Anne Hughes

We were in session every day this week, and passed important measures including guns, voting and medical credit card consumer protections.

Keep scrolling to learn more about those bills, as well as the following:

• Earth Day at the Capitol
• Nonprofit advocacy
• WestCOG resilience planning
• CTDOT informational meeting in Easton
• ... and more!

Connecticut House Democrats took action to prevent gun violence by banning convertible pistols — firearms that can be easily modified to function like automatic weapons — and making it easier to safely surrender firearms to local police.

Common-sense steps to keep our communities safer.

People’s right to vote is under constant attack around the country, but here in Connecticut, we’re making sure elections are free and fair. Some of the key provisions:

• Replacing the confusing second envelope with a more reliable bar code system
• Setting up a system to check the status of your absentee ballot online
• Allowing more people who request a ballot to be automatically sent one for each election
• Expanding where town-supervised voting by absentee ballot takes place (currently it is only in nursing homes and hospice)
• Letting anyone who will be 18 by Election Day vote early or by absentee ballot

We passed a consumer protection bill on how medical credit cards are marketed and processed within health care settings — particularly where patients are more likely to be vulnerable, under stress, or under the influence of medications, such as anesthesia. 

Key provisions of the legislation include:

• Targeted safeguards during vulnerable moments: Providers are generally prohibited from advertising, soliciting, or offering third-party financing while a patient is under anesthesia, receiving care, or in treatment areas. Regulated discussion may still occur in waiting rooms and other rooms within health care facilities to ensure transparency
• Empowering consumer decision-making: The bill prohibits providers from completing or submitting financing applications on behalf of patients, ensuring individuals maintain control over financial decisions.
• Improved transparency and reduced confusion: Restrictions on co-branding prevent misleading associations between care providers and financial products, while required disclosures ensure patients clearly understand terms and conditions in their primary language.
• Eliminating conflicts of interest: Providers may not receive financial incentives for promoting third-party financing options.
• Preventing unexpected costs: The bill limits when charges can be applied to financing accounts and enhances transparency around ancillary products, including return options in certain cases.
• Mandatory disclosure protections: Patients must sign a standardized disclosure form before engaging in financing discussions, ensuring informed consent.

CTDOT will conduct an in-person public information meeting concerning the rehabilitation of the bridge carrying Valley Road over the Aspetuck River in Easton on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. at the Easton Public Library (691 Morehouse Road). 

The meeting will provide the public with an opportunity to offer comments or ask questions regarding the proposed project. A question-and-answer session will immediately follow the presentation. For instructions on ways to provide comments and ask questions, please visit portal.ct.gov/DOTEaston0045-0090.