Author: Devin James

SENATOR NEEDLEMAN ISSUES STATEMENT RESPONDING TO CONNECTICUT RIVER MUSEUM LOSING FEDERAL GRANT

Posted on by Devin James

SENATOR NEEDLEMAN ISSUES STATEMENT RESPONDING TO CONNECTICUT RIVER MUSEUM LOSING FEDERAL GRANT

Today, State Senator Norm Needleman (D-Essex) issued the following statement after learning the Connecticut River Museum was one of many organizations across the state to see an active grant terminated by Elon Musk’s DOGE through the National Endowment for the Humanities this month.

In January, the NEH announced more than $250,000 in funding was awarded to Connecticut groups including the Connecticut River Museum. It was slated to receive $25,000 for a new project focused on a new plan for the Samuel Lay House in Essex, training for staff and volunteers on encouraging conversation among visitors and training for an exhibition on the history of Black and Indigenous maritime workers in Connecticut. Last week, DOGE employees cut millions in grants through the NEH including the Connecticut River Museum’s grant.

“Amid a frenzied effort by the Trump administration to break our systems comes an attack on our arts and humanities. For this project to have its funding stripped doesn’t change our history or erase the hardworking people who faced adversity in the past, but it does reinforce that the federal government is interfering wherever it can. Connecticut has already lost funding supporting our libraries, our health systems, our mental health and substance use disorder supports, and this shows we’re at risk of losing more support every day. I’m not sure DOGE cutting a $25,000 museum grant is the epitome of ‘government waste,’ and I certainly don’t see studies of historical figures as ‘DEI.’ All I see here is broken promises on top of broken promises.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe O’Leary | Joe.OLeary@cga.ct.gov | 508-479-4969

Trump Axes Critical Connecticut Library Grant

Posted on by Devin James

Trump Axes Critical Connecticut Library Grant

Thousands of CT Families, Kids, and Seniors Left in the Lurch

HARTFORD – Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) today strongly condemned the decision by the Trump administration to terminate Connecticut’s 2024-2025 federal grant awarded under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant to States program. This funding, totaling $2.16 million, was intended to support critical statewide library services, yet more than 56 percent of the grant remains undelivered.

“This cruel and needless cut to Connecticut library funding will hit the most vulnerable people in our state the hardest,” said Senator Looney and Senator Duff. “It means a single mom loses access to job training. A child has no quiet place to read or learn after school. Seniors can’t get help navigating essential services. Libraries are not luxuries, and Donald Trump is severing these lifelines in the middle of the year, with no warning and no justification. We expect Connecticut Republicans to remain silent on these actions like every other cut from the Trump administration but especially this one as it aligns with their attacks on libraries in the General Assembly.”

The Connecticut State Library has used LSTA funds to support a wide range of vital services, including:

-Early literacy and summer reading programs serving nearly 230,000 children and families

-Workforce development and digital access initiatives to bridge the digital divide

-Professional development for librarians

-Statewide interlibrary loan and delivery services, circulating 1.5 million items

-The Connecticut Library for Accessible Books, providing audio and braille books to over 5,000 people, including veterans

-A statewide eBook lending platform, offering 50,000 digital books to residents

 

“Withdrawing library grants is a callous move at any time, but downright cruel at a time when it’s getting harder for many Americans to make ends meet – most of all, in small and rural communities,” said American Library Association President Cindy Hohl.

“We are deeply dismayed by this decision, which has immediate negative impact on every Connecticut resident and the library services they count on,” said Connecticut State Librarian Deborah Schander. “The Connecticut State Library remains committed to advancing the mission of libraries across the state and throughout our communities. In the meantime, we are exploring all options to ensure these vital services continue.”

Trump Axes Critical Connecticut Library Grant

Posted on by Devin James

Trump Axes Critical Connecticut Library Grant

Thousands of CT Families, Kids, and Seniors Left in the Lurch

HARTFORD – Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) today strongly condemned the decision by the Trump administration to terminate Connecticut’s 2024-2025 federal grant awarded under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant to States program. This funding, totaling $2.16 million, was intended to support critical statewide library services, yet more than 56 percent of the grant remains undelivered.

