Public Safety Info Forum Monday, Today's Ending Sexual Violence Presser

February 19, 2026

Dear Neighbor,

Every short session feels like running on a treadmill as someone else increases the speed and incline, and this short session is no different so far. Days are filled with multiple meetings running at the same time as the press conference you hoped to attend and the advocacy briefing you need to pop into before it ends. Already, public hearings and committee meetings are lasting into the night.

Bottom line, the job is busy, and we are learning every day about the needs of our shared state.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away this week. While not a perfect man, his legacy fighting for all in his "Rainbow Coalition" and beyond is unmatched and his reach wasn't just national, it was international. There is a kind of resonance that he passed away during Black History Month. May his memory be eternal.

As a reminder, Monday night in Avon, Representative Exum, Senator Honig, and I will co-host a Public Safety Forum with the Department of Emergency Services Public Protection regarding the online dangers facing our kids—platforms like Roblox, Discord, and the destructive "764 Network." This event is for parents, grandparents, and educators. It will present some disturbing information, so we ask that you do not bring children to this event.

Once again, we are trying to revive the Child Tax Credit, similar to what we had during the pandemic. This would be available to single filers making $!00,000 and joint filers making $200,000. Parents would receive $600 per child for up to three children.

I explain more about this important affordability legislation in the video below.

Have a great week,

Eleni

Reminder: Public Safety Info Forum on Monday

State Representative Tammy Exum, State Senator Paul Honig, and I invite you to join us at Avon High School on Monday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., for a very important Public Safety Informational Forum.

Please note: This event is strictly for parents because the discussion will contain disturbing information not intended for children.

Last fall, I was made aware of a growing online threat against our children, the “764 network.” These online predators find children on platforms like Roblox and Discord and then move them to a second location, like Signal, because of the end-to-end encryption.

From ABC News: “Authorities say that one of the main goals of 764 and its many affiliates is to sow chaos and destroy society. Its members find vulnerable children online, elicit private information and intimate sexual images from them, and then use that sensitive material to blackmail victims into mutilating themselves or taking other violent action -- all while streaming it on social media so others can watch and torment the victims too.”

Unfortunately, we have even had a case here in Connecticut, and there are hundreds of cases across the United States being investigated by the FBI.
That’s why I reached out to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) to put together a panel of experts to help parents understand what is happening and how we can protect our kids online and in real life.

You can learn more about the 764 network HERE.

Ending Sexual Violence - Today's Presser

Today, I had the opportunity to co-host a press conference with the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence regarding two bills coming up this session.

The first would codify the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA; SB89) from federal law into Connecticut law to protect survivors who are incarcerated.

This has been an ongoing issue in our penal system, and as recently as last fall, we had a survivor come forward to say that not only had she been assaulted multiple times, but when she reported it, she faced retaliation, including being removed from the state to another facility.

A person's right not to be sexually assaulted doesn't end at the doors of an incarceration facility.

The second bill seeks to make changes to state Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) laws to prevent the use of confidentiality provisions that silence survivors of sexual violence, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

Reforming non-disclosure agreement laws ensures that survivors’ rights to speak about harm are enforceable, consistent, and not dependent on the relative power of an employer or institution.

Updating state law transforms confidentiality from a tool of coercion into a survivor-centered choice by closing loopholes that allow retaliation, secrecy, and repeated harm. This would not change the NDAs around proprietary information or intellectual property.

This press conference was truly impactful as we heard from two survivors, one who experienced assault as a result of incarceration and one who was harassed and assaulted as part of her employment at the WWE, but was unable to come forward because of the NDA that was required of her for her employment. Honestly, their stories were gutting.

While this is not the first time these bills have been heard, the hope is that this will finally be the year that we align our laws with both the federal government and other states that have already moved forward with supporting survivors of sexual violence.

Supporting a Child Tax Credit

Let’s pass HB 5134 together. Email your State Representative and your State Senator today and ask them to support the Child Tax Credit, $600/child up to 3 children. Please click on the video below for more details.

A Wonderful Performance, But ...

There are big differences between the short session and long session, and one major difference is that during a short session, if you aren't raising a bill related to the budget, you need to ask an individual committee to raise your bill concept.

I mention that because sometimes there are members who seek to confuse the general public about the process.

Raising a concept means you might only have a sentence or two provided to you when you are raising the concept. It also means that you don't typically have bill language written yet (unless it was a bill that had been previously heard but not passed).

Typically, the committee meetings to raise concepts go smoothly, and many times, the concepts raised are voted on with unanimous committee support, meaning both Republicans and Democrats vote to raise these concepts.

After all, they are just concepts, ideas that, in order for us to understand them, we need to hear at a public hearing.

But sometimes, we disagree, and it's always a goal to try to disagree as agreeably as possible.

Check out the exchange in the Planning and Development Committee last week regarding raising a concept around Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).