Robyn A. Porter

ICYMI: Below is a list of bills the House passed this week.

ICYMI: Below is a list of bills the House passed this week.

Thursday's session was very special to me because it was my father, Robert Porter's 80th birthday, and I brought him and my sister to the Capitol to celebrate where the entire chamber wished him well.
I thank everyone for their well wishes!

We are more than halfway through the regular session, and this is the time of year when legislative activity picks up in the Connecticut General Assembly.

After weeks of holding public hearings, the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee and Appropriations Committee approved their budget proposals (Appropriations handles the spending side and Finance handles the revenue side).

The next step…negotiations and compromise: Legislators will work with the Governor and his staff to craft the final budget agreement. The budget bill then goes before the House and Senate for consideration. After being passed by both chambers, the legislature’s final budget must then be signed into law by the governor before the end of the fiscal year, June 30.

State Rep. Porter and State Rep.McGee held a press conference for Black Maternal Health Week, highlighting this year's theme, OUR BODIES BELONG TO US: Restoring Black Autonomy and Joy.

Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women, and recent data shows that most pregnancy-related deaths can be prevented. Many factors contribute to childbirth inequities, including variations in quality healthcare and underlying chronic conditions, with systemic and structural racism having the most direct impact and influence.

The Hamden Delegation, which consists of state Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) and state Representatives Mary Welander (D-Hamden), Josh Elliott (D-Hamden), said Robyn A. Porter (D-Hamden, New Haven), Mike D’Agostino and Liz Linehan welcomed state funding totaling $198,875 for Hamden. In Hamden, funding will go towards improvements at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Office.

Last week, two significant events at the Capitol and LOB highlighted the barriers justice-impacted people face daily.
In the “Take A Walk in My Shoes Reentry Simulation,” hosted by the UConn Dodd Human Rights Impact, the simulation demonstrated the challenges faced with reentry and why it is crucial to provide readily accessible resources to returning citizens.

Guests were given a new identity with a packet of items to help them transition back into the community. The simulation demonstrated that they could not do much with the resources given to provide for themselves and their families.

Today I joined Stop Solitary CT and restorative justice advocates to support Senate Bill 1196, legislation ending routine strip searches in Connecticut DOC facilities. Formerly incarcerated citizens and their families bravely shared stories about the dehumanization of routine strip searches and the extreme trauma of this humiliating and intrusive practice.