992 IN LOCAL SUPPORTING ARTS GRANTS
October 7, 2026
State Senator Martha Marx (D-New London) recently welcomed the state’s announcement that the 20th Senate District will receive $66,992 in local supporting arts grants.
The Supporting Arts Grant Program, administered by the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, provides funding to arts organizations and municipal arts departments to support the costs they incur in developing and delivering programs.
These grants are funded through the Connecticut Office of the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts.
“Our local arts provide wonderful local performances and installations, among many other features, that help form community connections, educate and enrich our lives and provide opportunities to so many,” said Sen. Marx. “I’m thrilled to see the results of these grants in action.”
Local grants awarded include:
- $4,682 to East Lyme’s Eastern Connecticut Ballet
- $6,709 to New London’s Thames Valley Music School
- $5,935 to New London’s Connecticut Early Music Society
- $5,917 to New London’s Eastern Connecticut Symphony
- $4,970 to New London’s Spark Makerspace
- $4,126 to New London’s Community Orchestra
- $3,903 to New London’s Hygienic Art
- $3,741 to New London’s Connecticut Storytelling Center
- $6,728 to Old Lyme’s Lyme Art Association
- $6,172 to Old Lyme’s Lyme Academy of Fine Arts
- $5,258 to Old Saybrook’s Chestnut Hill concerts
- $4,460 to Old Saybrook’s Con Brio Choral Society
- $4,391 to Old Saybrook’s Essex Winter Series
SENATOR HONIG WELCOMES $37,600 IN LOCAL SUPPORTING ARTS GRANTS
SENATOR HONIG WELCOMES $37,600 IN LOCAL SUPPORTING ARTS GRANTS
October 7, 2026
State Senator Paul Honig (D-Torrington) recently welcomed the state’s announcement that the 8th Senate District will receive $37,600 in local supporting arts grants.
The Supporting Arts Grant Program, administered by the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, provides funding to arts organizations and municipal arts departments to support the costs they incur in developing and delivering programs.
These grants are funded through the Connecticut Office of the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts.
“Our local arts organizations provide a direct connection from our communities to great entertainment, cultural enrichment and inspiration that can spark new careers,” said Sen. Honig. “It’s great to hear about these grants and I’m grateful to the state for its continued support of our local organizations.”
Local grants awarded include:
- $6,125 for Avon’s New England Ballet Theatre of Connecticut
- $4,353 to Avon’s Fermata Arts Foundation
- $5,179 to Canton’s Connecticut Symphony Orchestra
- $6,258 to Simsbury’s Theatre Guild of Simsbury
- $3,360 to Simsbury’s Farmington Valley Chorale
- $6,529 to Torrington’s Five Points Center for the Visual Arts
- $5,796 to Torrington’s Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe O’Leary | joe.oleary@cga.ct.gov
SENATOR MAHER WELCOMES $153,429 IN LOCAL SUPPORTING ARTS GRANTS
SENATOR MAHER WELCOMES $153,429 IN LOCAL SUPPORTING ARTS GRANTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2026
State Senator Ceci Maher (D-Wilton) recently welcomed the state’s announcement that the 26th Senate District will receive $153,429 in local supporting arts grants.
The Supporting Arts Grant Program, administered by the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, provides funding to arts organizations and municipal arts departments to support the costs they incur in developing and delivering programs.
These grants are funded through the Connecticut Office of the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts.
“Local arts provide so much to our communities including cultural education and enrichment, wonderful entertainment and inspiration,” said Sen. Maher. “I’m very excited to see these grants continue to support those benefits to our region.”
Local grants awarded include:
- $6,220 to Darien’s Stamford Chorale
- $6,962 to New Canaan’s Silvermine Guild of Artists
- $5,816 to New Canaan’s Treetops Chamber Music Society
- $4,429 to New Canaan’s Carriage Barn Arts Center
- $4,352 to New Canaan’s Town Players of New Canaan
- $3,216 to New Canaan’s New England Dance Theater
- $6,220 to Redding’s Music on the Hill
- $10,000 to Ridgefield’s A.C.T.
