Draft Pick Bills to Watch the Week of February 23rd

The Governor this week introduced legislation (HB-5046) to incentivize firefighter and police recruitment with mortgage and tuition assistance and our own  Sen. Cicarella co-sponsored the bill.  Though Cicarella was a co-sponsor of the Governor’s bill, him and his colleagues used the opportunity to trash the six-year-old police accountability bill, launched in the wake of George Floyd and other high-profile police killings (including those in Connecticut like Mubarak Soulemane and Jayson Negron).  Crime and particularly violent crime has consistently gone down since the bill was passed, but even when they’re working with Democrats the CT GOP just can’t help themselves.   An internal chat among DTC members found some praising the intent of HB-5046, but wondering if the same couldn’t be done for other public service jobs that have faced historic shortages like teachers and nurses…

Sen. Cicarella also signed on as a late co-sponsor to SB-144  which would add local representation to a regulatory body overseeing large projects like the proposed cell phone tower in North Haven.  Rep. Yaccarino also signaled support online for the bill, and you know what? I agree with them both. It’s just common sense that communities most affected by projects like these get a voice at the table.

A bunch of exciting or interesting bills are scheduled for public hearings next week, which means you will have a chance to lend your voice to them. Consult our video on submitting testimony for more information on how to do that.

Gov. Tim Walz signing free lunches into law in Minnesota. Why doesn't Lamont want to replicate this feeling?

The Education Committee meetings on Monday February 23^rd and they’ll be discussing HB-5214,  a now perennial bill about funding school meals. This latest one is for universal free breakfast and making lunch free to those who already qualify for free or reduced price lunch.  This comes on the back of Governor Lamont’s announcement that he is making this one of his priorities this year.  Advocates in the state have been trying to make universal free meals (both breakfast and lunch) a reality in Connecticut public schools for years, and word is that Lamont himself was the holdout in getting this over the finish line (despite the fact that we literally did this during the pandemic).   Even though this is a half-measure, it seems unlikely that Lamont will threaten to veto his own bill, particularly in an election year.

On the General Law committee where both Cicarella and Rep. Yaccarino sit, there will be debate on Monday as well around SB-105, a bill Cicarella co-sponsored, which eliminates many occupational permits and licensing fees.  This has been a conservative cause for some time, giving them an excuse to rail against government red tape.  And to be fair to them, small businesses do frequently complain that these fees can be a huge nuisance and make it difficult for them to compete against those who start out with a larger pool of capital and resources.   The Law committee will also see a bill to turn down the dang volume of those obnoxious Streaming ads (SB-232). We’ll have to see if the people’s voices on that one wind up being louder than the gambling apps that apparently now comprise roughly half of the economy, if percentage ad time is any indication.   Cicarella is also cosponsoring HB-5221, to set about a review process on how contracting dollars are spent in the state, another big conservative push this year after some Dem legislators got their hands slapped for directing public funds to their personal buddies.  We don’t do ourselves any favors sometimes, folks.

The Housing committee will meet the following day to considering protecting renters from having their rents go up if their property changes hands (HB-5092), limiting landlords to security deposits of no more than one month’s rent (HB-5257), ensuring tenants unions are allowed to organize for their rights in their own homes (HB-5258), ensuring unhoused children have access to public education and transportation (HB-5259), and making it more difficult for towns to charge unhoused folks with a crime for simply existing in a public space (HB-5260).  Working people may have to wait until a year that permits fiscal notes to get some money back in their pockets, but maybe we can make due with not treating them like serfs in the interim. Lastly, there's a bill that seems to come up every session suggesting that we ban "no-fault" evictions (SB-257). Seems to me the bare minimum you can do if you're going to kick someone out of their home is to provide a solid reason, but renters' rights bills like these always have to contend with 1 in 5 legislators who are also landlords. This is by and wide not a Republican vs Democrat issue, but a class issue.

At the end of the week, the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee (where Rep. Yaccarino holds a seat) holds their public hearing session.  Dems are asking to increase the rate of taxation on the highest income bracket (HB-5133) and Repubs are asking to reduce taxes on the two lowest income brackets (SB-100), leading one to ask: Por qué no los dos? Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden is also asking to adjust the rules surrounding the “fiscal guardrails” (better known as the fiscal barriers to some) to ensure it doesn’t cripple funding priorities in the state (HB-5187), while the CT GOP is pushing to exempt tips and overtime pay from income taxation (HB-5010). You may remember that last week, I pointed out how CT GOP had been falsely claiming that Dems already rejected the latter. They must be time travelers, I guess.  Lastly, there’s another proposal out for a state version of the child tax credit on the floor (SB-103)