Jennifer Leeper

Several new laws that were passed during the 2025 legislative session take effect on Tuesday, July 1. Please click here to read about some of them!

Thursday, June 19 is Juneteenth. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in our country. For many years, this important holiday was primarily celebrated in the South, but was unknown to others from the rest of the country. However, thanks to great advocacy work, it is now rightfully observed throughout the country, including Connecticut. In 2022, the Connecticut General Assembly voted to make Juneteenth a state holiday.

We officially wrapped up the 2025 legislative session on Wednesday at midnight.

This session brought meaningful wins—particularly in early childhood education, special education, and climate action—but it also ended with some heartbreaking setbacks.

With the pace of bills being passed at this point in the session, I will be sending out eblasts more frequently this week to keep you updated on everything we're doing in Hartford. Today, I'll tell you about the state budget we passed late last night and three great bills we passed on Saturday.

This week we passed An Act Concerning the Quality and Delivery of Special Education Services in Connecticut, which takes major steps to reform our special education system.

This bill, which passed unanimously in the House, makes historic investments for students in special education, delivers better access to services, and provides cost controls and greater transparency.

There is no question that Connecticut is experiencing a complex housing shortage that impacts all residents, from young families to our seniors. Having heard from many of you about issues related to housing, development, and congestion, I know these issues are among the most pressing and sensitive for our community.

The housing proposal brought before the legislature today sought to address some of the challenges around our state's housing crisis, from zoning, to reducing homelessness, to additional funding to subsidize the construction of deeply affordable units.

While I support the mission of this legislation and several provisions held within this bill, there were other sections that were of great enough concern to me that I could not vote in support of the overall package.

Monday is Memorial Day - a somber day of rememberance to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I hope during the BBQs and festivities of this long weekend you also take a moment to reflect on the bravery of those who gave their lives so we can live and prosper in our great nation, and to spend time connecting with your loved ones.

Every Memorial Day, I remind myself of the importance of living a life that is meaningful and worthy of the sacrifices so many have made.

I hope you and your friends and family have a safe and meaningful Memorial Day.

After three years of attempts and work, this week in the House we passed a meaningful set of reforms to improve the state’s practice of crisis response drills to improve students’ physical safety and properly balance their psychological wellbeing.

While schools must be prepared for an emergency, organizers must ensure these drills are conducted effectively and responsibly.