Connecticut Recognized for Digital Government Advancements

By Hugh McQuaid

November 7 @ 9:00 am

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Connecticut was recently recognized as a leading state for digital government services and the top-ranking state in digital services when it comes to transportation and motor vehicles, the Center for Digital Government announced.

The center is a national institute that focuses on technology policy and best practices in government. Every two years, the group evaluates state governments on their use of technology to enhance the delivery of services, engage the public, and streamline operations.

Overall, the center awarded Connecticut an “A-,” placing it among the leading states for the second consecutive evaluation. The center cited Connecticut’s efforts to regulate Artificial Intelligence technology in government.

“Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation to address discrimination and harm caused by AI in state services,” the group’s editorial staff wrote. “The state requires systems that rely on AI technology to submit to tests in an effort to prevent discrimination based on ethnicity, race, religion, age and more. The legislation also intends to safeguard personal information.”

The state’s initiative to regulate Artificial Intelligence has been led by state Sen. James Maroney, a Milford Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s General Law Committee.

“It is now more important than ever for state and local leaders to embrace new technology like artificial intelligence that will enhance the workforce and the lives of so many,” Maroney said in a recent press release. “It is also imperative we protect our personal data and privacy online and address critical issues that involve our healthcare system while ensuring Connecticut is a state where every resident is treated equally.”

Meanwhile, the group recognized Connecticut as the #1 state in the nation for its use of digital government services related to transportation and motor vehicle functions.

Gov. Ned Lamont welcomed the recognition in a press release, saying that innovation was Connecticut’s “biggest asset.”

“This well-deserved recognition is a testament to the cross-agency work across state government to make our digital government services more accessible, easier to navigate, and more user friendly,” Lamont said. “The first-in-the-nation ranking for the use of technology in transportation and motor vehicles is thanks in large part to innovative programs – the wrong-way driver system on the state’s highways and the online appointment system that has dramatically reshaped the public’s ability to interact with the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

State Agencies Respond to Extreme Weather by Enhancing Climate Resilience

By Joe O’Leary

November 6 @ 9:30 am

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Multiple state agencies are increasing their efforts to support climate resilience to mitigate the impact of weather events like those that occurred on Aug. 18, a date which many Connecticut residents will likely never forget.

Unexpected torrential rains dropped across the state that day, damaging and destroying property across three counties. Two individuals died in flooding, with as many as 80 businesses and 19 homes destroyed, while hundreds of others were damaged by the storm, state officials told CT Insider back in August.

The event was the latest in an unsettling trend of storms and natural disasters causing millions of dollars of damage across Connecticut in recent years, with instances seeming to grow over time.

Heavy rainfall in the summer of 2023 caused flooding along the Connecticut River, with especially devastating results for nearby farms. That summer also included drought and extreme heat.

Meanwhile, the state weathered the remnants of tropical storms and hurricanes in 2021. These storms flooded low-lying communities, killed an on-duty police officer and destroyed at least one road in Manchester, while also damaging locations in Meriden.

Even this autumn’s lack of rain has caused extreme conditions, creating a tinderbox in state forests that sparked fires across Connecticut and led to the death of a Wethersfield firefighter as he responded.

Facing down conditions like these, state residents, businesses and municipalities likely have wary eyes heading to the sky whenever there’s a threat of severe weather.

The Connecticut Insurance Department was the latest agency to respond to such concerns through its new Extreme Weather Mitigation and Resiliency Advisory Council, which will provide expert recommendations in the name of minimizing future damages caused by extreme weather events.

In a press release, Insurance Commissioner Andrew M. Mais said the council would play a crucial role in enhancing the safety and resilience of Connecticut communities.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Mais said. “By focusing on preventative measures and fortifying properties, we aim to reduce the financial, emotional, and social impacts of natural disasters, while also fostering a more competitive and accessible insurance market.”

Primarily focused on flooding, with consideration for other damaging weather, this council has been tasked with finding incentive programs to help homeowners and businesses reduce their risks from hazards.

The council’s work will include grant standards, emerging insurance products, financial thresholds and partnerships to make the program sustainable and effective. The group plans to study outreach and education, data sharing and partnership models that can further encourage and build programs supporting resilience against extreme weather.

