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| Dear Friend,
This is my State Capitol update for the week of September 29.
If you prefer to watch rather than read, click on the play button to hear about the issues contained in this newsletter. |
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Ah, weather. When I recorded my video yesterday it was a glorious, sunny, crisp fall afternoon. As I finish up the newsletter this morning it is pouring buckets and I am stranded in NY (where I attended an event last night) because of flooding on the tracks which has shut down train service. While repeatedly refreshing the news on trains, I keep getting alerts reminding me that the flooding is a “dangerous and life-threatening situation” and that I should not attempt to travel. So, I will hunker down in place for awhile, and I hope you can do the same.
This week’s main event was the Governor’s call to special session on Tuesday, September 26. We usually have at least one “special” session during the summer and fall months, to address a time-sensitive issue or two that cannot wait until the “regular” session starts in 2024. This time the Governor called the session for two main purposes: to move CT’s presidential primary date up from the last week in April to the first week in April; and to confirm Nora Dannehy to the CT Supreme Court. Both issues had broad bipartisan support, so the process was a smooth one.
But these session days serve purposes beyond what is on the agenda. Principally, it’s an opportunity to be together with colleagues. Though we can run our committee process remotely via zoom, we have to be physically present in Hartford in order to vote as a body. When you hail from the very corner of the NW Corner, as I do, it is really valuable to be able to chat with so many colleagues in one day. There is a lot of camaraderie in the House, so much of the conversation is catching up on family and personal events – a new baby, a marriage, the loss of a brother. These may seem like extraneous conversations, but they have a lot to do with our ability to work together when things get stressful.
The Governor’s staff is also around on special session days, so it’s a good time to check in with them. We have a meeting of the Bond Commission coming up on October 6, for example. The Governor sets the agenda, so it was important for me to check in with his staff to make sure that items of particular importance to me were on his agenda. (They were.) One of those items, discussed further in the newsletter, is funding for new voting machines. Having lived through significant challenges with our antiquated voting machines in the 2018 election, when damp ballots jammed machines and delayed the results for many hours, I have personal knowledge of the importance of replacing them and am very glad to see that funding on the agenda.
I also spent a lot of time with my colleague Representative Toni Walker, the House Chair of the Appropriations Committee, reviewing what was happening re the budget we passed earlier this year. As the legislative branch, we craft and pass the final budget (negotiating all along the way with the Governor’s office), but it is the executive branch that has the responsibility of implementing it, so it’s important that we follow through to make sure that the initiatives we agreed on are getting funded. It’s a constant process.
When I’ve been home this week, I’ve been making a lot of tomato sauce. Though they seemed later than usual, I’m now drowning in tomatoes as my vegetable garden is starting to wind down. My tomatoes were a community effort this year: my first round of planting was mostly killed by the late frost in May, so the current harvest is from plants donated by friends or planted by the birds. It’s an eclectic group to be sure. I’m also harvesting some eggplant and peppers, so they’re going right into the pot. To all the vegetable gardeners out there, may your harvest be plentiful! |
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Here’s a list of today’s topics:
- Special Session Summary. Click here.
- New Laws Effective October 1. Click here.
- Over $1 billion Transferred to Pay Down Pension Debt. Click here.
- Funds to Expand Dual Credit Offerings for High School Students. Click here.
- Fall Vaccine Chart. Click here.
- Eversource Bill Discount. Click here.
- Bond Commission Set to Approve Funds for New Voter Machines. Click here.
- Tax Panel at the Hartford Club. Click here.
- DOT Update for Town of Washington. Click here.
- Northwest Corner Events. Click here.
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| The bipartisan support for this important bill serves as a powerful testament to our unwavering commitment to upholding democracy and ensuring that every single voice has a meaningful opportunity to be heard and valued.
As we move forward, I encourage you to stay informed about the upcoming presidential primary and actively participate in the democratic process. Your vote matters and your voice deserves to be heard. |
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| A number of new laws that are effective on October 1st were passed during the 2023 legislative session that address several issue areas to improve our great state.
New laws include wrong way driving prevention with a test program on 120 highway exit ramps that are determined high risk for wrong-way drivers, gun violence prevention, and prohibiting hand-harvesting of ecologically important horseshoe crabs or their eggs from state waters.
Additionally, we prohibited deceptive and coercive interrogation methods, and implemented proper notification of inmates’ families and any associated victims of related crime(s) when they transfer them from one facility to another.
These are just some of the laws, click here for the full list.
Your calls, emails, and testimony at public hearings during this year's legislative session had a direct influence on these new laws. Thank you for your input, and please continue sharing your views and making your voice heard during our legislative process. |
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More than $1.3 billion captured from volatile revenue sources over the last fiscal year is being transferred to pay down Connecticut’s pension debt.
Budgetary reforms enacted in 2017 and extended this year through legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Lamont require the state to deposit excess revenue from particularly volatile categories, such as portions of the personal income tax and pass-through entity tax, in the Budget Reserve Fund, commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund. A total of $2.5 million of this volatility transfer will be placed in reserves, bringing the fund to its statutory cap. The remainder will be deposited in the pension funds for retired state workers and Connecticut teachers.
Approximately $1.05 billion will be directed to the State Employees Retirement System. The remaining $272.8 million will be deposited in the Teachers’ Retirement System. The fiscal year 2023 budget surplus, projected to be more than $500 million, will also be directed to the Teachers’ Retirement System after an audit of fiscal year-end financials has been completed later this year.
