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Dear Friend,
This is my State Capitol update for the week of July 31.
If you prefer to watch rather than read, click on the play button to hear about the issues contained in this newsletter.
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Having just returned from my annual family get together in New Hampshire, which involved a lot of kayaking, hiking, cooking, and talking, followed by a reunion dinner with 7 of my closest colleagues from my days as a federal prosecutor (there is certainly a lot of news to chew on among that group) I don’t have much other news to report, but the weekend ahead is packed full of local events at which I expect to catch up!
In particular, I hope to stop by all of these events over the weekend:
- Sharon Hotchkiss Library book signing on Friday, August 4
- 90th Litchfield Co 4-H fair at Goshen Fairgrounds on August 4-6
- Sharon Arts and Crafts Fair starting at 10am on the green on Saturday, August 5
- Concert at Music Mountain in Falls Village on Sunday, August 6
I hope to see you out there!
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Here’s a list of today’s topics:
- Connecticut: A Leader on Paid Family and Medical Leave. Click here.
- Connecticut Arts Hero Awards. Click here.
- Climate Change. Click here.
- CT Small Business Boost Fund. Click here.
- CT Deep Broadband Virtual Roundtable Series. Click here.
- Back to School toolkit. Click here.
- Disaster Relief Resources. Click here.
- DEEP needs input on wasted management. Click here.
- August events at Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens. Click here.
- Norfolk Artists and Friends 16th Annual Art Exhibition. Click here.
- Shedding Light: 200 Years of Art & Music in Norfolk. Click here.
- Region 20 New Website Launched. Click here.
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Did you know residents in every town in the state have applied for CT Paid Leave? Approximately 66,000 workers in Connecticut have received over $375 million in benefits when they were unable to work due to qualifying health or family reasons.
On June 25, 2019, Governor Lamont signed P.A. 19-25 into law, creating CT Paid Leave, and employee payroll contributions began in 2021. One year later, on January 1, 2022, benefit payments began for qualified applicants.
Families in Connecticut shouldn't have to worry about whether they can balance taking care of family needs or paying the bills. With this program, both can happen, as it offers partial income replacement benefits.
What qualifies for eligible leave?
- Parental bonding - the birth of an employee's child or placement of an adopted or foster child with the employee
- Serious health conditions - for the employee or a family member of the employee
- Donors - to serve as an organ or bone marrow donor
- Armed Forces - for family members in the armed forces undergoing treatment for an injury or illness incurred in the line of duty or being deployed to a foreign country
- Family violence - for family violence victims to seek medical care or counseling, obtain services from a victim services organization, relocate because of family violence, or participate in civil or criminal proceedings related to the family
Connecticut is one of 13 states in the nation to pass paid family and medical leave legislation, along with California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington, as well as Washington D.C. States including New Hampshire and Vermont have enacted voluntary programs for employers who want to opt in.
Connecticut should be proud of its paid leave program. It is held up as a national model for other states to emulate. Click here to lean more about the program.
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Connecticut Arts Hero Awards honor and celebrate Connecticut residents who are doing extraordinary work in the arts, for the arts, or through the arts in Connecticut.
If you know a special someone who you consider an ARTS HERO, please take a moment to nominate them for a 2023 Arts Hero Award! The deadline to submit a nomination is Monday, September 11, 2023 at 11:59 PM.
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| This month was filled with extreme and deadly weather events all over the world - including right here in Connecticut. I will continue to take action and fight to pass legislation that protects our state's environment and citizens. |
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Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Alexandra Daum announced that on the one-year anniversary of its launch, the Connecticut Small Business Boost Fund has provided support to more than 300 small businesses and nonprofits statewide, including through the release of more than $39 million in low-interest loans.
The public-private partnership, which Governor Lamont launched in July 2022, provides low-interest loans and technical assistance to small businesses and nonprofits, providing them with access to flexible funding for capital expenditures and working capital to help them grow and thrive. The loans have a fixed, 4.5% interest rate and range from $5,000 to $500,000. Designed to reach historically under-resourced and underbanked communities, 50% of the funds are supporting minority, woman, disabled, and veteran-owned businesses, and as well as businesses located in distressed municipalities.
The Small Business Boost Fund is a one-stop shop for businesses and nonprofits, whether they need financing or free business guidance. Advisors are at the ready to dive into business operations and lend support with business planning, financial analysis, marketing and sales and other research.