“This cruel and needless cut to Connecticut library funding will hit the most vulnerable people in our state the hardest,” said Senator Looney and Senator Duff. “It means a single mom loses access to job training. A child has no quiet place to read or learn after school. Seniors can’t get help navigating essential services. Libraries are not luxuries, and Donald Trump is severing these lifelines in the middle of the year, with no warning and no justification. We expect Connecticut Republicans to remain silent on these actions like every other cut from the Trump administration but especially this one as it aligns with their attacks on libraries in the General Assembly.”

The Connecticut State Library has used LSTA funds to support a wide range of vital services, including:

-Early literacy and summer reading programs serving nearly 230,000 children and families

-Workforce development and digital access initiatives to bridge the digital divide

-Professional development for librarians

-Statewide interlibrary loan and delivery services, circulating 1.5 million items

-The Connecticut Library for Accessible Books, providing audio and braille books to over 5,000 people, including veterans

-A statewide eBook lending platform, offering 50,000 digital books to residents

 

“Withdrawing library grants is a callous move at any time, but downright cruel at a time when it’s getting harder for many Americans to make ends meet – most of all, in small and rural communities,” said American Library Association President Cindy Hohl.

“We are deeply dismayed by this decision, which has immediate negative impact on every Connecticut resident and the library services they count on,” said Connecticut State Librarian Deborah Schander. “The Connecticut State Library remains committed to advancing the mission of libraries across the state and throughout our communities. In the meantime, we are exploring all options to ensure these vital services continue.”

NORWICH IN LINE FOR MORE RIVERFRONT PARK FUNDING

Posted on by Devin James

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 4, 2025

NORWICH IN LINE FOR MORE RIVERFRONT PARK FUNDING

NORWICH – The State Bond Commission is expected to approve another $672,000 for improvements to Norwich’s harbor area when it meets in Hartford next Friday.

The Commission announced today that it expects to approve Small Harbor Improvement Grants of $480,000 for the Heritage Riverfront Park and Walkway and $192,000 for the adjoining Howard T. Brown Memorial Park.

Just last year, the Howard Brown Park received $2 million from Connecticut’s Community Investment Fund to return fueling capacity to the marina, update old and costly electrical infrastructure for docked boats, and add a seasonally usable splash pad and ice rink to the park near  the ice cream stand building.

“This new state bonding announced today is an extension of the work already going on at the waterfront marina. We’ve been looking forward to getting these grants to make the entire area more accessible and usable. The effect will be transformative,” said state Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague).

“I’m excited to see these two parks receive funding from the Bond Commission,” said state Representative Kevin Ryan (D-Montville). “It’s critical to have programs like the Small Harbor Improvement Projects Program providing funds for parks like these – that is what makes communities like Norwich so great. Thank you to the Bond Commission and my legislative colleagues for their advocacy on these projects.”

“These funds will help revitalize two integral parts of the Norwich community,” said state Representative Derell Wilson (D-Norwich). “I would like to thank the State Bond Commission and Governor Lamont for approving these funds and recognizing the importance of upgrading these two gems.”

The State Bond Commission is scheduled to meet in Room 1-E of the Legislative Office Building at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 11, 2025.

 

BREAKING: CUTS MILLIONS TO CONNECTICUT ARTS GROUPS AND MUSEUMS

Posted on by Devin James

BREAKING: CUTS MILLIONS TO CONNECTICUT ARTS GROUPS AND MUSEUMS

HARTFORD – Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bon Duff (D-Norwalk) issued the following joint statement today regarding the midnight decision by President Donald Trump and his Republican administration to cut approximately $3,000,000 in aid to Connecticut from the federal National Endowment for the Humanities.

