Looney and Duff Statement on the Arrest of Wisconsin Judge

HARTFORD – Today, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) issued the following statement regarding the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan by the FBI:

“We are deeply troubled by the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan. While all the facts remain to be seen, this unprecedented action raises serious concerns about the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to undermine judicial independence and the rule of law. The arrest of a sitting judge fits a broader pattern of intimidation of the Judiciary Branch by Trump.

“We call on the Department of Justice and the FBI to provide a transparent and thorough explanation for the arrest of Judge Dugan. The American public deserves assurance that our judicial system remains independent and free from political interference.

“In Connecticut, we stand firmly in support of judicial independence and the principles enshrined in our Constitution. We call on our Republican colleagues in the state to join us in standing up for these values. We must ensure that actions taken by law enforcement agencies do not erode the public’s trust in our democratic institutions.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kevin Coughlin | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov | 203-710-0193

SENS. LOONEY, DUFF AND CABRERA CRITICIZE TRUMP TARIFF IMPACT ON HOMEOWNER INSURANCE POLICIES & NEW HOME BUILDING COSTS

HARTFORD – A new report details yet another damaging economic impact of President Donald Trump’s global tariff scheme: homeowner insurance policies in Connecticut are expected to increase by an average $82 this year due solely to Trump’s tariff war.

The report by Insurify notes that Trump’s tariffs on goods made in Canada, China and Mexico will be especially harmful to American homeowners because Americans import 70% of their lumber from Canda, 71% of their wallboard from Mexico, and 54% of their home appliances from China.

Trump’s tariffs on these countries will result in higher product costs, which results in higher rebuilding costs and therefore higher insurance premiums for homes that are insured against damage by fire, floods, hurricanes and other catastrophic events.

At $82 per home, Connecticut’s insurance premium increase – based on a home value of $400,000 –  is one of the highest in the entire Northeast, surpassing projected premium rate hikes  in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and nearly equaling insurance premium rate hikes in New York and Rhode Island.

Not only are Trump’s tariffs adding to the cost of insurance premiums in Connecticut, they’re also driving up the cost of new home construction at a time when Connecticut needs to build 100,0000 new housing units. The National Association of Homebuilders estimates that Trump’s tariffs alone will now add $10,900 to the cost of building a new home.

“Donald Trump’s capacity for inflicting pain on middle-class Americans seems to know no bounds,” said Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk). “At every turn, Trump’s public policy decisions are costing Americans billions of dollars in stock losses, local budget cuts, and now increased homeowner expenses. Every week brings some new, horrid news out of the Trump administration, and all of it is costly and damaging to average Americans.”

“On the Insurance Committee we spend a lot of time figuring out ways to get people to spend less on insurance costs. What we can’t control is a president who engages in a failed tariff war and who drives up insurance and re-building costs for Connecticut homeowners,” said state Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden), who is Senate Chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee. “There seems to be no end to the economic destruction that the Trump administration intends to inflict on America.”

Looney, Duff, Winfield Denounce Trump’s Attempt to Roll Back Civil Rights Act

HARTFORD – Today, Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven), Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk), and Senator Gary Winfield (D-New Haven), Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee, released a statement condemning Trump’s Wednesday Executive Order attacking decades of fundamental civil rights law. The Trump administration is attempting to roll back Title VI and Title VII enforcement, which will allow for discrimination in federally funded programs and employment, seeking to deprioritize civil rights laws in housing, lending, and employment, and ordering a review of pending civil rights cases. The Executive Order would undo much of the protections under the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

“This Executive Order is a shameful assault on the very principles of equality and justice that define our democracy. It attempts to turn back the clock on decades of hard-fought progress, opening the door to sanctioned discrimination in every corner of American life. Disparate-impact liability has played a significant role in ensuring fairness from the workplace to the classroom to the bank. We will not stand by while the federal government dismantles civil rights protections that generations have marched, fought, and died to secure.”