Our two-year, $55.8 billion budget takes effect July 1. This bill reflects our shared values, marked by historic investments in children through expanded funding for special education and childcare. Our budget strengthens support for working families and ensures that the essential work of nonprofits is both valued and financially supported.
We approved billions of dollars to be used for school construction, transportation infrastructure, housing assistance, and many more local initiatives through our annual bond funding package, including funding for Danbury's King Street School upgrades. More capital money is still in progress. Shout out to the Danbury War Memorial Association which is using state bonding to upgrade the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems. It's not only a community center, but an emergency shelter (including cooling in this super-hot summer), and a polling place, all honoring our veterans.
Our students will soon learn about three essential topics in the classroom: civics, media literacy, and Asian American and Pacific Islander history. Under two bills passed in 2022 and 2023, students will gain an understanding of what it means to be an active and engaged citizen, how to analyze the modern media landscape, and the rich history of the AAPI community in our state and the entire country.
Our elections will soon be more secure and transparent as video recording technology will be added to every absentee ballot drop box in our state. This new law will record the drop boxes from the first day that ballots are issued up through when the clerk retrieves the final ballots, and all of these recordings will be made available to the public.
A novel, landmark bill supporting public libraries struggling to afford the skyrocketing costs of e-books and digital audiobooks will go into effect July 1. The bill bars libraries from entering into or renewing expensive contracts and licensing agreements with publishers. The measure positions Connecticut as a national leader in this arena and marks a significant step toward transparency, equity, and sustainability in how libraries acquire and provide digital resources to the public.
Many more bills are going into effect July 1, including one that reforms Connecticut's towing system, one that requires financial literacy instruction in school, and more.
You can click this link for the full list of laws going into effect, and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions |
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