David Michel

We have moved at a very rapid pace amongst our committees since we are in a short legislative session. Please read below to get a snapshot of the flurry of activity at the Capitol.

We successfully passed one particular bill out of committee that supports our seniors. I'll break down how this proposal will help our aging population in Connecticut.

We are only a few days away from the start of early voting. Please scroll down to see when and where you can cast a ballot in Stamford ahead of the April 2nd presidential primary.

Here are the sections of today's email:

• Legislative Progress in Committees
• Protecting and Prioritizing Seniors
• Early Voting Takes Place Next Week
• Huge Investment To Expand Broadband
• The Black Experience Within Mental Healthcare

Last week, I voted remotely while being at a trade show for work with my amazing designer eyewear sales team. Since then, I participated in person and virtually in our final Environment and Transportation Committee meetings to pass bills and get them to the House floor. 

The Environment Committee passed a climate bill which needs some work, and I hope my colleagues and I will be able to work together in order to touch up the language to call for more action immediately.

We also voted in favor of a bill banning PFAs in certain applications such as with certain textiles. I made comments to ensure that we are discussing replacing our brave firefighters turnout gear, which is the personal protective equipment for firefighters that currently bears PFAs. Our own state firefighters union president testified, establishing it is possible to replace the gear within a specific timeline. I am pushing for and hoping this gets added to the final bill on the House floor.

I received many emails about a bill providing authority for the inspection and processing of rabbits in the state. While my colleagues were explained there is no standard of humane slaughter for birds in our state, which also would apply to rabbits, a razor thin majority voted in favor of its passage out of committee. I will continue to push against this bill and also for the Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) to uphold humane standards of slaughter in our state.

We are also working on a conservation bill, which was introduced by our House Chair Rep. Joseph Gresko, to protect certain species of local sharks.

Shifting now to the Transportation Committee, we had extensive discussions about car dealerships conveyance fees. These vary between various businesses, ranging from well over $1,000 dollars to as low as a couple of hundred dollars. My colleagues and I addressed transparency concerns, and the discussion will continue as the bill was voted out of committee. We are working on mandating either a uniform flat fee or establishing a cap of several hundreds of dollars. Most customers across the state do not realize this fee is legally negotiable because it is presented at the end of transactions and they are told it's non negotiable.

We also talked about tree and vegetation management, infrastructure across the state for electric vehicles, drones, lasers, and when alcohol can be sold at Bradley International Airport.

On Friday, we had our last Planning & Development Committee meeting to vote bills out of committee! We discussed the use of temporary shelter for homeless and refugees on property owned by religious organizations. Homelessness is on the rise in Connecticut. About a third of the new homeless population in Fairfield County is elderly and another third are children. We need to build more accessible housing for the elderly and to low-income families that are ending up in the streets. This bill will help with temporary shelter and keep many of our homeless safe at night and warm in the winter.

We also talked about the public process in relation to eminent domain and about other zoning issues between adjacent properties.

I also testified in other committees, including Housing, in support of several bills, in particular one to expand "Just Cause" evictions for everyone. I also recommended that the Energy & Technology Committee consider adding language I drafted to a bill cognizant of offshore wind, that would mandate a noise threshold limit on the construction and possibly operational phases to protect our whales, precious Northeastern Marine Eco System that we all depend on. The Ocean (one body of water) is the climate regulator, and its marine life is amongst the operators of our life support system. If this bill were to be considered, it would set our region as the new leaders in offshore wind, doing it in the least destructive manner possible and possibly create a new economy that is so needed.

Since we're nearing the end of the committee process, I want to remind you it is always an honor and a pleasure to serve and participate in the Environment, Planning & Development, and Transportation committees. I am passionate about the legislative process, the bill language and discussion, and listening to the public through hours of public hearings. Of course, the work continues in the House Chambers.

The Aging Committee approved House Bill 5001, an omnibus bill that will provide further support to our seniors. This proposal is a priority of the House, and I am thrilled it is progressing through the legislative process. 

Issues impacting seniors are often ignored. Our elderly residents need support and access to resources that will provide them with the best quality of life possible. HB 5001 does this by: 

• Requiring additional training of home care workers 
• Creating a more efficient process for accessing Medicaid
• Expanding the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman

Click here to read an article that explores additional details of the bill.  

Are there deadlines to be aware of?

Monday, March 25 at noon is the deadline to register with a political party to vote in the early voting period for the presidential preference primary.

Monday, April 1 at noon is the deadline for registering in person with your registrar of voters or town clerk to vote on April 2 and for unaffiliated voters to enroll in a party for in-person voting.

Seventeen-year-olds may register and vote in the primary if they will have attained the age of 18 by November 2, 2024. They can file a registration application with the Stamford Registrars of Voters by noon on the business day before the day they want to vote, or click here to register.

Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist Antonia Hylton will discuss her new book Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum, a historical chronicle that situates the Black experience within the mental healthcare industry.

Hylton will be speaking on Thursday, March 28 at 6:30 P.M. at the Dimattia Building within the Ferguson Library.