Reproductive Rights, Student Loan Help, and Fighting Catalytic Converter Thefts

June 2, 2023


 
The House of Representatives is in session nearly every day from now until June 7 as we attempt to pass as many bills as possible to improve upon our great state. We're protecting reproductive rights, helping students with loans, and fighting back against catalytic converter thefts. Please read below to see all of the week's highlights up to this point.
 

MAY 30 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

We are addressing and expanding vital services to our Intellectually, Developmentally Disabled (IDD) population with HB 5001, which I cosponsored, by connecting people with the programs they need and qualify for. 

The bill is a comprehensive multi-year measure that expands vital services to these vulnerable individuals, so that their most basic needs are properly met. This new bill complements the children's mental health legislation that became law last year.
Under SB 922, Connecticut higher education institutions can no longer withhold transcripts as a means to collect debt.
SB 1117 expands protections for victims of human trafficking by prohibiting hotels, motels, and similar operators from offering discounts on many hourly rates.
SB 1018 expands your ability to collect the small remaining cash balance of a gift card, and it eliminates the requirement to provide the proof of purchase or a gift receipt.
The task force goal of SB 1017 is to ensure that our local emergency services and firefighter departments have enough personnel to keep our communities safe and protected.
SB 1102 expands pharmacists’ roles to include ordering and administering COVID-19, HIV, and influenza tests, prescribing HIV-related prophylaxis, and administering epinephrine cartridges. Plus, mobile pharmacies are now allowed with DCP’s approval.
High schoolers should be financially literate. SB 1165 will require students, starting with classes graduating in 2027, to take a half-credit course on personal financial management and financial literacy
SB 953 modernizes Connecticut's racial profiling law to reflect the reality that often race is not the only motivation for detention, but a major contributing factor.
SB 1103 establishes regulations and procedures for how state departments will regulate and use artificial intelligence and creates a working group to look at certain issues concerning AI.
 

JUNE 1 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
Students should not have to choose between their education and their reproductive health. That’s why SB 1108 requires the Board of Regents for Higher Education and the UConn Board of Trustees to establish a plan for providing reproductive health care services to students living on residential campuses.
Connecticut is the fifth-highest student debt holder in the nation. HB 6901 establishes a program to reimburse some student loan payments for certain Connecticut residents and incentivizes them to stay in our state.
Intimate partner violence is a leading contributor to death during pregnancy. HB 6599, which I cosponsored, requires birthing hospitals and healthcare providers to hand out educational materials to pregnant and postpartum patients on intimate partner violence.
HB 6762 includes provisions for early childhood education, special education, audits of state and local testing requirements, a Multilingual Learners Bill of Rights, and the establishment of task force to study and develop strategies to improve and promote civic engagement and instruction on civics, citizenship, and media literacy.
HB 6796 expands on legislation we passed last year to prevent the theft of catalytic converters by allowing the sharing of information among law enforcement units in other states, creating a uniform approach to the sales and penalty for the theft of a catalytic converter and establishing a task force to further study how to deter these thefts.
The reality is some people witness traumatic incidents on the job. SB 913, which I cosponsored, expands coverage to make all employees eligible for workers' compensation coverage for post-traumatic stress injuries.
I also cosponsored SB 956, which requires written hospital and nursing home discharge plans for patients, to include the date and location of each follow up medical appointment and a list of medications the patient is taking.