Updates from State Rep. Nick Menapace for March 3, 2026

March 3, 2026

On Thursday, the House was in session and passed two important bills: Senate Bill 298 and Senate Bill 299.

Senate Bill 298 is a comprehensive measure that advances several key priorities for our communities. The bill strengthens education by extending the moratorium on measures addressing racial imbalance in schools.

It and increases reimbursement rates for intermediate care facilities and updates child support enforcement, behavioral health regulations, and freedom of information and election laws to improve efficiency and transparency.

For workers, SB 298 establishes stronger, worker-friendly standards for warehouse operations, including a clear private right of action so employees can seek damages if workplace standards are violated. It revises police training standards for interactions with individuals with disabilities, adjusts municipal pension calculations, and repeals a prior building code change to ensure responsible development standards. It also includes a certificate-of-need change designed to support UConn Health.

Senate Bill 299 addresses bottle redemption fraud following the increase in Connecticut’s beverage container deposit. The bill increases penalties for fraudulently redeeming out-of-state containers and lowers the threshold from 2,500 to 1,000 containers before identification is required at redemption centers. These changes protect the integrity of the system while maintaining the 10-cent deposit.

Together, these measures invest in education, workers, healthcare, public safety, and consumer protection — delivering support and clear standards that benefit residents, businesses, and communities across Connecticut.

Committee Work Continues

AI-generated deepfakes are getting harder to spot—and they're showing up in political ads, news clips, and online content meant to deceive.

HB 5342 takes on deceptive AI media head-on. It's about transparency, truth, and making sure you know when what you're watching isn't real.

This bill has a public hearing this Wednesday. I'll be there. If this matters to you, show up too—or submit testimony here.

There's also a busy slate of other committee hearings this week. The schedule is listed in the graphics below.

Show up, stay informed, have your voice heard!

I am a member of the Education Committee. Last week, educator Meghan Rosenfeld testified before the committee on a bill to better support science-backed literacy interventions. Please take some time to watch her testimony and the questions I presented to her.

Recognizing Our Scholastic Athletes

Congratulations to the Montville girls indoor track team from the Montville house delegation Larry Pemberton and Gauthier and myself.

I had the honor of recognizing some incredible East Lyme Viking student athletes on the House floor recently. These kids have been absolutely crushing it:

🏆 ECC Division 1 Cheerleading + Overall Champions

🏃‍♀️ ECC Girls Division 1 Indoor Track

🏃‍♂️ ECC Boys Division 1 Indoor Track + Class M State Champions

🏐 East Lyme Girls Volleyball – Class L State Champions (from the fall!)

🏅 Sam Leone – Cross Country State Champion + outstanding individual performance at Indoor Track States

🏅 Teagan Czaja – State Pole Vault Champion

Also learned that after 8 hours on the House floor, the word "pole vaulting" becomes very difficult to say. 🤦‍♂️

So proud of all of you. Keep making East Lyme proud.

Committee Testimony

I testified last week before the Environment and Planning and Development committees in support of the creation of a statewide superfund and on a proposal to hold out-of-state landlords accountable.

Please take the time to watch clips of my testimony below.

Letter to the Editor in The Day

Private equity is reshaping our housing market — and not in a way that helps working families.

I shared some thoughts in The Day about how Connecticut can respond. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it.

Please read my most recent letter to the editor that appeared in the Day here.

Coldest Night Walk

Very happy to take part in the second annual Coldest Night of the Year walk.

As a proud member of the End Homelessness Caucus, I was honored to walk and help raise funds to support individuals and families experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness in our community.

Grateful to join Senator Anwar and Representatives Sweet and Kavros-DeGraw in showing up for this important cause.

Tax Equity Press Conference

The Tax Equity Caucus held a press conference Friday focused on one simple idea: if we want to make Connecticut more affordable, we have to stop balancing the system on the backs of regular people.

Affordability starts with fairness.

Honoring Rep. Kevin Ryan

Last week, the House paused to remember State Rep. Kevin Ryan and his years of service.

As the current Montville delegation, it was especially meaningful for the three of us to stand together and honor someone who represented our community, our region and our state with dedication and care.

Public service is bigger than any one of us. We are grateful for his contributions to Montville and to Connecticut.

Around the 37th

Last week I walked in the snow over to the press conference that was held by the Bay Point tenant Union. They were on the cover of The Day the next day.

The voices in this article reflect what I heard firsthand at Bay Point: heat outages, unsafe walkways, and families unsure where they’ll live next year. This isn’t just a Niantic issue, it’s statewide. Connecticut renters deserve safe, stable, dignified housing.