Anne Hughes

Key provisions of the bill include:

• Historic investment in our students, including $30 million for the Special Education Expansion and Development (SEED) grant program, which will help build capacity to serve students closer to home.
• Prioritizing better access to services through enhanced development screenings, behavioral assessment and intervention plans, access to remedial classes in higher education, and involvement of parents and local school districts before a student is moved from their school.
• Reining in costs by regulating third party rate processes and developing new billing and licensing standards.
• Increasing oversight through on-site compliance visits and detailed system-wide reporting to reduce unpredictability and improve accountability.

Children are our future, and it is our responsibility to provide them a proper education. In a state that has one of the best K-12 public school systems in the country, HB 5001 makes sure our special education program maintains that same level of quality.

The bill must now pass the Senate and be signed into law by the governor.

Also this week, the House passed the following bills:

SB 9, which protects Connecticut residents from the impacts of climate change, as well as curbs the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides and neonicotinoids. Specifically, the bill:

• Improves transparency about flood risk by requiring flood risk disclosure when someone is buying a home and ensuring that insurance companies inform people that average policies do not include flood coverage.
• Improves planning for residential development by requiring coastal site plan review for construction of single-family homes in areas facing sea level rise.
• Prepares towns to face climate impacts by strengthening roads and bridges against sea level rise; updating evacuation plans for residents to take the safest routes possible during an emergency; and ensuring that our water supplies are protected from inundation and sewage.
• Establishes Resiliency Improvement Districts that create a framework authorizing municipalities to finance capital projects addressing climate change mitigation, adaptation, or resilience.
• Limits the use of poisons that have been so harmful to the state's wildlife. The increasing number of dead owls and hawks in Connecticut after they ate mice or rats that had been poisoned by the deadly chemicals underscored the necessity for the passage of this provision. I'm particularly proud of this legislation, as I've worked for several years to get it across the finish line.

SB3. The House on Thursday passed a comprehensive consumer protection bill that provides real quality-of-life benefits for all people in our increasingly digitally connected, but far less-private, world. 

The legislation sets in place new safeguards against eavesdropping by televisions, home appliances, and toys, as well as curtails the targeting of junk fees and price gouging in consumer goods. 

Specifically, Senate Bill 3 requires companies to provide users with privacy notices before enabling microphones in home appliances, TVs and toys, and gives consumers the option of declining to activate cameras and microphones.

The bill also provides consumers the opportunity to opt out of targeted advertisements based on these voice recordings and requires companies to maintain security measures to safeguard users’ information.

Senate Bill 3 seeks to address the affordability of goods and services by expanding the state attorney general’s ability to crack down on price gouging during disasters. While current price gouging statutes apply only to retailers, the bill broadens the policy to include the entire supply chain.
Additional provisions of Senate Bill 3 will do the following:

• Protect consumers from junk fees by generally requiring advertisements to present customers with upfront pricing that does not hide additional fees.
• Prevent junk fees on long-term rental properties by requiring advertisements to include any fee or charge the tenant will be required to pay, with some exceptions like pet fees and certain utility costs.
• Create a right to repair products by requiring companies to make consumer tools and parts available to ensure their products can be repaired by people who are not associated with the company.
• Require Connecticut municipalities to use “.gov” web domains by July 1, 2026, and connect towns and cities with federal grants to assist with this transition.
• Require businesses with automatic renewal to send consumers an annual reminder allowing them to stop the renewal of service.

The bill passed with bipartisan support, and I am proud to have voted in favor of its passage.

The third annual Weston Pride Flag Raising will take place on Monday, June 3, at 4 p.m. on the Weston Town Green at Town Hall.

There will be an ice cream truck, activities for the whole family and more to celebrate with the kick-off of Pride Month. 

From the town of Weston: Crews from the Department of Public Works are preparing roads for paving this summer. This work includes cleaning and repairing existing storm water catch basins and replacing the basin tops. 

The following streets are scheduled for paving this summer:

1. Timber Mill Lane
2. Aspetuck Glenn
3. Martin Road
4. Autumn Ridge Road
5. Hyde Ridge Road
6. Messex Lane
7. Wood Hill Road
8. Woods End Lane
9. Cindy Lane
10. Lilac Lane
11. Hemlock Ridge Road
12. Mountain View Drive
13. Salem Road
14. Laurel Lake East
15. Richmond Hill Road
16. Sachem Road
17. Silver Ridge Common
18. Twin Oak Lane
19. Norfield Woods Road