- $10,000 to Ridgefield’s Playhouse for Movies and the Performing Arts
- $5,385 to Ridgefield’s Camerata d’Amici
- $4,694 to Ridgefield’s Conservatory of Dance
- $4,368 to Ridgefield’s Thrown Stone Theatre Company
- $2,953 to Ridgefield’s Ridgefield Chorale
- $7,577 to the Stamford Art Association
- $7,483 to Stamford’s Orchestra Lumos
- $6,757 to Stamford’s Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut
- $5,534 to Stamford’s New Paradigm Theatre Company
- $5,375 to Stamford’s INTEMPO
- $4,934 to Stamford’s Project Music
- $3,924 to Stamford’s Avon Theatre Film Center
- $3,812 to Stamford’s Ballet School of Stamford
- $6,283 to Westport’s Writers’ Workshop
- $5,915 to Westport’s Friends of the Levitt Pavilion
- $5,666 to Westport’s Community Theatre
- $5,609 to Westport’s Fairfield County Chorale
- $4,321 to Westport’s School of Music
- $5,624 to the Wilton Playshop
SENATOR OSTEN WELCOMES $275,000 IN EDUCATION GRANTS TO HELP REDUCE ABSENTEEISM IN NORWICH
SENATOR OSTEN WELCOMES $275,000 IN EDUCATION GRANTS TO HELP REDUCE ABSENTEEISM IN NORWICH
NORWICH — State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today welcomed $275,000 in state grants to improve student attendance in Norwich.
“Over the past four years, the percentage of students in the Norwich public schools who are chronically absent has dropped dramatically, from nearly 30% in 2022 to under 20% last year. We’re getting very near the state average, and it’s programs like LEAP that are making a difference in student and family interaction and success,” Sen Osten said.
The grants are being made through Connecticut’s Learner Engagement and Attendance Program, or LEAP. Since the Lamont administration established LEAP in 2021, chronic absenteeism has declined for four consecutive years, from 23.7% in 2021-2022 to 16.4% in 2025-2026, meaning nearly 35,000 more students are attending school regularly compared with 2021-2022.
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Looney: Early Childhood Endowment Is Key to Children Who Start Behind and Never Catch Up
Looney: Early Childhood Endowment Is Key to Children Who Start Behind and Never Catch Up
“The announcement of $411.7 million in surplus funds moving into the Early Childhood Education Endowment, bringing the fund to more than $700 million, is one of the most consequential investments our state has made in its own future. Over many years in the General Assembly, I have watched the same pattern repeat in our schools: children who arrive at kindergarten without the foundation they need begin behind, and far too many never catch up. No matter how much we invest in the K-12 system, we cannot fully recover those early years after the fact. Without a sustained and dedicated commitment to early childhood education, we will never solve that problem. The Governor deserves credit for his commitment and partnership in building this fund, and I am grateful to Comptroller Sean Scanlon and Treasurer Erick Russell for their work in making it possible. The General Assembly must now protect and strengthen this endowment so that every child in Connecticut begins school ready to learn.”
-Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) responding to Governor Ned Lamont’s announcement, alongside Comptroller Sean Scanlon and Treasurer Erick Russell, that $411.7 million of the state’s fiscal year 2026 surplus will go into the Early Childhood Education Endowment.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Coughlin | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov | 203-710-0193
Eversource CEO Bragged He “Shut the Faucet Off” on Connecticut. Looney and Duff Want to Know What Got Cut.
Eversource CEO Bragged He “Shut the Faucet Off” on Connecticut. Looney and Duff Want to Know What Got Cut.
“People across Connecticut are sick and tired of paying more every month while giant corporations like Eversource make money hand over fist. Families are being asked to absorb an 11 percent increase in their electric bills, while Eversource’s CEO tells Wall Street about ‘over $1 billion in cash coming in the door’ and urges investors to ‘get in heavy’ to rake in big profits.
“Worse, he admitted that Eversource ‘shut the faucet off in Connecticut’ until it got paid, saying, ‘We weren’t going to put another dime down there.’ That’s a utility monopoly treating the people it serves as leverage. Mr. Nolan has dropped the mask. Now we know where we stand.
