Kara Rochelle

In almost half a year, more than 200 mass shootings have occurred in the United States, with just under 30 having taken place at a school. It is unthinkable that our country and communities must continue to experience the irreversible loss of innocent lives - children, elderly, worshippers, shoppers at supermarkets and malls - to senseless mass shootings.

My heart goes out to the Uvalde, Texas community, families, and friends, as they mourn the tragic loss of 19 precious children and their 2 teachers who were heartlessly taken by gun violence. Our thoughts and prayers alone are not enough to prevent these tragedies. We need Congress to act.

While each mass shooting may be different, there is one thread that binds all of them together - the ease with which individuals who should not have had weapons were able to access them.

Please join me by calling upon our lawmakers in Washington to demand common sense background check laws now - which the vast majority of Americans support. 

As your state representative, I remain committed to stopping gun violence and will continue to actively participate in conversations to make common sense solutions a reality.

Locally, Valley Save our Youth (VSOY), which serves adolescents in Ansonia and Derby, is receiving $220,000 between fiscal year 2022 and 2023 towards these efforts and youth programming 145,000 during the 2023 fiscal year for youth services prevention. 

Additionally, Team, Inc. will receive $350,000 between FY 22 and FY 23 for youth services and special funds to support families in need. 

You can read more about the crucial and comprehensive legislation we passed to support children and expand access to mental health care here.

Our budget plan CUTS YOUR TAXES by:

• Eliminating pension and annuity taxes for most seniors
• Lowering property taxes on homes and cars
• Extending the elimination of the 25-cent state gas tax cut until December

The budget also funds the following initiatives to help seniors:

• Increases funding for nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels
• Lowers the copay for the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders from 4.5% to 3% so that more older adults in Connecticut can receive long-term care in their own home
• Establishes a Community Ombudsman Program for Home Care to support residents who receive Medicaid home and community-based long-term services
• Aligns the Medicaid state plan with federal law to set the minimum community spouse resource allowance at $50,000. This will help low- and middle-income residents stay in their home if their spouse enters a nursing home
• Continues telehealth options
• Increases funding for local nonprofits like BH Care and Team, Inc. which serve seniors in our community

Additionally, we passed the following to make Connecticut a better place for seniors to live:

H.B. 5231, An Act Concerning Data Collection to Prevent Malnutrition Among Senior Citizens: will assess the nutritional needs of seniors and ensure our state is providing nutritional resources to those who need it.

H.B. 5313, An Act Concerning Temporary Nursing Services Agencies, Reporting of Involuntary Transfers and Discharges from Nursing Homes and Residential Care Homes, Elder Abuse Training, Legal Rights of Long-Term Care Applicants and a Study of Managed Residential Community Issues: takes steps to address staffing shortages at the state's nursing homes, which have become more reliant on temporary nursing services agencies, often causing the cost of labor to skyrocket. This law establishes maximum rates these agencies may charge a facility. The law also requires mandated elder abuse reporters to complete the state Department of Social Services' (DSS) elder abuse training program within 90 days of becoming a mandated reporter. It also requires DSS to notify long-term care and home care applicants of their right to seek legal assistance during the Medicaid application process.

S.B. 286, An Act Concerning Elder Abuse Reporting Deadlines, Temporary Family Assistance, Certificates of Need for Long-Term Care Facilities and Civil Penalties for Nursing Homes that Fail to Use Rate Increases for Employee Wage Enhancements: helps ensure more timely reporting of elder abuse. This bill shortens the reporting deadline for suspected elder abuse from 72 hours to 24 hours. 

SB 262, An Act Concerning a Study of Homemaker-Companion Agency Issues: creates a task force to study issues concerning homemaker-companion agencies and make recommendations to the legislature on how our state can help solve some of the challenges these agencies have faced. 

H.B. 5262, An Act Revising Certain Absentee Voting Eligibility Statutes: eases some of the eligibility restrictions for absentee ballots so more voters can use this method if they're feeling unwell, worried about their health, or out of town on Election Day.

SB 6, An Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring: helps protect consumers' personal information online by laying out a consumer "bill of rights." This will allow individuals to see which companies are collecting their personal data and opt out of sales or sharing their information. 

Each order includes 8 rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. The order will arrive in 2 separate packages containing 4 tests in each pack. Orders will ship for free. To request your at-home tests, please click here.

If you need a COVID-19 test now, you can find test sites using the 2-1-1 test site locator, here. At-home tests are available for sale throughout our region. If you have health insurance through an employer or Marketplace, your insurance will reimburse you for 8 at-home tests each month for each person on your plan. To learn more about this, please click here.

Please feel free to contact me with any thoughts and concerns you may have on Kara.Rochelle@cga.ct.gov or 1-800-842-8267. Follow my Facebook page for regular legislative updates.

All my Best,

Kara Rochelle
State Representative