It's hard to put into words the honor I feel serving as your state representative, especially when we have full session days passing laws that, big and small, make a difference in people's lives. The days can be tiring, but it is a happy tired.
This week, the single biggest bill we passed was HB 5001 to address children's mental health. To say it's comprehensive is an understatement and I am grateful that the mental health and service challenges we have seen for a decade will begin to be addressed and our children will get the help they need. Like many issues, the pandemic did not create a lack of providers, did not create a lack of parity in mental health coverage, or a lack of resources needed to help our children—but it did shine a very bright light on them. This legislation represents a new gold standard for other state legislatures to consider.
Additionally, just this evening, the house passed HB 5417 regarding Juvenile Justice and car thefts. As you know, this is an issue I have stayed on top of since before I was elected. This bill represents months of bipartisan work to address the root causes of crime including poverty and lack of access to community services and activities.
You'll see an update below regarding our budget agreement which will provide the largest amount of tax credits in history--$600 million. Some say, why not more? We do have to be careful not to run afoul of the federal government in regard to the ARPA money. Nonetheless, we will provide relief across the board to as many people as we can.
I hope you'll read up on our latest Neighbor in the News about Avon resident David Leeds and his work advocating for a Rare Disease Advisory Council. I had the pleasure of hearing his testimony this year during our Public Health Committee and his work was highlighted this week in a local news article.
Stay tuned for a lot more news as we hurl toward the end of session next Wednesday, May 4th at midnight.
HB 5001: AN ACT CONCERNING CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH PASSES IN HOUSE
On Wednesday, we passed a historic, bipartisan bill aimed at addressing the immediate, intermediate, and long-term needs of the children's mental and behavioral health system in Connecticut.
Simply put, I believe this piece of legislation will save lives.
HB 5001, An Act Concerning Children's Mental Health, is a transformative piece of legislation that responds directly to the youth mental health crisis, which has been exacerbated by the impacts of the pandemic, presenting itself in the form of increased rates of depression, suicide and self-harm among adolescents.
Emergency rooms across Connecticut are inundated with patients awaiting placement into inpatient psychiatric beds. Schools across the state are facing a shortage of mental health professionals and are sounding the alarm on the need to expand access and support services.
This legislation, which I co-sponsored, addresses these varying issues immediately and long term by:
Enhancing the Behavioral Health Workforce
Creates a partnership with Connecticut Children’s to co-ordinate a training program for pediatricians to treat early-stage mental health concerns.
Provides funding for the recruitment and retention of child and adolescent psychologists to address the state shortage.
Expands License reciprocity for out of state mental health professionals to increase the number of providers and establishes a need-based state licensure fee scholarship with a focus on diverse applicants.
Establishes grant program for local school boards, youth camps, and summer programs to hire mental health specialists.
Creates a screening tool for pediatricians and emergency room physicians to recognize mental health concerns in children for early intervention.
Expanding Behavioral Health Treatment Facilities Across the State
Creates an intensive outpatient counseling pilot program in Waterbury for a federally qualified health center to provide treatment for adolescents with behavioral health needs. The program, slated to open before Fall 2022, will serve at least 144 children per year.
Supports opening of the new DCF Urgent Crisis Centers specializing in meeting urgent pediatric behavioral health needs.
Expands ACCESS Mental Health to provide up to three follow-up telehealth visits directly to certain patients after a pediatrician has first utilized ACCESS Mental Health on behalf of a patient and to provide short term care coordination services, through a contractor, for all patients on whose behalf ACCESS Mental Health is utilized.
Increasing Access Through Insurance Coverage
Eliminates prior authorization for inpatient psychiatric services in certain circumstances where there is imminent danger in the patient's health or safety, or the health or safety or safety others.
Requires individual and group health insurers to cover intensive evidence-based services used to treat mental and behavioral health conditions in children and adolescents.
Requires individual and group insurers to cover collaborative care for behavioral healthcare.
The House has taken the first step, and now it’s up to the Senate to send HB 5001 to the governor’s desk for his signature. The time to deal with this issue is now.
HOUSE PASSES JUVENILE JUSTICE BILL
Like many states across the U.S., Connecticut has experienced an uptick in juvenile criminal activity driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last summer, House Democrats spearheaded bipartisan discussions, bringing our Republican colleagues to the table to develop reforms that address this recent spike.
Today, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 5417. This proposal was a product of our bipartisan discussions and makes reasonable changes to our state's existing criminal justice statutes to address some of the challenges law enforcement officers often face when investigating a crime and improves outcomes for those who find themselves in trouble. We negotiated with our Republican partners to establish a training program for police officers on when to apply for and issue a detention order, require judges who decline a detention order to articulate why the order was declined, and redefine car theft in Connecticut. Specifically, this bill:
Works with the Judicial Branch to speed up juvenile arraignments.
Permits GPS monitoring for repeat juvenile offenders.
Provides flexibility with the 6-hour hold at a community correctional center or lock-up if an arresting officer is in the process of seeking a detention order.
Treats car theft uniformly, punishing it by the number of offenses instead of the value of the car stolen.
