Tammy Exum

I hope you and your family are healthy and safe. We are constantly working to provide updates and important news as it develops over social media and by email. This is a recap of some of this week’s highlights.

For more information about the state's response efforts visit ct.gov/coronavirus. To receive text message notifications, sign up for CTAlert, the state’s emergency alert system. To subscribe, text "COVIDCT" to 888-777.

The mental health and well-being of our state's youth and families has been a leading priority of mine. While we saw a rise in depression, anxiety, self-harm, and other forms of distress in young people prior to the pandemic, the increased isolation and uncertainty that has come from the past two years has exacerbated this issue. My colleagues and I have worked collaboratively on a bipartisan bill to provide additional support, resources and structural change to the children's mental health system in Connecticut.

HB 5001, An Act Concerning Children's Mental Health, is a comprehensive proposal encompassing schools, healthcare settings, insurance eligibility, screening tools, and more, and last Friday it received its first public hearing during a joint meeting of the Public Health and Children's committees.

To watch the hearing, click the image above.

Going forward, I hope you will stay involved as this bill moves through the legislature and I will keep you updated throughout the process.

Since 1987, the month of March has been recognized as National Women's History Month. This offers us all the opportunity to recognize and reflect on how women in our personal lives and throughout history have impacted us individually and collectively.

From science to art and politics to sports, yesterday's trailblazers organized, lobbied, marched, and shattered barriers so that generations of women could dream and achieve.

Throughout history, women have provided healing and fostered hope, and they've played an integral role in our country's development.

As we acknowledge everything women have accomplished, we must also recognize the obstacles they still encounter today, in 2022, and think critically about how we can be part of the solution.

Over the past few years, the Connecticut General Assembly has passed legislation that works to close the gender pay gap, encourage more women to run for office, address gender-based discrimination in the workplace and schools, and expand access to women's health care services.

In addition, on the first day of Women's History Month, my fellow West Hartford Representatives Jillian Gilchrest, Kate Farrar, and I are announcing an essay contest open to Hall High School and Conard High School students.

Students may choose one of the following two prompts:

• Who is the most influential woman in your life today and why?
• Who is your favorite woman in history and why?

Participating students must submit their essay by March 18, 2022. Students can submit their essays to Fiona.Brady@cga.ct.gov using the subject line "Essay Contest."

The top essay from each school will be announced by us on March 31, 2022.

Late last week, President Biden announced he would nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court.

Based on her years of service as a judge and public defender, I hope the U.S. Senate moves quickly to confirm this supremely qualified jurist to the highest court in the land.

To read more about Judge Jackson and who she is, CLICK HERE.