Matt Ritter

I discussed the budget, Connecticut's opioid crisis, and gun violence in an interview with Comcast Newsmakers. Click through to watch the video.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to celebrate Connecticut’s artistic community at Arts Day at the State Capitol. I’m glad I was able to join my colleagues and the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to speak about the importance of art to our state.

We have a great community of students, parents, teachers and administrators at Milner School in Hartford. I was happy to work with Dattco to make sure the children had transportation to a bowling outing as a prize for the school’s Perfect Attendance Incentive program.

Quality early childhood education is such an important building block for elementary school on up. CRT teachers and staff are doing important work in Hartford.

I am pleased that the State Bond Commission approved $2 million in state funding for an Upper Albany Main Street, Inc. building project at its meeting this morning in the Legislative Office Building.

The Hartford Promise is a new program that offers scholarships to Hartford high school students who meet certain benchmarks.

It was encouraging to see our community come together to celebrate our diversity and condemn bigotry, intolerance, and hate.

Connecticut is the 6th healthiest state in the U.S. according to America’s Health Rankings Annual Report. The report found that since last year we have improved in the areas of infectious diseases, cancer deaths, and childhood poverty but still face challenges on drug-related deaths and health disparity. You can view the study here.

As Co-Chair of the Public Health Committee, I am happy to see Connecticut ranking in the top ten healthiest states in the country but recognize that there is always room for improvement.