Eleni Kavros DeGraw

The speed of session is picking up as most days we are staying later and getting more legislation passed each day.

While we only had two session days this week (yesterday and today), we continue to be busy from sun up to sunset (and sometimes beyond).

With only five weeks left to go in the 2025 session, the days are packed with meetings to negotiate the contents of bills, hearing from advocates and everyday residents on their wants and needs for the budget, and voting on legislation as we spend more days in the House Chamber.

The Trump Administration's unrelenting war on middle- and low-income Americans continues with the recent reversal of a decision on student loan repayments, a policy that went into effect five years ago during Trump's first administration. Now, the Department of Education has been charged with sending accounts in default to collections beginning in May.

Some weeks are busier than others, and as you’ll see from the e-news, we have had a lot going on.

It finally happened this morning . . . the crocuses bloomed in our yard. While it continues to be chilly, I am grateful for these signs of spring as we move toward more sunlight and hopefully away from the cold temperatures.

You may have heard about federal cuts to funding that are beginning to affect our state. We don’t yet know all of the cuts and what that will mean to our overall budget but some examples I want to make you aware of relate to Connecticut Foodshare.

It may already be March Madness, but that means we also need to talk about problem gambling made worse by online sports betting (something I voted against when I first entered the legislature just for this reason). Help is available if you or someone you know struggles with gambling addiction and I’ve included it in this issue.