The fund, which represents a new approach to economic development in the state, was created through a public-private partnership. The state made a foundational investment of $75 million with the goal to lend $150 million or more to eligible businesses and nonprofits.
Small businesses and nonprofits can apply online at CTSmallBusinessBoostFund.org. If they qualify, applicants will be matched through a lender. The fund works with and through local community development financial institutions (CDFIs) with decades of experience in the state’s communities and serving these constituencies. The CDFIs include Ascendus, Capital for Change, CEDF, HEDCO, NDC Community Impact Loan Fund, Pursuit and Southeastern CT Enterprise Region (SeCTer).
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CT DEEP will hold their next broadband virtual roundtable meeting August 8-10!
Register today to discuss the $185+ million in federal funds that will be invested in the State for broadband infrastructure and digital equity resources.
Click here to learn more.
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Connecticut Children’s has just launched a new resource—their Back to School in 2023 Toolkit, featuring blog posts and articles created by Connecticut Children’s own pediatric experts.
A sample of the resources include:
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Farmland Restoration Flood Response Grant Available: This grant will provide matching funds to Connecticut farmers, nonprofits, and municipalities impacted by excessive rainfall and flooding in July 2023.
Applications are due August 21, 2023. Additional info can be found on the website: www.CTGrown.gov/Grants
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DEEP is soliciting input from waste management stakeholders regarding the public posting of Annual Solid Waste Data Reports. State law and regulations require solid waste and recycling data to be submitted to the Connecticut DEEP by municipalities and by permitted solid waste facilities via quarterly or annual reports. This data is currently available to the public by request.
DEEP is seeking feedback from stakeholders to ensure that data reports are relevant, accurate, and meet the needs of stakeholders. DEEP has developed goals for the project, an outline for the annual reports, and a series of questions for stakeholders to respond to. DEEP is seeking feedback from municipalities, legislators, reporting solid waste (RRF, VRF, landfill, recycling, composting/anaerobic digestion, etc) facilities, haulers, NGOs, retailers, private industry, other relevant governmental agencies, and the general public.
Stakeholders are invited to participate in this process in the following ways:
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DEEP will be hosting a webinar to provide an overview of the proposed Annual Solid Waste Data Report, followed by a Q&A session, to be held August 17, 2023 at 10 AM. Register for the webinar here: https://ctdeep.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-GpyUhmhQM-Iz2Rt6XVCDw
The webinar will be recorded. Meeting materials will be posted on the Connecticut Solid Waste Disposal and Recycling Data web page and the recording will be made available.
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Written comments and responses to questions can be submitted to deep.mmcaplanning@ct.gov by September 15th, 2023.
Proposed outline, questions for stakeholders, and supporting documents are attached and can also be viewed at Connecticut Solid Waste Disposal and Recycling Data
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On Friday, August 4, they will be holding an outdoor screening of the movie "Kiss Me Goodbye.”
This event is free and open to the public. BYO blankets, chairs, food and beverages. Movies roll at dusk. Leashed pets only.
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Music and art have had a long and storied history in Norfolk. A list of illustrious names provides testament—Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Jean Sibelius, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Cage, Ben Shahn, Josef Albers, Chuck Close, Eva Hesse. Performers, teachers, students, mentors, these artists and musicians had varied roles in Norfolk but each contributed to a long-term objective that had been established in the earliest days of the 19th century: to educate and elevate; in the words of Carl Stoeckel, “to shed light on culture, music, art and other matters pertaining to higher life.” Stoeckel was referring to the name of the music hall he and his wife, Ellen Battell Stoeckel, had built on their Norfolk estate in 1906 and to the purpose for which it served. That moment in time is a fulcrum about which the narrative of music and art in Norfolk is woven.
Please join for a special showing of Recollections: An Interview with Three Yale at Norfolk Art Alumnae 1971
Premiere at 1:15 PM
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The new Region 20 District has launched a new website at RSD20.org. This site currently contains basic information on the new school district and will evolve over the course of the next year. The Litchfield Public School and Regional School District 6 sites and individual school sites will continue to be maintained throughout the upcoming school year.
Feedback and suggestions regarding the website are welcome via a feedback link, which can be found in the footer of each page on the Region 20 site.
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It is my honor to represent our district. I look forward to hearing from you about the issues raised in this newsletter, or any other topics you think I should know about. You can email me at maria.horn@cga.ct.gov or call me at (860)-240-8585. Thanks for reading, and I wish you a safe weekend.
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Sincerely,
Maria Horn
State Representative
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