Jennifer Leeper

Here in the Legislature we are deep into our committee work and approaching our "joint favorable" deadlines, which is when committees vote on whether to move forward the bills that have been heard in public hearings. I'm excited to highlight some of those bills from the past week. For your convenience, here are some helpful links to all the information included in this email: 

• Legislative Spotlight: An Act Concerning the Implementation of Crisis Response Drills in Public Schools
• Public Health Committee Testimony
• Women's History Month
• Enfield High School Visit
• Fairfield Public Schools Green Team
• America 250 | CT Commission Community Listening Sessions

This legislation would reduce the frequency of crisis response drills in our schools, ensure they are trauma-informed, and provide notice in advance so that families are aware and no children think an actual active shooter event is taking place in their school. If you would like to testify on this bill, you must register by 3:00 PM TODAY. Please find registration details below.

• When: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 12:00 PM
• Where: Legislative Office Building (LOB) Room 1E and via Zoom
  • You can also view the committee meeting on YouTube Live
• To Testify: You MUST submit written testimony through the Online Testimony Registration Form and complete the Webinar Registration (if you plan on speaking) by Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 3:00 PM
  • Speaker order of approved registrants will be listed in a randomized order and posted on the Education Committee website on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 6:00 PM under "Public Hearing Testimony"
  • Written testimony should be submitted using the Online Testimony Submission Form
• Reminders: 
  • The Education Committee requests that testimony be limited to matters related to the items on the agenda 
  • Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony
  • All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information that will be made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines

Please feel free to use my office as a resource if you need help signing up for the hearing or submitting your testimony.

Licensure of certified clinical lactation consultants would enable our neediest women- who are disproportionately single mothers- to better access this support, which we know is often essential in having a successful breastfeeding experience with your baby. I think we all agree that fed is best, but in the midst of an ongoing formula shortage and with well-documented health benefits that would help bridge the racial gap that exists in maternal and infant health outcomes, supporting women and babies who want to breastfeed has never been more urgent.

• A nationally representative sample found that breastfeeding was associated with a 21% reduced risk of postneonatal death for all infants and a 31% reduced risk for Black infants.  
• A recent analysis linking birth and death certificates for all US births in 2017 found that any breastfeeding of non-Hispanic Black infants is associated with a 17% reduction in infant mortality (7–364 days) and a 29% reduction in neonatal mortality (7–27 days). 
• Lastly, mothers who breastfeed experience a lower risk of type 2 diabetes; breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer; and hypertension.

By better supporting women and babies with breastfeeding, we have an opportunity to close many of the maternal and infant health outcomes gaps that exist along racial and economic lines. You can listen to my testimony by clicking on the link here.