Making Your Voice Heard #2 - Week of January 30

January 27, 2023

Dear Neighbor,

In my ongoing effort to make government more transparent and to encourage all residents of Chester, Deep River, Winthrop, Essex, Ivoryton, Centerbrook, Haddam, Tylerville and Higganum to become more engaged in the civic progress, I will, over the next several weeks, be sending out regular e-blasts on pending public hearings. These meetings - held in person and via Zoom - are your chance to weigh in on bills before they are voted on by me and my colleagues on the Floor of the House. There are three ways to make your voice heard: in writing, in person, or virtually via Zoom. (Some combination of the three is most effective.)

So, starting next week: There will be a public hearing before the Environment Committee on Monday, January 30th, 2023 at 10 a.m. in the Legislative Office Building, Room 2B, or over Zoom and YouTube Live. The AGENDA can be found on the website at www.cga.ct.gov.

This public hearing features one of my signature bills, H.B. No 6485 - AN ACT CONCERNING NATURAL ORGANIC REDUCTION AND GREEN BURIALS. This bill would provide authorization for the use of certain open space as sights for green burials and to authorize the use in our state of human composting, also known as natural organic reduction.

Some other bills on the docket that might be of interest to you include:

  • S.B. No. 53 - AN ACT REQUIRING VETERINARIANS TO REPORT CASES OF SUSPECTED AGGRAVATED ANIMAL CRUELTY AND AUTHORIZING THE REPORTING OF SUSPECTED ANIMAL CRUELTY
  • S.B. No. 122 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE REPLANTING OF TREES IN PUBLIC AREAS CLEARED BY UTILITY COMPANIES
  • H.B. No. 6479 - AN ACT CONCERNING CLIMATE RESILIENCY FUNDS AND PROJECTS
  • H.B. No. 6482 - AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDING FOR BIKEWAYS, GREENWAYS AND RECREATIONAL TRAILS 
  • H.B. No. 6484 - AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN HARVESTING OF HORSESHOE CRABS 
  • H.B. No. 6486 - AN ACT CONCERNING EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY FOR TIRES

If you are interested in testifying on these issues, you can sign up to REGISTER TO SPEAK or SUBMIT WRITTEN TESTIMONY.

Registration to speak will close on Sunday, January 29, 2023, at 3 p.m.

 

 

There is also a public hearing next week for the Public Health Committee (Wednesday, February 1 at 11 a.m.) 

To find the full list of public hearings, please visit the CGA website. 

No matter your position on any of these legislative initiatives, I encourage everyone who feels passionate about a particular subject to sign up to testify.

 

 

 

If you encounter any issues with registering or submitting testimony, please contact my office at 860-240-0329 or email my legislative aide, Kyle Fishbein, at kyle.fishbein@cga.ct.gov.