Jennifer Leeper

It is the end of August, which means that summer is coming to a close and our students, teachers, and school staff are all heading back to the classroom. While I'm sad to see summer go, this is my favorite time of year. There is always so much excitement surrounding back-to-school- a time of new possibilities, friendships, experiences, and opportunities. I am sending the best wishes to all our students, teachers, and school staff for a fantastic new school year ahead!

Additionally, I hope you will read my piece that was published in the CT Post on an issue that I know is critically important to this community- housing. Lastly, there is an important joint committee meeting on Monday about home heating assistance and renewing the federal assistance plan. As the Vice Chair of the Human Services Committee, I am looking forward to ensuring this essential assistance makes it to our in-need families and seniors, particularly as the price of home heating oil has increased.

In this week's email, you can find information on:

• My Op-Ed on Housing
• LIHEAP Joint Meeting this Monday
• Back to School Resources
• Last Day of CT's Sales Tax Free Week

In my official capacity as a state legislator, I have proposed substantive solutions via public hearing to our Housing Committee to address these concerns. I have worked with neighbors, colleagues, and experts to better understand the complexity of our housing challenge, push-back against ideas I didn’t think were right for Fairfield, communicate clearly, and propose real solutions to benefit my constituents and our town. This issue is deeply complex and we need serious ideas that will deliver meaningful solutions for our community. Serious challenges deserve serious solutions, and Fairfield deserves no less.

Click here to learn more about what, exactly, 8-30g is and how we can effectively deal with Connecticut’s housing crisis.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps keep families safe and healthy through initiatives that assist families with energy costs. The program provides federally funded assistance in managing costs associated with home energy bills, energy crises, weatherization, and energy-related minor home repairs.

The committees will hear the Department of Social Services' proposed action plan for the federal fiscal year 2023. This plan is based on anticipated federal funding and assumes block grant funding for LIHEAP of $73.2 million. Being that the state and federal budget cycles don't perfectly align, the federal budget is not finalized until September and we anticipate an increased allocation to this program from the feds to address the increased cost of home heating oil. More information on the proposed plan can be found here.

The meeting will be held at 10 am and can be viewed live on CT-N.

Connecticut Children's has created a Back to School Kit for parents. It provides helpful guides for parents on a wide variety of issues touching on everything from talking to your teen about safe dating practices to healthy snack options for lunchtime. Visit the Connecticut Children's website to access this resource. 

Mental Health Panel
On Thursday, September 8, Connecticut Children's is partnering with the Connecticut Historical Society Museum & Library to host a virtual program on children’s mental health for parents and caregivers. This event is FREE and open to the public. Click here to learn more.

Free Lunches
Great News! Connecticut students will receive $30 million dollars from the federal government to fund free breakfast and lunch meals at public schools. This program is in addition to the state's free meals program for districts that have a high density of students in poverty. Children can't learn when they are hungry so these initiatives focus on ensuring every child is prepared to learn in their classroom.

Please check out this CT News Junkie article for more information.