The new council comes in addition to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s climate resiliency efforts, which have included more than $8 million in grants in 2023 to support projects in municipalities across the state.

DEEP’s efforts included plans to reduce heat impacts in urban cities, develop initiatives to handle flooding for areas along rivers in communities like Bristol, Norwich, and Stamford, and in some cases, develop town-wide climate mitigation plans.

Election Day 2024: Here is What’s on the Ballot

By Hugh McQuaid

November 5 @ 5:00 am

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Tuesday marks Election Day and the last opportunity for Connecticut voters to cast ballots in a handful of state and federal races following the state’s first 14-day early voting period in a general election.

Residents seeking to cast their vote Tuesday should report to their traditional polling locations — as opposed to their town halls, where many municipalities based their polling places during this year’s early voting period. Voters can find their polling location by visiting the Office of the Secretary of the State’s website at this link.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., when voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on a number of high-profile state and federal races, including the presidential contest, one of Connecticut’s U.S. senators, all five congressional seats, and every seat in the state legislature.

Meanwhile, voters will also be asked to weigh in on whether Connecticut should amend its state constitution to allow the legislature to pass laws permitting no-excuse absentee voting.

Although Connecticut already has an absentee ballot option, the constitution currently restricts use of the ballots to those who qualify for a handful of “excuses” like illnesses or out-of-town travel during voting hours.

If voters approve the ballot question, the state legislature would have the option of adopting policies to permit voters to access absentee ballots without needing an excuse.

Currently, 36 states offer either no-excuse absentee voting or conduct their elections entirely by mail, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Connecticut residents approved a similar question in 2022, when voters overwhelmingly endorsed changing the constitution to permit early voting. That decision enabled Democrats in the state legislature to lead passage of a 2023 law that allowed this year’s early voting period.

That new voting option has been widely used over the last 14 days, as many Connecticut voters cast their ballots early for the first time. Over the first week of voting, more than 310,000 residents voted, according to Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas.

“I am proud to share that voters around Connecticut report a smooth roll-out for the first-ever early voting period for a general election,” Thomas said last week. “Sixty percent of voters wanted early voting. They got it. And it’s been inspiring to see how well received and utilized it’s been.”

New Connecticut Law Improves Seniors’ Access to Home-Based Care

By Hugh McQuaid

November 4 @ 7:00 am

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Connecticut is establishing a new presumptive Medicaid eligibility program for home-based care under a law adopted during the 2024 legislative session, which included several policies aimed at improving access to services for seniors who chose to age at home.

The new statute was one of several bills to advance this year out of the state legislature’s Aging Committee. By presuming that home-based services will be covered by Medicaid, the law was designed to spare seniors the choice between residing in a nursing home or forgoing care while awaiting a Medicaid approval process that can take up to 90 days.

In a press release, Sen. Jan Hochadel, a Meriden Democrat who co-chairs the legislative panel, said the policy aimed to make aging in place easier for Connecticut seniors.

“As more and more of our seniors choose to age in their homes, we must adopt policies that preserve their safety and dignity,” Hochadel said. “This bill takes steps to ensure our elders can spend their later years at home, surrounded by their families and loved ones.”

AARP Connecticut praised the new policy as it made its way through the legislative process earlier this year. In written testimony submitted to the Aging Committee, Anna Doroghazi, the group’s associate state director, said that nursing homes were an important part of Connecticut’s long-term care continuum — but not necessarily an option that suited all seniors.

“[A]n overwhelming majority of older adults express a strong preference for receiving care in home and community-based settings instead of in nursing homes,” she said. “Presumptive eligibility is a way to give someone who needs long-term care immediate access to Medicaid-funded home and community-based services to keep them from being placed in a nursing home.”

The bill, which was proposed by House Speaker Matt Ritter and enjoyed broad support in both legislative chambers, included several other reforms designed to improve seniors’ access to quality care.

For instance, the new law will create a database of home-based workers, allowing consumers to identify and match qualified home aides based on characteristics like language, certifications or special skills, as well as previous experience. This also helps the providers and their agencies by giving them access to recruitment, retention, and training programs.

