Joshua Hall

As 2017 comes to a close, I'd like to take a moment to wish you and your family Happy Holidays. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve Hartford and I look forward to what we will accomplish in 2018.

The Office of Policy and Management has announced that residents enrolled in the state’s Renter’s Rebate program are expected to receive their checks within the next several days.

The state legislature ensured participants in the Renters’ Rebate Program will receive their checks with a quick fix to the bipartisan state budget.

Connecticut families, currently on the wait-list, can start enrolling in the Care 4 Kids program, the state’s primary child care support program. Care 4 Kids helps low- to moderate-income families in Connecticut pay for child-care costs.

With the next legislative session only a few short months away, passing this budget allows us to put this prolonged debate behind us and move on to addressing other priorities to move Connecticut forward.

After the state House of Representatives met Oct. 3 to consider overriding the veto of the GOP-backed budget, the Republicans refused to call the question for a vote. Now, it is time for us to work together and compromise with the governor and the Republicans to reach a bipartisan agreement on a final budget. To move Connecticut forward, we need to adopt a spending package that invests in our workforce, makes long-term structural changes, and provides municipalities with additional budget flexibility.

The Republican budget would hurt people and our economy, devastate our cities, decimate our higher education system, and take money out of the pockets of working families. It deserved to be vetoed. We need a bipartisan solution; the partisan political posturing must end!

There will be fundraising efforts to help Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the Hurricanes throughout the state.