Gregg Haddad

Dear Neighbor,

Connecticut's annual Sales Tax-Free Week begins on Sunday, Aug. 17, and runs through Saturday, Aug. 23. It provides a chance to save money, whether it is taking the kids back-to-school shopping or treating yourself or your loved ones.
Highlights of Sales Tax-Free Week

• Sales or purchases of certain items of clothing or footwear costing less than $100 per item are exempt from Connecticut's 6.35% sales tax.
• Sales Tax-Free Week applies to purchases made in-store, online, mail-order, and over the phone.
• This special exemption applies to purchases made from retailers located in Connecticut as well as from online retailers.

This is Connecticut's 26th Sales Tax Free Week.

A list of exempt and taxable items during Sales Tax-Free Week can be found here.

A list of FAQs can be found here.

With the 2025 Legislative Session now in the books, I’m continuing to highlight some of the most important legislation we passed—and why it matters for our communities.

Today, I’m focusing on two new laws that defend the freedom to read, protect our libraries, and push back against politically motivated censorship.

First, in response to growing attacks on librarians and attempts to ban books — especially those that reflect diverse voices, LGBTQ+ perspectives, and other stories that some would rather silence — we passed HB 7287, §§ 345–347 (effective immediately).

This law requires every public and school library board (or their governing bodies) to adopt clear, transparent policies in three areas:

1. Collection development and maintenance – how books and materials are chosen and cared for.
2. Library displays and programs – ensuring public spaces and events reflect our communities.
3. Review, reconsideration, and removal of materials – setting a fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory process for addressing challenges to library content.

Importantly, these policies must comply with Connecticut’s strong anti-discrimination laws, which protect against bias based on race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and disability. The law also shields library employees from civil liability when they’re carrying out these duties — because doing your job to provide access to information should never make you a target.
 
Second, we strengthened protections for libraries in the digital age. PA 25-9 (effective July 1) will stop publicly funded libraries from being forced into unfair contracts for eBooks and other digital materials — contracts that limit lending, restrict access, or impose unreasonable conditions. Because Connecticut is a small state, the legislature is making this change effective when other states join our effort to push back against the publishing giants. Once enough other states pass similar laws (together representing at least 7 million people), Connecticut libraries will be prohibited from signing agreements that:

• Restrict how many times an eBook can be loaned and also limit the loan period.
• Cap how many copies a library can buy on the day the material is released.
• Block libraries from making nonpublic preservation copies.
• Set artificially short contract terms without allowing reasonable alternatives.

Together, these bills send a clear message: in Connecticut, we stand for intellectual freedom, we trust librarians, and we will not allow censorship or corporate overreach to limit our right to read.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is developing plans to install 6-inch-wide edge line pavement markings on horizontal curves on numerous rural, state-owned roads, including Route 32 in Mansfield.

Roadway departures account for 27% of all fatal and serious-injury crashes, half of which occur on state roads. The CTDOT's proposed work is expected to mitigate these crashes by increasing driver visibility and awareness to the edge of the road.

The design plans for this project are expected to be completed in September with a tentative advertising date for construction scheduled for December.

Anyone interested in requesting information on these projects may contact Balazs Szoke, project manager, at 860-594-2745 or via email to Balazs.Szoke@ct.gov. Reference Project No. 0171-0518 in your communication.

Learn more about how the town of Mansfield operates, what goes into the community’s decision-making process, and what does each department does by enrolling in the 2025 Mansfield Local Government Academy.

The Academy will be held on Thursday evenings, starting in early September. Town Manager Aylesworth organized the Academy to inform and engage citizens in what is involved to operate a high-functioning community government.

Department heads lead each session to provide the challenges and opportunities they face each day. Tour some of the Town’s department facilities. Throughout the sessions you will learn about the Fire and Emergency Departments, the Public Libraries, Animal Control, the Town’s IT Operations, Mansfield’s Schools, Parks & Recreation, Elections, the role of citizen committees, and more!

The schedule will be posted on the Town Manager’s webpage soon. To express your interest, email TownMngr@mansfieldct.org or call 860-429-3373.

From the town's website:

The Town’s Planning and Development office has learned of aware of fraudulent invoices emailed to residents requesting payment for land use applications. The communication utilizes facts that are readily available to the public and appears to come from town staff.

If you receive an invoice from the Town that looks suspicious, look for unfamiliar greetings, grammatical errors, inconsistent email addresses/links, unusual payment arrangements with urgent terms, and unexpected attachments, contact the office at 860-429-3330 to confirm the validity of the correspondence.

There have been reports of similar correspondence being distributed in municipalities across Connecticut. Please be vigilant and check with Town staff before paying any charges you are not expecting.

The 22nd annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival will take place from 2 to 8 p.m. on and around Betsy Paterson Square (2 Dog Lane) in Downtown Storrs on Saturday, Sept. 27.

There are many ways you can participate: 

• Host an Activity Booth – sign up by Aug 15 · Host a Food Booth – sign up by Aug 15
• Sponsor the celebration – sign up by Aug 15
• Volunteer at the event – sign up anytime!
• Build puppets in the free Community Puppet-Building Workshop Find more information about each opportunity at downtownstorrsfestival.org.

In the event of inclement weather, the festival will be held inside at E. O. Smith High School (1235 Storrs Road). Follow @DowntownStorrs on Facebook and Instagram or visit downtownstorrsfestival.org for details.

As always, please reach out to my office if you have any comments, questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Gregg Haddad