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Author: Devin James
State Senator Doug McCrory Welcomes Hartford School Renovations as School Building Project Priorities
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SENATOR NEEDLEMAN WELCOMES $782,916 IN STATE INVESTMENTS IN HADDAM CENTER SIDEWALKS
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SEN. KUSHNER, MAYOR ALVES WELCOME DANBURY HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE LAB UPDATES APPROVED AS A 2024 SCHOOL PROJECT PRIORITY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
SEN. KUSHNER, MAYOR ALVES WELCOME DANBURY HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE LAB UPDATES APPROVED AS A 2024 SCHOOL PROJECT PRIORITY
DANBURY – State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) and Mayor Roberto Alves today welcomed the news that a $16.5 million plan to update and reconfigure Danbury High’s School’s science labs has made the 2024 School Building Project Priority List and will now be reviewed by the legislature’s Education and Finance Committees for further consideration.
The Danbury High project was approved last week by the School Construction Project Priority List Review Committee. The project will update and reconfigure 28,400 square feet of science labs at Danbury High School on the 4th and 5th floors of the C Building. Other interior spaces will also be affected, including the associated prep rooms, work rooms, and storage areas for each lab, and modifications to classroom doors as needed to comply with building code requirements. All labs will receive new doors and equipment.
The project is expected to cost $16.5 million, of which the state is scheduled to cover 63.21%, or $10,429,650.
“Making it on to the 2024 priority list is the first step in a multi-step process to getting these upgrades over the finish line,” Sen. Kushner said. “I am committed to working with my colleagues on the Education and Finance Committees to ensuring that the students at Danbury High School will benefit from these science lab upgrades, even as we transition into the future to the Danbury Career Academy and the tens of millions of dollars in state support for that project as well. We’re certainly moving in a good direction.”
“I’m grateful to the School Construction Project Priority List Review Committee for choosing this important project at Danbury High School so we can fix and upgrade science labs that haven’t been operational for a long time, and I thank Senator Kushner and Danbury’s entire legislative delegation for their continued hard work, collaboration, and dedication to delivering for Danbury schools,” said Mayor Roberto Alves.
The 2024 legislative session begins February 7 and adjourns on May 8.
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SENATOR COHEN ISSUES STATEMENT ON SENATE GOP CLEAN AIR PLAN
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CT Democratic Senators Sign Supreme Court Brief Defending Right To Medical Abortion
HARTFORD – Today, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, and members of the Connecticut Senate Democratic caucus signed on to an amicus brief in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, joining more than 600 state legislators from across the country to stand in defense of abortion rights. This amicus brief opposes a Fifth Circuit holding from last year that overruled the FDA’s actions modifying conditions where the drug mifepristone can be prescribed for abortion.
These actions come after, in 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that access to mifepristone, which is often used as an abortion pill, must be restricted. The pill was banned from being used in telemedicine prescriptions and mail shipments. While the ban has not yet gone into place, it is dependent on the Supreme Court’s review.
Mifepristone’s ban was brought about by a lawsuit by anti-abortion groups and anti-abortion doctors, and their action and the subsequent ruling bars access to a drug that has been available for use for more than 20 years and has safely been used by millions. In a January 2024 brief to the Supreme Court, the Biden administration argued that as these plaintiffs do not prescribe the drug, they shouldn’t have legal standing to make such a challenge, adding that if the decision stands it would have “disruptive consequences” for women and the FDA.
This comes as mifepristone is widely acknowledged and accepted as an abortion drug. As of 2020, medication abortion using mifepristone accounted for more than half of all abortions in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute, displaying the significance and widespread nature of the drug’s use nationwide. Research shows that medication abortion is effective at ending early pregnancies with very low rates of serious complications.
Since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v Wade, a ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and stood as effective policy for about a half-century, at least 14 states have banned abortion outright with more placing prohibitions on it after certain lengths of pregnancy. Many states did so with very limited exceptions to policies, leading to high-profile instances including a nine-year-old girl who was a victim of rape in Ohio being forced to travel to Indiana to receive care and a woman who was forced to travel outside of Texas to deliver a baby with no chance of survival at birth.