Requires local police to be notified when applicants for gun permits do not pass background checks.
As the proposal was developed this session, House Democrats stood in firm opposition to Republican efforts to permit the transfer of juveniles to adult court and reopen a centralized juvenile jail. There is a trove of data that demonstrates these approaches to crime have detrimental impacts. As we work to address juvenile crime in our state, we cannot fall back on the reactionary measures of our past.
This bill is about more than law enforcement and consequences for those who break the law. This bill is smart on crime and takes steps to make our state safer for all. Crime in Connecticut is at near decades-long lows because of the proactive reforms we've enacted in recent years. HB 5417 builds upon those efforts.
This legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration.
$600 MILLION IN TAX CUTS FOR CT RESIDENTS
The budget proposal we unveiled yesterday offers Connecticut tax payers $600 million in tax cuts to help address inflation and our continued recovery from the pandemic.
As we approach a vote on this historic tax relief package, I will update you in the coming days on the spending side of the budget where we made groundbreaking investments in children’s mental health, increased funding in juvenile justice and anti-crime programs, leveraged new federal funding for important programs, and invested in childcare, education, and our workforce.
Our budget plan CUTS YOUR TAXES by:
• Cutting state income taxes for retirees
• Lowering property taxes on homes and cars
• Extending tax cuts for workers in low-paying jobs (EITC)
• Creating a state tax credit for childcare
• Extending the 25-cent gas tax cut until December
• Establishes state child tax credit worth $250 per child
HB 5367 SUPPORTS VETERANS, SO DO I
As you know, I filed HB 5478 this year to update the tax exemption we can provide to the veterans who have served us so well. The bill provides the opportunity for towns to provide a 10% exemption to veterans earning $50,100 or less, updates the definition of veteran to match the state definition and applies regardless of wartime service.
As often happens in a short session, this bill was combined with several other bills and on Monday, we passed HB 5367. Additionally, it updates state statutes regarding technical changes and updates the veterans license plates to include the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To read more about the bill, please click
here. To hear my comments, please see the video below.
HB 5349: AAC THE TIMELY REPORTING BY THE POLICE OF A DEATH MOVES ON TO SENATE
The House of Representatives voted to pass legislation to require police officers to report deaths to the next of kin within 24 hours of identifying a victim.
This policy was brought up in response to an investigation of Bridgeport police officers who failed to properly notify the loved ones of two women who died on the same day in December. The families of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, who visited the House on Wednesday, didn't learn about their loved ones deaths from police - they learned about them from third parties. These kinds of incidents have been reported across the state.
A bill like this shouldn't be necessary, of course, but it's clear our state must enact it. The proposal establishes, in state statute, a practice that should be standard across all police departments in our state. It also offers recourse for families that are not notified within 24 hours.
This proposal works to ensure that families who experience a devastating loss are not further traumatized by the failure of local or state police to report a death in a timely manner.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
SHOWING SUPPORT FOR HB 5343: AAC THE LESBIAN, GAY BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND QUEER HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND OPPORTUNITY NETWORK
The purpose of this billis to update the membership and change the title of a network serving health and human service needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons. As a co-sponsor of this bill, I felt compelled to share a few thoughts. Please click on the video below.
ADDITIONAL BILLS I SUPPORTED THIS WEEK
Our fight for justice continues. The state's settlement with Purdue Pharma and other manufacturers for their role in creating the opioid epidemic requires companies, and the Sackler family, to provide funding to the state for opioid victim and survivor services. HB 5044 establishes an Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee to administer funds directly into Connecticut's continuing efforts to reduce substance use disorders, not into the state’s General Fund.
HB 5045 passed in the House this week. Here's how CT will use federal funding to address the lead crisis:
Lowering thresholds for blood levels
Reporting of lead poisoning cases to DPH and local health departments by health care institutions and clinical laboratories
Informing of parents about a child’s eligibility for Birth-to-Three, and lead poisoning dangers / risk reduction, as well as lead abatement laws
Conducting of epidemiological investigations of the source of a person’s lead poisoning
Conducting of on-site inspections and remediation for children with lead poisoning by local health directors
Requiring primary care providers to conduct annual lead testing for children ages 36 to 72 months who have been determined by DPH to be at a higher risk of lead exposure.
NEIGHBORS IN THE NEWS: DAVID LEEDS, AVON
David Leeds is a rare disease patient with Hereditary Angioedema with normal C1 Inhibitor (HAE nlC1-INH). He works as a rare disease advocate to raise awareness of HAE and the impact living with rare diseases has on patients, care givers and their families.
As a rare disease advocate, David meets with congressional and state representatives to discuss issues that impact the rare disease community and to promote policies which will help improve patients' abilities to access and obtain treatment for their conditions.
David is a member of the CT Rare Action Network (CT-RAN) where he helps to plan the annual Rare Disease Day event in Hartford and is involved in the coalition working to establish a Rare Disease Advisory Council in Connecticut in HB 5260. You can read more about David and that bill by clicking on the image below.
