Treneé McGee

Greetings Neighbor!

 

How has your summer been?



I have enjoyed attending in district events and spending time with my family.



This month was filled with extreme and deadly weather events all over the world - including right here in Connecticut. I will continue to take action and fight to pass legislation that protects our state's environment and citizens.

 



Below I have provided a legislative update, along with other items that may benefit you.

 

As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

 

Have a great week!

It was great celebrating Juneteenth last week after severe storms in June forced West Haven to postpone the event. We celebrated Freedom Day and what that meant to many that came before us. I am proud to live in a community that recognizes the importance of this holiday.

 I am so proud of this young man who was the youngest recipient of ACCC’s 30Under30! At just 15 years old, Jordan Richardson is the founder of Kids Alive. A Non-profit that teaches children CPR.

A new law giving expecting mothers more access to high-quality maternal health services closer to home is going to take effect January 1, 2024. Governor Lamont signed Public Act 23-147, which will license free-standing birth centers and allow them to operate in Connecticut. These facilities will function independently and serve as an alternative to a traditional hospital for low-risk pregnancies and deliveries. I am proud to have cosponsored this bill, which the House and Senate passed unanimously during the legislative session.

Specifically, this new law:

• Requires the Connecticut Department of Public Health to oversee the licensing of birth centers
• Prohibits anyone from establishing or operating a birth center unless it obtains a license
• Establishes a doula certification program administered by the Connecticut Department of Public Health
• Directs the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood to design a statewide program for universal nurse home visiting, building on a pilot program in the Greater Bridgeport area that provides a population-level solution to offer care and services early in an infant’s life.

In recent years, overall pregnancy-associated deaths have consistently increased among all race and age groups. The situation is even more dire among Black populations, which consistently see higher rates of maternal mortality at national and state levels. Between 2015 and 2017, people of color made up 44.9% of those giving birth and 63.6% of all pregnancy-related deaths. This can be attributed to lack of equitable access to health care resources, including providers.

During the 2023 Legislative Session, I worked with my colleagues to pass a new two-year state budget that stands up for consumers, including a freeze of scheduled increases on the diesel tax, which helps lower the price of groceries and other commodities while reducing the cost of doing business in Connecticut.



Fuel costs are a significant percentage of expenses not only for the trucking industry, but for all markets that rely on the sale of goods, which makes this a significant cost savings for businesses and consumers alike.

Our state budget was crafted with middle-class tax relief and investments that grow our economy, protect our quality of life and make Connecticut more affordable for everyone.

Great news for first-time homeowners! An additional $20 million has been added to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority's (CHFA) Time To Own Program. Funding for the program - which offers down payment assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers in Connecticut - now stands at $80 million, with over $21.5 million currently available for loan reservations.



Eligibility requirements for the program include:

• Meeting financial need specifications
• Qualifying for and receiving a CHFA first mortgage
• Being a current resident of Connecticut and demonstrating residency for the most recent three years

The impact of this program will reverberate in the short- and long-term for Connecticut residents; not only will there be a new generation of homeowners, but these residents will begin the process of building inter-generational wealth to pass on to the next generation.

Other benefits of the program include:

• A 0% interest rate with no monthly payment required
• 10% of the loan balance forgiven annually until it is fully forgiven on the tenth anniversary
• Financing for up to 20% of a down payment and 5% of closing costs

For more than 10 years, Connecticut has been a model for criminal justice reform.

Connecticut has significantly reduced its number of incarnated people, closed more than 10 prisons and kept the crime rate at its lowest level in more than 40 years. Violent crime decreased 43% from 2012 to 2021, while property crime sank 29% during the same period.

Some of the most prominent reforms to the criminal justice system include repealing the death penalty, raising the age at which juveniles could be charged as adults from 16 to 18 for most crimes, and eliminating some sentencing guidelines that affected predominantly people of color.

While there has been measurable and tangible progress, but we can still do more to make Connecticut's criminal justice system fairer. Our antiquated bail system, which keeps too many people incarcerated ahead of trial, is in dire need of an overhaul. We also need increased commutation and parole eligibility, narrow the racial disparity in the prison population and invest in community support, which is a cheaper and effective alternative to incarceration.



Connecticut, however, is firmly on a reform path that other states, some of which have opened, renovated, or finalized plans to build new prisons, should follow, and that I am proud to lead as House Chair of the Judiciary Committee. 



For more on Connecticut's criminal justice reforms, please click on the button below to read an in-depth article from Slate.