In fact, many of these policies are likely harming women’s health and autonomy. A recent study found that of the 14 states outright banning abortion, as many as 64,565 women who experienced sexual assault likely became pregnant, with an estimated 26,313 occurring solely in the state of Texas. While these figures are likely overestimated, they underscore the reality these abortion bans have forced upon victims in these states.
The complete amicus brief can be found here.
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SEN. MARX WELCOMES WATERFORD NEW EARLY CHILDHOOD SCHOOL APPROVAL AS A 2024 SCHOOL PROJECT PRIORITY
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Duff, Norwalk Delegation Denounce Antisemitic Letters
TODAY – Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, Rep. Lucy Dathan, Rep. Dominique Johnson, Rep. Tracy Marra, Rep. Kadeem Roberts, and Rep. Travis Simms released the following joint statement in response to Norwalk Common Council members receiving antisemitic postcards:
“We collectively express our deep concern and condemnation in the face of recent events involving the dissemination of antisemitic letters directed at Norwalk Common Councilors. We are appalled by the blatant display of hatred and prejudice that has targeted our partners in representing our community.
“These reprehensible acts seek to intimidate representatives that give untold hours back to their neighbors. Many of us have served locally and even on the same elected body and know the hard work our Common Councilors put in. We extend our heartfelt support to the them in light of this despicable behavior.
“We are heartened by the displays of support by the community to show we stand together against hate. Our unity is the antidote to the poison of discrimination.
“As state lawmakers, we pledge to continue working toward legislation and policies that promote tolerance, diversity, and inclusivity and protect all those who volunteer their time in service of our communities. Make no mistake, these hateful attacks are trying to undermine the very fabric of our local democratic institutions. Together, we can collectively rise above hatred and foster an environment where every individual can contribute to the betterment of our community without fear.”
SENATOR MARX RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER REPORTS OF FENTANYL IN GREENTREE MANOR OF WATERFORD
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SENATOR KUSHNER JOINS FEDERAL LABOR SECRETARY JULIE SU TO PROMOTE PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 25, 2024
SENATOR KUSHNER JOINS FEDERAL LABOR SECRETARY JULIE SU TO PROMOTE PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE
Senator Julie Kushner, Labor Secretary Julie Su, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury), who is Senate Chair of the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee, today joined Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Acting Secretary Julie Su for a roundtable discussion on the need for a federal paid family leave policy, perhaps one that mirrors Connecticut’s PFML plan, which passed in 2019 and took effect in 2022.
Connecticut’s state plan provides up to 12 weeks of wage replacement benefits for state residents who need to take time off from work to care for a new child, a family member with serious health condition, their own serious health condition, a family emergency because of being on military active duty, or to serve as an organ or bone marrow donor. Since its start, Connecticut’s PFML program has paid more than $560 million in wage replacements to over 90,000 residents.
The 90-minute discussion at the Manufacturing and Technical Community Hub in New Haven attracted more than two dozen legislators, business owners, and employee and family advocates, and was hosted by Secretary Su and Congresswoman DeLauro, who is a staunch advocate for the creation of a federal PFML program.
“I know from personal experience that having the ability to be with a loved one when they’re sick, or spending time with a newborn baby, is more important than anything,” Sen. Kushner said.
“More than 90,000 Connecticut residents have used our state paid family and medical leave program, and I remember that right after Paid Leave began, I was talking to a Danbury constituent who had just started her leave, and she was thrilled at the chance to take time away from work and focus on her newborn baby.
“I’ve heard so many positive stories of Connecticut families using Paid Leave: a father who works for an insurance company but who had to use all of his vacation and sick time just to be with his newborn daughter, or the mother who needs flexibility in her work schedule to take her daughter with a chronic disease to and from medical appointments.
“There are literally tens of thousands of stories like this in Connecticut – and all of these families are now living better, more fulfilling lives thanks to Connecticut’s paid family and medical leave program. And we should have this program at the federal level so we can make a positive difference in the lives of working people all across America.
“I was grateful to have the opportunity today to meet with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su to discuss the importance of paid family leave, and I want to thank Congresswoman DeLauro for her leadership at the national level on this very important family economic issue.”
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