Newsletter

jenn
June 18, 2021
While the 2021 legislative session faced unprecedented challenges and obstacles, I worked hard to bring the concerns of our community to Hartford and advocate for legislation that will directly benefit Fairfield and Southport.
 
The virtual platform of this year's session, although a learning curve, increased accessibility and participation throughout the legislative process. Many of you spoke or submitted testimony during public hearings, followed the budget from its initial drafts to the House floor, and even increased your communications with me to ensure your voices were heard. As we adjourned last week, I am proud to say my legislative colleagues and I worked hard to pass a number of critical pieces of legislation that our community will benefit from.
Below are some of the bills passed this session that will help our community:
  • Education Funding– Included in the 2-year budget: 
    • We kept our commitment to funding our town's schools, ensuring predictability for our community. 
    • Our budget honors the formula for state grants, which guarantees our town will not receive less than we were granted the year before. 
  • Tax Relief for Seniors– HB 6458  provides increased eligibility for property tax relief by: 
    • Authorizing municipalities to lower the age of eligibility for property tax relief for senior citizens. 
      • The property tax burden has become a financial hardship for many of our seniors on fixed incomes. 
    • We continued the income tax phase-out of certain retirement income and will begin also phasing out IRAs beginning in 2024.
  • Red Flag Law – HB 6355 works to temporarily remove firearms from those deemed by a court to be a danger: 
    • This bill bolsters our current statute also known as the "Red Flag Law," which has fallen behind the curve since its initial enaction in 1999. 
    • This law, also known as a Risk Warrant or a Risk Protection Order, established a legal procedure for the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may pose a danger to themselves or others. 
      • The bill will also ensure individuals whose firearms are removed cannot acquire additional firearms or ammunition and requires individuals to apply to have the order revoked. 
      • It is a life-saving bill that will only help our state mitigate gun violence. 
  • Domestic Violence– SB 1091 makes various changes in the laws relating to domestic violence, civil restraining orders, family violence, assistance programs, and certain crimes by: 
    • Introducing a working definition of coercive control into Connecticut Law to protect partners and children. 
      • This helps courts recognize that intimate partner violence and abuse doesn’t always look like a bruise or a broken arm. 
      • Allows victims subject to coercive control by a family or household member to be eligible for civil restraining orders. 
    • Establishing additional protections for tenants who are protected by certain orders of protection. 
      • Requires a landlord to change a dwelling unit’s locks upon the tenant’s request or allow the tenant to do so within a certain time period. 
  • Car Break-ins– SB 1093 and HB 6505 take steps against the recent rise in car thefts by: 
    • Making it a crime to entice a minor into committing a crime as we’ve continuously heard that adults are recruiting minors to steal cars for them.
    • Requiring the Judicial Branch to study ways to decrease time between a child’s arrest and court appearance, as well as ways to reduce juvenile recidivism.  
      • It is essential to make sure minors face consequences, or are given the necessary services, in order to reduce these types of crime.
    • Ordering the Judicial Branch to collect data on juvenile detentions and report to the General Assembly so we can get at the root of the problem and end these crimes in our communities.

While this is just a short list of highlighted bills passed – they will all make great impacts for our town. To see the full list of bills passed by the House this session click here.
 
Although the legislative session has come to a close, I want to encourage you to stay connected to the legislative process in the future. I am always available to help, so please feel free to contact me at any time with your thoughts, suggestions, questions, or concerns.
 
CANNABIS LEGALIZATION
Wednesday, the House voted to legalize recreational adult-use cannabis for folks 21+. This is a deeply complex issue with valid concerns on both sides and was a truly difficult vote for me. After many, many conversations with constituents, doctors, local law enforcement, youth and mental health experts, and social justice advocates, I finally decided that a no vote would be a vote for the status quo and I don’t believe the status quo is serving us well.

Experts and advocates worked for years to craft the best possible policy- and I believe what the House voted on Wednesday- and the Senate confirmed Thursday- makes meaningful strides to end what has been decades of an ineffective and disparately enforced prohibition. I also have always felt that cannabis being treated entirely differently from alcohol and tobacco was an irrational policy- an irrational policy that has destroyed many families and communities. The legislation that passed takes major steps to repair communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs.

Not only will this policy work to repair communities, it will also help ensure that the quality of cannabis in the market is a regulated and a safe product. There will be dosage, potency, and serving size limits. Getting cannabis out of the black market allows us to invest in an equity fund, prevention efforts, mental health and addiction services, with only 15% of revenue going to the State’s General Fund.

There are many safety restrictions in the legislation to prevent any advertising to children, misleading packaging, and sponsorships at any events where at least 10% of the audience could reasonably be children. All products must be packaged in child-resistant packaging. While I believe many strong protections are in place in this bill, safely regulating cannabis is likely to be something we continue to tweak and improve every session, similarly to alcohol and tobacco. I’m committed to ensuring we monitor the rollout of this policy closely and put into place any additional regulations required to ensure the safety of all CT’s residents.

There is a lot more to this bill than can be reasonably communicated in an email- if you are interested in more details, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Jennifer.Leeper@cga.ct.gov. You can also read the full bill here.
 
 
SOUTHPORT PARADE
I couldn’t be happier to be spending more time in the 132nd! The Southport parade and Blessing of the Fleet is one of my very favorite events- it really showcases the beauty of our community. Thanks to all who volunteered their time to put this event together.
 
CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES
Congratulations to the class of 2021! Our young people have shown so much strength during this unimaginably hard year. I hope all of our graduates take this time to celebrate their incredible accomplishments and growth over the past four years. No matter what adventure lies ahead, I know each of our graduates will continue to learn and thrive! Congratulations!!
 
FAIRFIELD FAMILY FUN DAY
This Saturday, June 19th from 9AM-12PM the Fairfield Moms are hosting a Family Fun Day at the Fairfield Shopping Center!