Lucy Dathan

For over a month, many federal employees have been reporting to work and performing their duties - without pay. The government shutdown affects at least 1,500 Connecticut workers and they are struggling to pay their bills while they wait for their paychecks to resume.

I am grateful to Senator Duff, Person2Person, our partners, volunteers and everyone who has joined me to coordinate an emergency food drive to help boost Person-to-Person’s food supply to help alleviate local federal workers and their families affected by the ongoing government shutdown.

The impact on federal employees from the prolonged government shutdown is increasingly affecting the livelihood of over 1,500 Connecticut residents and their families. Each additional day they work for no pay - child care, mortgages, food and car payments, to name a few, are falling behind and there is no indication for when paychecks will resume.

Today, I was officially sworn in as the State Representative from the 142nd House District in a morning ceremony in the State Capitol. As I join the legislature, I look forward to serving my constituents in Norwalk and New Canaan, making government more responsive and working hard for them in the upcoming session.