“There is no aspect of American life that Donald Trump and his Republican administration have left unscathed in their venal desire to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies. Veterans, health care, education, home heating assistance for seniors, and now arts groups and museums have all fallen victim to his knife. And there is no end in sight to the pain and destruction that Donald Trump and Republicans will inflict on Connecticut and the nation in order to reward billionaires while trampling middle-class Americans underfoot.

“We will all pay the price – in increased prices due to tariffs, less health care, fewer educational opportunities, reduced local services, and now the destruction of the arts and events that celebrate our local history and culture. And still our Republican colleagues in Connecticut remain mute to Trump’s revenge on the nation.”

Jason Mancini, Executive Director of CT Humanities, testified today before the Appropriations Committee about the letter he received at midnight last night.

“As many of you may know from New York Times reporting, DOGE staffers visited the offices of the National Endowment for the Humanities on Monday. Subsequently, rumors began to spread about grant suspensions and terminations.  At midnight last night, I received from the chair of NEH a series of letters terminating our operating support grants. These are the funds through which we serve Connecticut’s cultural sector – our grantmaking to museums and cultural organizations, and through our civics initiatives, literature programs, digital projects, and educational resources. This also means that direct NEH grants to Connecticut organizations will cease,” Mancini said. “Coupled with the termination of Institute of Museum and Library Service grants and suspension of IMLS staff, this means that millions of dollars of federal funding will no longer be invested in our communities. Almost certainly, funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to the Connecticut Office of the Arts and arts organizations will be next.”

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is the only federal agency in the United States dedicated to funding the humanities. Since its founding in 1965, NEH has awarded over $6 billion in grants to museums, historic sites, colleges, universities, K–12 teaching, libraries, public television and radio stations, research institutions, independent scholars, and to its humanities council affiliates in each of the nation’s 56 states and jurisdictions. Panels of independent, external reviewers examine and select top-rated proposals to receive grants.

NEH grants support the building blocks of American civil society, helping to examine the human condition, promote civics education, understand our cultural heritage, foster mutual respect for diverse beliefs and cultures, and develop media and information literacy. Grants help to bring museum exhibitions to your town, strengthen teaching in your schools, create documentaries and podcasts, facilitate groundbreaking research, and preserve and expand access to cultural and historical artifacts.

From 2019 to 2023, the NEH issued $10.53 million to support 81 projects in Connecticut, ranging from educational programs and planning and preservation grants to stipends for fellowships and internships. Recently funded NEH projects in Connecticut include:

-$25,000 for The Weston Historical Society, “Weston at Work: A New, Permanent Exhibit Focusing on Industry and Marginalized Groups in Weston, CT”

-$25,000 for Eastern Connecticut State University for curriculum development “Empowering Students to navigate an A.I. World”

-$259,000 for the Connecticut State Library, “Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project”

-$10,000 for the Mark Twain Memorial, “Mark Twain House & Museum Book Preservation”

-$31,000 Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, “Nook Farm: Then and Now”

$48,500 for the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, “The Way Sisters: Miniaturists of the Early Republic”

BREAKING: CUTS MILLIONS TO CONNECTICUT ARTS GROUPS AND MUSEUMS

Posted on by Devin James

BREAKING: CUTS MILLIONS TO CONNECTICUT ARTS GROUPS AND MUSEUMS

HARTFORD – Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bon Duff (D-Norwalk) issued the following joint statement today regarding the midnight decision by President Donald Trump and his Republican administration to cut approximately $3,000,000 in aid to Connecticut from the federal National Endowment for the Humanities.

“There is no aspect of American life that Donald Trump and his Republican administration have left unscathed in their venal desire to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies. Veterans, health care, education, home heating assistance for seniors, and now arts groups and museums have all fallen victim to his knife. And there is no end in sight to the pain and destruction that Donald Trump and Republicans will inflict on Connecticut and the nation in order to reward billionaires while trampling middle-class Americans underfoot.

