Eleni Kavros DeGraw

Slowly but surely, we are heading to the part of session where we will be in session more days than we are not. I think it’s the best time of session when the building is alive with energy and we are all steadily working to get bills across the finish line.
 
This past Monday, we celebrated Women’s History Month with the bipartisan women’s caucus. Women now make up 37% of our legislature.
 
We also celebrated the 203^rd anniversary of Greek Independence Day. As a proud Greek-American, I am always pleased to see my fellow Greeks gather to celebrate our culture and our history and to be able to share that with my colleagues.
 
Also included today is information on the upcoming Women’s Business Development Day at the Capitol as well as an upcoming small business event.
 
Finally, I chose to share an exchange today on the Planning and Development Committee between one of my members, my Senate co-chair, and myself on HB5174 AAC TEMPORARY SHELTER UNITS FOR PERSONS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS LOCATED ON REAL PROPERTY OWNED BY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. There has been some misinformation about the bill and I think the debate illustrates that as well as the article I’ve shared below.
 
What I know for sure is, that we have over 1,000 people sleeping outside (that we know of) and as we come to the end of March, the cold weather shelters are closing so that number will increase. We have lines at shelters where dozens of people are turned away each night. And for the first time, since numbers have been kept, we have a large population of over 55, many of them women, who are now homeless. We need to find creative ways to create more beds so that we can save people’s lives and give them back their dignity.

As always, I appreciate you reading the e-news and please reach out if I can be of any assistance.

Have a great week,

Eleni

1) Updating the Global Warming Solutions Act to make Connecticut's greenhouse gas emissions targets more in line with other states in the region;
2) Creating incentives for businesses that engage in clean economy sectors or employ environmentally sustainable practices;
3) Developing plans for transitioning to a clean economy, including workforce training and long-term policy implementation;
4) Supporting nature-based solutions, such as preserving marshlands and forests.

With this bill, we're saying that sustainability is not only the right thing to do but also the smart, economically competitive thing to do. 

All I can think is that there is a misunderstanding on the part of my colleague about who is homeless and why they are homeless. In addition, treating human beings as less than human, whom a short while ago, you wouldn’t have treated that way, all because of the difference of physical structure seems like a pretty odd way to look at a fellow human being. The clip below is a little longer than our usual clips, but I do hope you’ll take the time to listen.
 
While this bill isn’t the entire solution, it is a really good start to housing the unhoused, treating them with dignity, getting them the services they need to get back on their feet, and ultimately getting them into transitional and then permanent housing. We can do better by people and we should.

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