My Week at the Capitol

May 2, 2025



 

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Dear Neighbor,

The House of Representatives is ramping up our activities this week.

On Monday, we passed a bill to protect Maternal and Infant Health to have our Office of Health Strategy plan for more birth centers, and expand the fatherhood initiative.
 
There was no session on Tuesday, but it was a busy day nonetheless - I attended the intern recognition event, answered your emails, and stood with the governor and Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves for a press conference on the first 100 days of chaos in Washington. We discussed many of the lowlights, including attacks on:

  • Public education funding
  • Those of you who need health care,
  • Vaccines to prevent diseases like measles which can an have killed children,
  • Defunding of cancer research
  • Anti-suicide programs
  • Social security
  • Veterans
  • Non-profits and state and local agencies that provide critical services,
  • International trade by the imposition of extreme sales taxes (tariffs),
  • Citizens who express themselves getting sent to foreign concentration camps

On Wednesday, we passed the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act. The motive for the bill goes all the way back to 2012, when families of victims in the Sandy Hook shooting sued the manufacturer of the rifle that was used in the shooting, arguing that the way the manufacturer marketed the rifle led to it winding up in the hands of the unstable young man who killed 26 innocents.

That lawsuit faced several road blocks, including a federal law that shields gun manufacturers from many types of legal liability. The bill  opens those manufacturers up to legal liability under Connecticut law. The bill states that they must exercise “reasonable control” over their sales practices and opens the door for more civil lawsuits of the type that the Sandy Hook families brought.

On Thursday, we debated a major environmental protection bill that set new state targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to reach an economy-wide net zero GHG emission reduction level by January 1, 2050; establishes the Connecticut Clean Economy Council, and provides for action in the future for things like heat pumps and sustainable electric generation. We need to counter the anti-environment chaos from Washington.
 
We also received revenue numbers from 2024, the last year of the Biden economy, which was very high and higher than anticipated. We're afraid of the economic downturn of the last three months and the predictions for a recession. We're trying, in this time of federal government instability, to be prepared for the near future.

If you or someone you know requires assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at the Capitol at 1-800-842-1902 or email me at Bob.Godfrey@cga.ct.gov.

Sincerely,


Bob Godfrey

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