“We will all pay the price – in increased prices due to tariffs, less health care, fewer educational opportunities, reduced local services, and now the destruction of the arts and events that celebrate our local history and culture. And still our Republican colleagues in Connecticut remain mute to Trump’s revenge on the nation.”

Jason Mancini, Executive Director of CT Humanities, testified today before the Appropriations Committee about the letter he received at midnight last night.

“As many of you may know from New York Times reporting, DOGE staffers visited the offices of the National Endowment for the Humanities on Monday. Subsequently, rumors began to spread about grant suspensions and terminations.  At midnight last night, I received from the chair of NEH a series of letters terminating our operating support grants. These are the funds through which we serve Connecticut’s cultural sector – our grantmaking to museums and cultural organizations, and through our civics initiatives, literature programs, digital projects, and educational resources. This also means that direct NEH grants to Connecticut organizations will cease,” Mancini said. “Coupled with the termination of Institute of Museum and Library Service grants and suspension of IMLS staff, this means that millions of dollars of federal funding will no longer be invested in our communities. Almost certainly, funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to the Connecticut Office of the Arts and arts organizations will be next.”

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is the only federal agency in the United States dedicated to funding the humanities. Since its founding in 1965, NEH has awarded over $6 billion in grants to museums, historic sites, colleges, universities, K–12 teaching, libraries, public television and radio stations, research institutions, independent scholars, and to its humanities council affiliates in each of the nation’s 56 states and jurisdictions. Panels of independent, external reviewers examine and select top-rated proposals to receive grants.

NEH grants support the building blocks of American civil society, helping to examine the human condition, promote civics education, understand our cultural heritage, foster mutual respect for diverse beliefs and cultures, and develop media and information literacy. Grants help to bring museum exhibitions to your town, strengthen teaching in your schools, create documentaries and podcasts, facilitate groundbreaking research, and preserve and expand access to cultural and historical artifacts.

From 2019 to 2023, the NEH issued $10.53 million to support 81 projects in Connecticut, ranging from educational programs and planning and preservation grants to stipends for fellowships and internships. Recently funded NEH projects in Connecticut include:

-$25,000 for The Weston Historical Society, “Weston at Work: A New, Permanent Exhibit Focusing on Industry and Marginalized Groups in Weston, CT”

-$25,000 for Eastern Connecticut State University for curriculum development “Empowering Students to navigate an A.I. World”

-$259,000 for the Connecticut State Library, “Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project”

-$10,000 for the Mark Twain Memorial, “Mark Twain House & Museum Book Preservation”

-$31,000 Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, “Nook Farm: Then and Now”

$48,500 for the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, “The Way Sisters: Miniaturists of the Early Republic”

SEN. KUSHNER CONDEMNS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUTS OF $88,000 TO NEW FAIRFIELD AND RIDGEFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Posted on by Devin James

SEN. KUSHNER CONDEMNS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUTS OF $88,000 TO NEW FAIRFIELD AND RIDGEFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICTS

State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) today issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s weekend announcement of $14 million in federal cuts to education funding for Connecticut, including a $50,000 cut to the New Fairfield school system and a $38,107 cut to the Ridgefield school system.

The funds pay for academically focused initiatives such as high-dosage tutoring, scientifically based reading instruction, mathematics professional learning, digital curriculum and online courses, talent development initiatives including a Teacher-Leader-in-Residence to implement the Connecticut Troops to Teachers (CTTT) Program, student support initiatives including efforts to reduce the number of youth interacting with the juvenile justice system, no-cost access to vision care for students from low-income families, and school-based mentoring programs to reduce chronic absenteeism.

“Donald Trump and the Republican administration in Washington, D.C. have already caused untold economic damage to our state and our nation, and now they’re attacking schoolchildren who are still recovering from the educational fallout of the yearslong COVID pandemic. These are unnecessary cuts to valuable programs that are helping students succeed in New Fairfield and Ridgefield,” said Sen. Kushner.