Other provisions will connect residents with a consumer dashboard, which uses a five-star rating system to compare nursing home facilities on metrics like their quality of care, their staff and health inspection results.

The statute also calls for new training requirements and photo ID badges for Personal Care Attendants and other home health care workers, and an expansion of fingerprinting locations for employment background checks.

Meanwhile, the law expands the duties of local senior center staff members to better assist elderly residents with accessing housing opportunities.

‘Time to Own’ First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Program Reopens

By Michelle Rappaport

November 1 @ 10:00 am

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Connecticut’s Time To Own first-time homebuyer assistance program will soon re-open to eligible candidates following the State Bond Commission’s approval of $40 million in new funding.

The Time to Own program offers down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers in Connecticut with low to moderate incomes. The program has already helped thousands of people in the state since it began in 2022.

The Time to Own program is available to qualified applicants who are obtaining a Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) first mortgage loan to buy their first home. People who apply may also access CHFA’s existing down payment assistance program at the same time.

The Time to Own loan is structured as a ten-year, 0% non-amortizing loan, with one-tenth of the principal amount forgiven on the anniversary of the loan closing each year until the loan is fully forgiven.

In a press release, Gov. Ned Lamont said the program was helping to make the American Dream a reality for more Connecticut residents.

“This new round of funding ensures that we can continue to provide the resources needed to help first-time homebuyers access affordable homeownership, build wealth, and invest in our state’s future,” Lamont said.

The loan is contingent on various eligibility criteria, including the borrower’s financial situation, their capacity to repay the mortgage, and their qualification for CHFA’s First-Time Homebuyer Program. This program is available to new homebuyers or those who haven’t owned a home in the past three years. The program is also available for a person who can demonstrate residency in Connecticut over the last three years.

With the new funding, the Time to Own program is anticipated to assist even more first-time homebuyers in the upcoming months. The program has already helped over 4,800 homebuyers in 149 towns buy their first homes. The Bond Commission’s recent funding allocation, brings Connecticut’s total investment in the program to $195 million.

Time to Own offers additional financial support to homeowners looking to purchase homes in higher-resourced communities, where home prices are typically beyond the reach of new buyers.

For more information on eligibility and how to apply for Time To Own, visit chfa.org/TimeToOwn.

Violence Prevention Programs to Receive a Boost from State Grants

By Joe O’Leary

October 31 @ 10:00 am

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Although homicides in Hartford have declined by more than 50% over the last year, according to news reports, public health officials recently announced support for programs working to curb gun violence in Connecticut cities, which experienced post-pandemic increases in violence.

That work on the ground is most often performed by local violence prevention and intervention programs, which help to educate members of the public, build community relationships, and connect at-risk youth with new opportunities and services.

To support these efforts, the Connecticut Department of Public Health recently announced it’s providing grants to these organizations to further their successes in gun violence reduction.

The DPH will provide $200,000 each to 10 organizations operating in Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven, those organizations located in high-risk geographic areas in Connecticut due to their local proximity to gun violence.

The organizations include violence prevention groups that will provide cash aid to people impacted by violence; free classes and workshops to promote positive mental health connections; support services for high school students including school-based mentoring and youth development programming; and community outreach to the public.

Further organizations receiving funds include an environmental scan of Hartford’s violence prevention and intervention services, increased weekend and school holiday support for students and increased focus on mental health and social-emotional learning.

This is the latest part of the state’s Community Gun Violence Prevention Program efforts, which was initially established in 2022. In its 2023 report on the program, the Department of Public Health, which has oversight of the initiative, reported that among its first goals with the program was to develop a surveillance system of firearm homicides in the state.

Statistics show that Black and Hispanic males are significantly more likely to be affected by violence than white men and most violence takes place in six cities – from 2020 to 2023, Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Hamden and Stamford experienced at least 15 homicides.

Such data, combined with emergency department surveillance statistics, was used to find places in the state and demographics most connected to such violence, predominantly found to be urban centers. By investing directly in diversionary programs and efforts, DPH expects to see higher levels of progress.