Since the advent of these reforms – part of the state’s “fiscal guardrails” – more than $7 billion in excess contributions have been made to pay down pension debt, resulting in future savings for Connecticut taxpayers. This is the fourth consecutive fiscal year that additional contributions have been made to pay down pension debt.
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Connecticut State Department of Education is awarding $3.8 million to 83 applicants representing 89 school districts across Connecticut to expand dual credit offerings in high schools. The primary objective of the state’s Dual Credit Expansion Grant Program is to enable more high school students to earn college credits prior to graduation through partnerships formed between high schools and public and private colleges and universities.
Dual credit courses offer a rigorous alternative to traditional test-based measures (e.g. SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate) for students to demonstrate their postsecondary readiness. They have been found in research to have positive effects on students’ college access and enrollment, credit accumulation, and college degree attainment. Accumulating college credits in high school can help students get a jump start in their postsecondary program, while also saving money. |
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| It's that time of year again. See the chart below for recommendations for who is eligible for vaccination and when folks should get those vaccines. |
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| On December 1, 2023, Eversource will introduce a new discount rate for electric customers with a financial hardship status. Based on their household income or receipt of a public assistance benefit, customers may be eligible for a 10% or 50% discount off their electric bill per month. For example, if they have a $100 monthly bill, it would be $10 less if they receive a 10% discount or $50 less if they receive the 50% discount. |
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The Connecticut State Bond Commission will vote at its upcoming meeting to approve an allocation of $25 million that will be used to purchase new ballot-counting tabulators for use in elections and primaries statewide. The equipment will replace Connecticut’s existing voting machines, which are used at every polling place in the state to tabulate the choices that voters make on their paper ballots.
The existing machines, which were first put into use in 2006, are beginning to show signs of aging and should be replaced for the continued functioning of accurate and timely election results. The allocation is being placed on the agenda for approval at the commission’s October 6, 2023, meeting.
Following the commission’s approval of the funding, it is anticipated that the Office of the Secretary of the State will solicit proposals from manufacturers to supply the state with the equipment. Once purchased, the state will provide the equipment to every municipality and the existing equipment will be retired. The state is funding the entirety of the cost to purchase the equipment. It is estimated that the allocation will enable the state to purchase several thousand traditional tabulators and dozens of high-speed tabulators used to tally absentee ballots.
This will be the first time the state is implementing a statewide replacement of all its voting machines since it eliminated the use of lever machines 17 years ago and made a switch to machines that read paper ballots as part of a nationwide requirement enacted by Congress in 2002 for states to have voting systems that keep a paper record of every vote cast in case an election is audited or recounted. Because lever voting machines cannot produce a paper ballot, they were retired from use.
The October 6, 2023, meeting of the State Bond Commission will be held at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Additionally, video of the meeting will stream live online at ct-n.com. |
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Next week I will be participating in a Tax Panel hosted by the Yankee Institute at The Hartford Club. It will be held October 5 at 10 AM. I'm looking forward to discussing how state and local taxes and fees affect businesses here in the state, and what reforms we could make to help businesses succeed in the years ahead. I will be joined on the panel by DRS Commissioner Mark Boughton, Bob Scinto, CEO of R.D. Scinto, Inc., and Ken Coomes, Independent sales representative with a career in energy marketing. Registration is required to attend.
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The Connecticut Department of Transportation announced a Thin Surface Treatment prior to 2024 resurfacing project will be performed on Route 109 in the Town of Washington.
The project consists of a Thin Surface Treatment to be placed on Route 109 from Steeples Road to Route 47/109 Intersection. This Project is scheduled to occur on Friday September 29, 2023 and be completed on Friday September 29, 2023. |
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| Norfolk Haystack Book Festival
The annual Haystack Book Festival will run from September 29 through October 1. The festival brings together writers and thinkers to explore new ideas in literature and the arts. |
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| Project SAGE Annual Community Vigil |
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Norfolk Land Trust – Haystack Mountain Challenge
Registration is now open for the 10th Annual Haystack Mountain Challenge
Sunday, October 1
Race lengths: half-marathon, 10k, and 5k
More information can be found on their website: https://www.norfolklandtrust.org/events
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Salisbury Fall Festival on October 6-8
Salisbury’s annual fall festival is around the corner on Friday, October 6 through Sunday, October 8. As always, there will be lots of activities and events for people of all ages, and more will be added in the days ahead. For the full schedule, see https://www.salisburyfallfestival.org/
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| Electric Cars: Easier and Cheaper Than you Think on October 11
The field of clean cars has increased greatly since the Kent Memorial Library’s last lecture on this topic, with even more hybrid and electric cars coming for 2024. And many of these models qualify for the new $7,500 in tax credit, with some dealers also paying for home charger installation. Bottom line: Things having gotten easier, and cheaper.
Host Michael Jay has spent much of the past four years driving on electricity, and he has real-world insights and advice to share. This informal, interactive session will address some common myths and misunderstandings, and will try to answer your questions. You can register for the event here: https://www.kentmemoriallibrary.org/event-registration/?ee=4625 |
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| Take Back the Hike with Project Sage and Kent Land Trust on October 14 |
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| Save the Date: Region 1 Flu Shot Clinic |
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| It is my honor to represent our district. I look forward to hearing from you about the issues raised in this newsletter, or any other topics you think I should know about. You can email me at maria.horn@cga.ct.gov or call me at (860)-240-8585. Thanks for reading, and I wish you a safe weekend.
Click here to forward to forward this email to a friend. |
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| Sincerely,
Maria Horn
State Representative |
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