Juan R. Candelaria

Protecting the residents of our state from discrimination in the health insurance market is one of my top priorities and I’m very happy to report that we are continuing to make progress on that issue this legislative session.

The House took action approving a resolution that would include a ballot question to amend the State Constitution to allow for an in-person early voting system. Once the resolution gets final legislative approval, the question will appear on the November 2020 ballot for voters to decide if Connecticut should implement it.

The April 15th deadline to file your state and federal income taxes is fast approaching.

For many, college costs can be overwhelming and if students are unaware of available resources, searching for loans, grants and scholarships can be a daunting task. Follow this link for information on the CHESLA program.

Recently the state took another step closer to a $15 minimum wage after the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee moved three bills concerning a minimum wage increase out of committee.

We had another successful Latino Advocacy Day at the State Capitol – the sixth so far! My thanks to the Hispanic Federation, State and Federal Elected Officials and everyone that attended and had a hand in making this event so great. If you could not attend this year we look forward to seeing you next year!

One of our legislative priorities for this session is to put in place a plan to increase the minimum wage in order to help give those working a 40-hour week the opportunity to make a living wage. To this end, we proposed House Bill #5004, An Act Increasing the Minimum Wage that aims to provide more economic security to Connecticut families. The Senate has also proposed an identical Senate Bill #2. 

I testified in the Labor Committee in support of a bill I introduced to expand labor law protections to domestic workers that comprise a significant amount of the workforce in “informal” employment; these employees are among the most vulnerable.