My Week in Review 4/13/26
April 14, 2026
View this email in your browser
Dear Neighbor,
Last week was a busy week. It’s the first time this year the House has been in session two days. Then I had committee work, and enjoyed our interns’ mock session.
During Wednesday’s session, we tackled a number of items, including:
- H.R. No. 9, which confirms the nomination of SUSAN HAMILTON to be COMMISSIONER OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. I think this is the most difficult of all the cabinet level jobs. I have confidence the new commissioner will be able to take on this role.
- Confirming the nomination of 20 judges and judicial referees, all of which were renominations.
- HB 5314, which bolsters our “Homes for CT” program in the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority to make mortgage lending easier.
Thursday’s session covered items including:
- HB 5259, which conforms state laws with the federal requirement that schools are open to homeless students. Homelessness continues to be a challenge.
- HB 5406, which makes various changes to state law concerning veteran and military affairs that recognizes and assists my fellow veterans with a number of state programs, and which I co-sponsored.
- HB 5039, which addresses the management and oversight of legislatively directed funds (LDFs) and agencies’ “Other Expenses” appropriations by creating requirements for LDF recipients and subrecipients, administering state agencies (defined as executive branch entities other than public higher education institutions), and the Office of Policy and Management (OPM). This is in response to some investigations by the federal prosecutor regarding opaque transfer of funding.
- HB 5289, an ill-advised proposal that would abolish the requirement that municipal notices be published in a local newspaper. I spoke and voted against this bad bill which would make items like ordinances, zoning commission and planning commission meetings only available on-line. Too many people still don’t have Internet access, and many more would not see these notices that could affect their neighborhoods. It passed 96-48, but I was pleased to learn that the Senate will not take it up.
On Friday, I was in the Judiciary Committee meeting to deal with a dozen new judicial nominations, and matters referred form other committees that carried a criminal or civil penalty. They included:
- SB 4, which further protects consumer privacy.
- SB 5, which further protects on-line safety.
- SB 117, which establishes more rights for you when there is a ‘massive breach of security’ in your personal computerized data.
- Sb 257, which prohibits evictions except for cause like non-payment of rent or destruction of the property.
From Left to Right - my intern Alexander Barkhamer, Kyle Douglas, who is interning for Rep. Turco, myself, and my Legislative Aide Brendan Balestracci
Later that day, I had the special pleasure of helping with our legislative interns’ mock session of the House. I look forward to this annual event, because I very much enjoy working with our interns. They make me optimistic about our future. They spent weeks choosing bills to debate, preparing their arguments for and against, and engaging in the session. Shout out to Angie Waszkiewicz, Director of our Legislative Internship Program.
If you or someone you know requires assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at the Capitol at 1-800-842-1902 or email me at Bob.Godfrey@cga.ct.gov.
Sincerely,
Bob Godfrey
Forward to a friend | Unsubscribe from this list | Update subscription preferences
