Eleni Kavros DeGraw

A recent report detailed that throughout Connecticut there was an increase of 13% in overall homelessness from 2021 to 2022.

My legislative colleagues and I are actively working on solutions ahead of the upcoming winter season. Most recently, as part of the state budget adjustment passed during the 2022 legislative session, we included $5 million for the Connecticut Department of Housing (CTDOH) for eviction prevention. The funding will be divided as follows:

In its first full year, Connecticut's "nickel-per-nip" program has generated over $4.2 million for municipalities throughout the state. The program, which places a 5-cent surcharge on every 50 mL container of alcohol, commonly called a "nip", was passed in 2021 as part of updates to our state's Bottle Bill. Each municipality receives 5 cents for every nip sold within its borders. Checks are sent to cities and towns every April and October.

Connecticut will be making a 5-year, $46.6 million investment to expand small business assistance programs across our state to help drive small business growth in underserved areas

Earlier this summer, the Biden Administration announced student loan debt relief, and I'm pleased to share that the application is now open!

This week is Fire Prevention Week - do you have an escape route for your home? Fire Prevention Week offers us all a reminder to consider fire safety and discuss with our family what we'll do in the event of a fire. This year's campaign seeks to educate everyone about the simple, yet important, actions they can take to stay safe from house fires.

An additional $1 billion boost in federal funding, allowing for more households to receive the benefit in the state, has been allocated as part of an emergency supplemental aid package approved by congress this week.

State Comptroller Natalie Braswell announced that her office will transfer $3.1 billion into the rainy-day fund. This move triggers a statutory mandate that requires a one-time, special payment of $2.8 billion to be made toward the state’s unfunded pension liabilities.

The Connecticut Education Association (CEA) has released its Legislator Report Card for the 2021-2022 legislative cycle. For this year's cycle, CEA has placed me on the CEA 2022 Honor Roll.