After many hours of hard work and debate, my colleagues and I have passed House Bill 7267, which takes a comprehensive and systematic approach to health care and its soaring costs. The directives and policies in this legislation will significantly increase access to care and create a more sustainable, high-value health care system in the future.

I am pleased to report the House passed legislation that will facilitate minority teacher recruitment and retention across the state.

The state budget approved last night provides a net increase in funding for Bethel’s education system. The new budget includes more than $89,000 additional funding for Bethel’s schools and a $126,000 expenditure increase for Bethel’s Teacher Retirement Fund, an expense that was previously stated to be absorbed by the town.

Today the House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation that would ban the “gay and transgender panic” defense. As a co-introducer of the bill I am proud of our state for implementing this necessary measure to ensure all individuals feel safe.

The House of Representatives unanimously passed an important bill that has been six years in the making.

To protect Connecticut’s future and give everyone access to higher education, we included in the state budget a policy to allow students attending regional-technical colleges to graduate without debt and encourage them to start their careers in our state.

I am proud of legislation that passed with overwhelming support in both the House and Senate regarding Connecticut’s rapidly growing craft beer, wine, and cider industries. In a few short years these industries have grown from a few hundred jobs to several thousand and generate millions for the state economy.

We passed a balanced 2-year budget for Connecticut out of the House of Representatives last night. While it does not go far enough in embracing a more equitable, publicly-supported, fair-share budget that we advocated hard for, it is indeed a significant step closer to a fairer, stable and fiscally responsible budget than we have had in a generation.