SENATOR MAHER WELCOMES $32,000 STATE INVESTMENT IN NEGLECTED CEMETERIES

Posted on by Devin James

SENATOR MAHER WELCOMES $32,000 STATE INVESTMENT IN NEGLECTED CEMETERIES

Today, State Senator Ceci Maher welcomed the state’s $32,000 investment in the maintenance and care of local neglected graveyards across the 26th Senate District.

Through the state’s Neglected Cemetery Account Grant Program, Darien, New Canaan, Redding and Ridgefield will each receive $8,000 to support maintenance of local cemeteries that may not have received upkeep in recent years.

“Cemeteries in Connecticut represent our ancestors, our history and our local heritage, and as such, we owe a debt to past generations to preserve and respect their final burying places,” said Sen. Maher. “I’m proud the state is making these worthwhile investments to support our communities and ensure we remember and respect the deceased.”

The grants can be used by towns receiving them to support basic maintenance ranging from clearing weeds and bushes to mowing lawns, repairing fences or walls and straightening, repairing and restoring memorial stones.

SENATOR MAHER ISSUES STATEMENT RESPONDING TO DOGE CANCELLATION OF WESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY FEDERAL GRANT

Posted on by Devin James

SENATOR MAHER ISSUES STATEMENT RESPONDING TO DOGE CANCELLATION OF WESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY FEDERAL GRANT

Today, State Senator Ceci Maher (D-Wilton) issued the following statement in response to the cancellation of a $25,000 federal grant committed to the Weston Historical Society in December by Elon Musk’s DOGE this week, part of a larger $3 million cancellation of grants awarded and then rescinded across Connecticut by that body.

While the National Endowment for the Humanities addressed a letter to the Weston Historical Society announcing the cancellation late on April 2, an employee of the Historical Society contacted the NEH early this morning. An employee of that organization told the Historical Society that the letter was not sent out by the NEH but by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to Samantha Fargione, the Historical Society’s executive director.

The $25,000 was meant to support “Weston at Work,” a permanent exhibit in town that would focus on Weston’s industrial history and marginalized groups in its history.

“Another day, another DOGE cut, this one in our own backyard. It’s not lost on me that this funding was stripped from a project focusing on the history of marginalized groups in Weston. It’s also not a surprise that the Trump administration is petty enough to cut grants as small as this; $25,000 for a local museum project isn’t my definition of ‘government waste.’ The cherry on top is that Elon Musk and his buddies made these cuts without even contacting the organization responsible for making them. Another day, another cut in Connecticut, another organization left scrambling to pick up the pieces at the eleventh hour. It’s heartbreaking, if not surprising.”

Contact: Joe O’Leary | 508-479-4969 | Joe.OLeary@cga.ct.gov

Senators Looney, Duff & Anwar Denounce Job Killing Federal Health Cuts

Posted on by Devin James

Senators Looney, Duff & Anwar Denounce Job Killing Federal Health Cuts

HARTFORD – Today, Senate President Martin M. Looney, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and State Senator Saud Anwar, Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee, released the following statement in response to the confirmation that federal cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services have already impacted 50 individuals working with the state Department of Public Health, with another 49 agency staff at risk of unemployment:

“It seems that Connecticut takes another blow from the federal government every day under the Trump administration. Today, we learn that 50 individuals working with the Department of Public Health who keep the agency’s operations functional were issued stop work orders, and another 49 agency staff are at direct risk of losing their jobs, all as a result of grants previously approved by Congress and suddenly rescinded by federal leaders. What’s worse, we fear this is the tip of the iceberg, and continue to struggle to determine exactly what our state is losing so we can properly respond.

“Connecticut Republicans remain shamefully silent as these devastating federal cuts continue to harm our state. Their refusal to speak out against this job-killing move is a betrayal of Connecticut workers and families. Time and again, they have chosen party loyalty over standing up for our state’s needs. Their silence on these cruel and reckless federal decisions proves they are complicit in the destruction of critical services and the livelihoods of our residents. Once again, we urge them to join us.”