Biography

First elected State Representative for the 34th Assembly District in November 1998, State Representative Gail K. Hamm possesses a lifelong commitment to community involvement and advocacy on behalf of working families. The 34^th District contains all of East Hampton and the southern half of Middletown.

Representative Hamm currently serves as House Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Human Services. The chairmanship position affords Representative Hamm the opportunity to oversee funding allocated in the state budget for human services expenditures, such as the Medicaid program. In total, the government agencies under the review of the Human Services Subcommittee, including the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Social Services, comprise approximately 80% of the state budget.

In addition, Representative Hamm is a member of the Judiciary and Education Committees and the Select Committee on Children and is serving her seventh term in the General Assembly.

Representative Hamm began her work on campaigns in 1974, when she served as Advance Person for Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sander “Sandy” Levin. Although Levin eventually lost the race, he was later elected U.S. Representative of Michigan’s 12^th Congressional District in 1982, a seat he continues to occupy today.

In the summer of 1977, Representative Hamm participated in Project Justice, which involved a federal courts clinic, federal litigation, poverty law, prisoner and civil rights. The program was held in Indiana at the Valparaiso University School of Law.

In 1978 Representative Hamm served as Law Clerk to Juvenile Court Judge Raymond Kickbush in the Circuit Court of Valparaiso, Indiana. During her service, Representative Hamm Judge Kickbush’s judicial opinions relating to child abuse and neglect as well as termination of parental rights. In addition, she was responsible for scheduling and administration of the office.

For the next two years, Representative Hamm served as Legislative Aide to Connecticut State Representative John Mannix (R-Wilton). In this experience, she divided time between review and analysis of proposed legislation and research on topics of interest to the representative. Her work included a special white paper on welfare in Connecticut, which was later published in the New York Times in November 1980.

Between 1986 and 1990, Representative Hamm served as Legislative Liaison for the Connecticut General Assembly’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. Among her duties, Representative Hamm was responsible for the development, advocacy and implementation of legislative agenda that would improve the lives of women and families. She spearheaded a fifty-bill agenda championed by then-Senate President John B. Larson to balance work and family, which included the nation’s first Family and Medical Leave Law. This model legislation later served as the prototype for the landmark federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Representative Hamm was elected to the East Hampton Board of Education in 1991 and maintained the position until she ran for the General Assembly in 1998. Representative Hamm served as Chair between 1995 and 1998. During her tenure on the Board, she chaired the Personnel Committee and had the responsibility for negotiating contracts with all unions, including teachers, paraprofessionals, secretaries, and bus drivers.

Professionally, Representative Hamm has been an attorney in private practice since 1979. She currently serves as partner in the Law Offices of Friel & Hamm. Representative Hamm’s work is a general practice with an emphasis on family law, juvenile justice, and the rights of children.

Throughout her career, Representative Hamm has earned the reputation as a tireless fighter who is always willing to stand up for working families and put principle before politics. Her legislative accomplishments include:

• In 2000 steered legislation to passage that ordered the repeal of the sales tax on caskets.
• In 2001, was successful in passing legislation (PA 01-181) that requires gender-specific services and programs for young people in our juvenile who are on probation.
• In 2002, sponsored Special Act 02-04, which created a statewide information telephone hotline for water quality issues.
• In 2002, sponsored Public Act 02-139, which made important changes to Connecticut’s procedure for awarding water rights by designating exclusive service areas. This bill allows the Water Utility Coordinating Committee (WUCC) to change the boundaries of the water area previously awarded.
• In 2003, helped pass legislation (PA 03-257) that takes several important steps to improve the manner in which the state addresses youth in crisis.
  • Police officers are required to search for runaways, report the teen’s whereabouts to parents (so long as this doesn’t endanger the teen) and the police must respond.
  • A team of court and executive branch officials must study and report to the legislature the steps required to raise the age of the Juvenile Court from 16 to 18.
  • Establishes a pilot program giving the Middletown Juvenile Court jurisdiction over youth in crisis cases not involving truancy.
• In 2004, co-sponsored legislation that ensures that potential future 345kv power lines be placed underground around neighborhoods, schools, and childcare centers.
• In 2004, passed two pieces of legislation that improved services for female juvenile offenders. The first prohibits girls from being placed at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School; the second requires the state to develop a comprehensive plan to provide services to adolescent girls.
• In 2005, secured passage of An Act Concerning Children of Families with Service Needs (PA 05-250), which prevents detention of juveniles aged 13 to 16 for non-delinquent acts, such as running away and truancy.
• Led the successful fight in the General Assembly to prohibit the property currently occupied by the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, which is slated for closure in 2008, from being used as an adult correctional facility.

A resident of East Hampton, Representative Hamm lives with Alan Hurst, her husband of 30 years, along with her three loving cats Fred, Scott, and Lucky. Currently, Hurst is Chair of the East Hampton Board of Education and a district governor of the Rotary Club, which comprises the southern half of Connecticut.