Violence prevention projects and funding have a positive track record of reducing violence in communities, according to the Center for American Progress, which reported a 63% decline in gun violence in South Bronx, New York and 43% reductions in gun violence in Richmond, California. Baltimore also saw improved results in community violence outcomes through such programs.

Connecticut’s Agricultural Industry Generates Up To $4 Billion A Year

By Joe O’Leary

October 30 @ 10:00 am

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A new analysis of Connecticut’s agricultural industry found that it generates as much as $4 billion annually, around $1,000 per Connecticut resident, and supports up to 31,000 jobs statewide.

The report, a joint effort between the Department of Agriculture, UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources and Farm Credit East, underscored the significant impact the agricultural industry has on the state’s economy and systems.

The report delved into information about Connecticut’s farming and growing from 2015 to 2022. It encompassed the industry’s crops, livestock, fisheries and forest production, as well as processing agricultural and seafood production. By studying the industry, the report’s authors were able to reaffirm the importance of agriculture — a sometimes underappreciated sector, despite its historical significance dating back to colonial times.

Despite Connecticut’s small size, 11% of its land is farmland and another 50,000 acres represent leased shellfish beds on the Long Island Sound. Although other New England states are more famous for agricultural output, Connecticut ranks third in the region for farm sales.

From 2015 to 2022, when Connecticut farmers weathered the impact of the pandemic, the industry expanded by 22%, with more than $150 million in additional sales growth. There was significant growth in sales of processed animal products like dairy manufacturing and meat processing, as well as poultry, egg, fruit, vegetable and greenhouse production. Sectors like aquaculture, commercial fishing and milk manufacturing fell during that time. Commercial hunting and trapping, in particular, grew by more than 1,000% during those seven years.

The report detailed concerns that aquaculture and fishing production fell between 2015 and 2022 due to a regional decline in wild-caught fish and clam production, which may be a consequence of climatic conditions. Tobacco sales also fell, representing a national reduction in tobacco consumption related to public health efforts.

The report identified a number of trends including local food becoming more popular in Connecticut and around the country. Meanwhile, the greenhouse industry, ice cream manufacturing and butter manufacturing are likely to continue their growth in coming years. Only tobacco farming seemed poised to continue trending downward in the coming years, with the rest of the industry’s struggling segments having potential for recovery with refocusing.

Connecticut Senate Democratic Leaders Voice Hopes For Early Voting

By Lawrence Cook

October 29 @ 9:30 am

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Buoyed by the popularity of Connecticut’s first-ever early voting law, which has resulted in more than 300,000 early ballots cast in the opening week of its existence, Senate Democratic leadership has asked the Secretary of the State’s Office to help towns in the opening and counting of those early ballots on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Senate President Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff have written Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas to “be prepared to offer any and all assistance and guidance to local registrars in the quick and accurate tallying of early votes … to ensure that our newly expanded early voting right remains as popular and as effective as we envisioned.”

Connecticut – which lags behind nearly every other American state in expanding voting options – only allowed for early voting beginning this year. Early voting began on Monday, Oct. 21 and will end on Sunday, Nov. 2.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, 315,550 Connecticut residents had voted early, while another 79,000 had voted via absentee ballot. That represents nearly 22% of the approximately 1.8 million Connecticut residents who cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election, with another week of early voting yet to come.

“It is conceivable that thousands of early ballots, if not tens of thousands of early ballots, will have to be opened and counted in each and every Connecticut city and town on Election Day in addition to the myriad critical functions with which our dedicated registrars and public-spirited volunteers are already tasked.,” Looney and Duff said.

Thomas’s office told Hearst CT that was ready to help.

“Every election is an important election and gets the same level of commitment to security, access and preparation effort by our office,” Thomas’s office told Hearst. “Our team will continue this diligent support to help local registrars achieve quick and accurate tallying of early votes, upholding the integrity of the process for all voters,” Thomas’s office said.

The General Assembly approved early voting in 2023 by a vote of 27-7 in the Senate and 107-35 in the House, with Democrats voting unanimously in favor and about half of the Republicans in each chamber voting No.