Geraldo Reyes Jr

We are asking state leaders why a local organization lost its bid in a weatherization contract in Waterbury. Please read below to learn more about the situation.

The state is launching a new, free program allowing local high school seniors to fill out one application that will get them automatically admitted to certain Connecticut colleges and universities. If you're intrigued, please keep scrolling to learn more about the program and find out when the upcoming application deadline is coming.

And, more than 80,000 people in our state will soon get low-level convictions automatically cleared from their criminal records. I'll break down why the updated Clean Slate Law is helping give some residents a second chance.

You will find the following sections below:

• Weatherization Contract Questions
• Clean Slate Law to Erase Low-Level Convictions
• Free College Application & Admission

My colleagues and I in Waterbury are demanding answers after a local organization lost its bid for a three year weatherization contract. The Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) instead selected a Massachusetts based company, which is now in charge of protecting homes and buildings from sunlight, precipitation, and wind as well as modifying homes to reduce energy-related costs and fuel usage through retrofits and home improvement.

We asked DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) why New Opportunities, Inc, a Waterbury based organization, was not selected for the contract. Senator Joan Hartley joined the meeting remotely from London, England for an explanation. While we are not satisfied with the result, my colleagues and I are doing everything we can to guarantee that constituents in Waterbury will be served in a timely fashion.

More than 80,000 people in Connecticut are expected to have convictions for certain old, low-level offenses automatically cleared from their criminal records over the next month as the Clean Slate Law nears full implementation.

We advocated for this law to remove barriers to jobs, education, and housing. The goal is to empower people to advance their careers, obtain stable housing, and experience the successful second chance they’ve earned.

To implement the law and provide for the automated erasure of criminal records, staff from Connecticut’s judicial and executive branches along with criminal justice system stakeholders have worked over the last two and a half years to perform intensive information technology system upgrades that allow criminal justice agencies to identify eligible convictions and then erase them in an automated manner. That system is now live and over the next month, people who meet the eligibility requirements will have their offenses automatically erased from their records. No application or petition is required from those who meet the requirements.

The state is offering a new resource allowing some high school seniors to apply for certain local colleges and universities for free through the Connecticut Automatic Admission Program. Graduating Connecticut high schoolers, who meet eligibility guidelines, will be automatically admitted to several participating schools, which are listed below. All students have to do is fill out one application form!

Graduating seniors in the top 30% of their class, as identified by their individual high school counselors, are eligible. The deadline to apply for high school seniors who are graduating this spring is January 4, 2024. The goal of the program is to simplify the application process and make it easier for families to seek higher education.