Property Tax Exemption For Vets, Join Me For Coffee In Collinsville On Saturday

June 26, 2024


 
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Dear Neighbor,

Tomorrow the House will be in special session as the Senate is in today. 

Initially, we needed a special session because of an amendment to a House bill by the Senate that was deeply flawed. It would have significantly impacted commercial vehicles and secondarily personal vehicles. As it was a bill I helped craft over two years with the Office of Policy and Management (OPM,  the Connecticut Coalition of Municipalities (CCM), the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers(CAAO), the Council of Small Towns (COST), and members of both parties on the Planning and Development Committee, I was frankly miffed. 

There was a basic failure of understanding that the bill’s purpose was to implement previously passed legislation to balance the interests of taxpayers, the towns, and small businesses with commercial vehicles. The pandemic increased the value of cars so significantly, we were tasked with finding a way to primarily provide predictably for all parties. This bill does that and I’m glad we are providing the proper fix. 

The rest of the bill is mostly bills that saw public hearings and were part of the committee process with the exception of a charter to change to allow a water authority to be part of a bidding process to buy Aquarion. 

I’m sure we will have further discussion on this and the entire short session this Saturday, June 29 at 9 a.m. in Collinsville at LaSalle’s Deli and Market. I look forward to seeing you there. 

Have a great week,

Eleni
PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR VETERANS 
In an expansion of the bill I passed in 2022, HB 5491 establishes a property tax exemption for Veterans with a service-connected permanent and total disability rating as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The exemption will be used for a home that is a primary residence, but if a qualified Veteran does not own a home, the exemption will apply to a single motor vehicle they own.
 
JOIN ME FOR COFFEE IN COLLINSVILLE ON SATURDAY

Join me this Saturday for a rundown of everything we passed during our short session as well as our special session. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you!
 
THANK YOU CT MAIN STREET CENTER
Thank you to the CT Main Street Center for awarding me the Jack Shannahan Award for Public Service.
Specifically, I was honored for my work on blight within our communities.
 
Blight may seem like only an eyesore, but it deeply impacts the businesses communities are able to attract, the way a community interacts with one another, and how a community feels about its future.
 
The Connecticut Main Street Center helps our municipalities rethink who they want to be and how they can best serve their residents. I’m grateful Canton is one of their members and for all of the work they do across the state.
Special thanks to my colleague State Representative Jennifer Leeper, a previous winner of the award, for presenting it and to their Executive Director Michelle McCabe for being awesome. Thanks also to the Hotel Callista in Norwich for hosting the event. What a beautiful restoration of an Elks Lodge. Here’s to making Connecticut better, one blighted property at a time!
 
PRIDE IN PRIDE MONTH
During the 1950s, continued oppression resulted in many LGBTQ people in Connecticut being arrested for moral offenses or institutionalized as mentally ill, subjected to brutal “conversion” therapies. Yet there was a growing resistance to returning to the solitary, isolated lives many had known before World War II.
 
Gay and lesbian bars provided sanctuaries and could be found in all corners of the state. Supportive groups and movements emerged, such as Project H and the Kalos Society. Inspired by the civil rights and feminist movements, as well as the Stonewall riots of 1969, Connecticut’s LGBTQ population began to come out of the shadows and demand a place in society.
 
MOVE OVER: IT'S THE LAW
Connecticut's Move Over law (Sec. 14-283b) requires all drivers on a highway of two lanes or more in one direction to slow down to a reasonable level below the speed limit and, if safe to do so, move over one lane not only for emergency responders and tow drivers but for any vehicle along the side of the road. If a driver can't move over a lane they must slow down and proceed with caution.
 
MUCH RESPECT FOR ACCESSIBLE PARKING 

It might seem redundant to remind people that they need to respect accessible parking spaces, formerly known as handicapped spaces, but, sadly, we see people who shouldn’t be parked in them. A further reminder is that not all disability is visible or obvious. 

Every time I see one of these spaces I smile because my great uncle, Costa Miller,  was one of the people who worked hard on the ultimate policy that made these spaces possible! 

Sincerely,

Eleni Kavros DeGraw
State Representative
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