“He also assured investors that after Election Day, ‘the volume’s going to go right down.’ Not from Senate Democrats. Connecticut ratepayers deserve to know exactly which projects Eversource held back, and we call on the company to make that list public.”
-Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) responding to Eversource CEO Joe Nolan’s September 30 remarks to investors at the Wolfe Research utilities conference. To learn more and read a transcript of Nolan’s comments, click here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Coughlin | 203-710-0193 | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov
Eversource CEO Bragged He “Shut the Faucet Off” on Connecticut. Looney and Duff Want to Know What Got Cut.
Eversource CEO Bragged He “Shut the Faucet Off” on Connecticut. Looney and Duff Want to Know What Got Cut.
“People across Connecticut are sick and tired of paying more every month while giant corporations like Eversource make money hand over fist. Families are being asked to absorb an 11 percent increase in their electric bills, while Eversource’s CEO tells Wall Street about ‘over $1 billion in cash coming in the door’ and urges investors to ‘get in heavy’ to rake in big profits.
“Worse, he admitted that Eversource ‘shut the faucet off in Connecticut’ until it got paid, saying, ‘We weren’t going to put another dime down there.’ That’s a utility monopoly treating the people it serves as leverage. Mr. Nolan has dropped the mask. Now we know where we stand.
“He also assured investors that after Election Day, ‘the volume’s going to go right down.’ Not from Senate Democrats. Connecticut ratepayers deserve to know exactly which projects Eversource held back, and we call on the company to make that list public.”
-Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) responding to Eversource CEO Joe Nolan’s September 30 remarks to investors at the Wolfe Research utilities conference. To learn more and read a transcript of Nolan’s comments, click here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Coughlin | 203-710-0193 | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov
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Looney, Duff: Every Job America Added Last Month Wouldn’t Fill Rentschler Field
Looney, Duff: Every Job America Added Last Month Wouldn’t Fill Rentschler Field
“The entire United States added fewer jobs last month than there are seats at Rentschler Field. Every new job in all 50 states, combined, wouldn’t fill a UConn football game in East Hartford. That is what the Trump regime’s chaos means for working people looking for a paycheck.
“Meanwhile, Connecticut’s job growth this year is outpacing the nation’s, and our payrolls hit an all-time high this summer. Shipbuilders in Groton, nurses in our hospitals, and tradespeople on construction sites are driving that growth. Senate Democrats have spent years investing in the workforce training and manufacturing pipeline that makes these jobs possible.
“Connecticut Republicans would rather talk down our economy than say one word about the Washington Republicans whose reckless Iran war and tariffs are stalling job growth nationwide. We call on them to stand up for Connecticut workers and denounce their MAGA colleagues for the damage they are doing to working families.”
-Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) on September’s national jobs report. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the nation added just 29,000 jobs last month. The national figure fell well short of the roughly 84,000 jobs economists expected, and the national unemployment rate rose.
Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field holds 40,000 people.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Coughlin | 203-710-0193 | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov
Looney, Duff: Every Job America Added Last Month Wouldn’t Fill Rentschler Field
Looney, Duff: Every Job America Added Last Month Wouldn’t Fill Rentschler Field
“The entire United States added fewer jobs last month than there are seats at Rentschler Field. Every new job in all 50 states, combined, wouldn’t fill a UConn football game in East Hartford. That is what the Trump regime’s chaos means for working people looking for a paycheck.
Meanwhile, Connecticut’s job growth this year is outpacing the nation’s, and our payrolls hit an all-time high this summer. Shipbuilders in Groton, nurses in our hospitals, and tradespeople on construction sites are driving that growth. Senate Democrats have spent years investing in the workforce training and manufacturing pipeline that makes these jobs possible.
Connecticut Republicans would rather talk down our economy than say one word about the Washington Republicans whose reckless Iran war and tariffs are stalling job growth nationwide. We call on them to stand up for Connecticut workers and denounce their MAGA colleagues for the damage they are doing to working families.”
-Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) on September’s national jobs report. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the nation added just 29,000 jobs last month. The national figure fell well short of the roughly 84,000 jobs economists expected, and the national unemployment rate rose.
Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field holds 40,000 people.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Coughlin | 203-710-0193 | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov