This Week's News:

BATES out, KOZIN in at Dep SOTS...

SIKORSKY FILES CHALLENGE OVER BLACK HAWK REPLACEMENT CONTRACT...

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist invents the parachute!” – George Bernard Shaw

As we look towards a New Year and new legislative session, many will make New Year’s resolutions of what they will or won’t accomplish in 2023. Last year I asked a variety of legislators for their New Year’s resolutions, but this year I switched it up a bit and I’m making a bold step and assigning New Year’s resolutions/suggestions for the players in and around the political worlds we live in! Here we go….

For the members of the 2023-2024 Connecticut Legislature – keep up the good work in building bridges across the aisles and between the House and Senate. You can do this with another “all hands on deck” kickball repeat, or stage a bipartisan House vs. Senate trivia contest. Or how about a bipartisan cooking contest to help orient the new legislators headed to Hartford at the first of this week?

For the U.S. House of Representatives maybe they need to start the year off with some trust-building exercises as the Republicans take the leadership role. Pair up a Republican congressman with a Democratic congressman, blindfold one of them, and have them lean back and see if their bipartisan partner will catch them and have their back. Or maybe they can take turns leading their partner through an obstacle course using only oral instructions on how to avoid hitting an obstacle; those who complete the course without touching one of the “obstacles” go on to the semifinal and final rounds.

For fellow Nutmeggers - while it’s impossible for us to always agree, let’s challenge ourselves to follow social media accounts across all political spectrums. Maybe we can better understand why some folks believe the way they do, or maybe we’ll hear or read something we had not considered and can reflect on its relationship to our points of view.

For anyone in politics – always assume there’s an open mic somewhere or a video being recorded. And when speaking outside of your private quarters, think twice about how you describe another's actions or make off-the-cuff comments or judgments about someone's motives. In other words, no one wants to repeat former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney or President Biden’s ill-timed or awkward statements that need to be walked back.

And for the lobbying corps – don’t end up on the lobbying naughty list. Meaning avoid chasing legislators in need of a restroom break down the halls, and don’t cut the lines waiting for coffee because you are in a hurry – so is everyone else! And never get caught without your official ethics-issued badge while in the capitol or LOB!



And finally, for our friends in the media – Be the light, not the shade! This one has nothing to do with lamps or flashlights, but with being more positive about what’s happening in the state, the world and in general. It’s a challenge for journalists to cover day after day the tragic and unexplainable events that so often occur. Keep covering the good news about neighbors helping others, about the school student who beats the odds, or that individual who took it upon themselves to undo an injustice and right a wrong. These types of stories provide balance to the viewers, listeners and readers to make us all remember what matters most – family, friends, respect and a community that really cares.

So as 2023 arrives, I recall my grandmother’s words to me a long time ago – if you can’t say something nice, best not to say anything at all. Happy New Year to all. 

Laws Taking Effect January 1, 2023

As we toast the new year, be sure to note that the following laws will come into effect on January 1:

• Cannabis
• Thousands of Connecticut residents will see their cannabis convictions cleared as part the state's 2021 law legalizing adult-use cannabis
• Criminal Justice
• Nearly 280k people will have their criminal records erased under the clean slate law starting January 1, but the process is now delayed until late 2023. People who have committed certain crimes, and have not reoffended for seven or ten years, will have their records cleared.
• Environment
• Changes to the state's bottle bill law go into effect as well. The bottle deposit will be expanded to juices, teas, sports drinks, and more. Due to lingering supply issues, the lawmakers have given retailers a one-time exemption to sell older stocks of bottles without the updated labels.
• CT golf courses will be prohibited from using the pesticide Chlorpyrifos.
• Health
• Connecticut is expected to increase testing for lead poisoning, aligning state childhood lead poisoning standards with federal standards.
• Commercial health insurance policies will be required to cover diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRIs for breast cancer screenings, as well as routine ovarian cancer screenings.
• Transportation
• Large commercial trucks will have to pay a new highway usage tax (HUT), ranging from 2.5 cents per mile to 17.5 cents per mile depending on the weight of the vehicle.
• Salary Increases
• Legislator salaries will increase from $28k to $48k per year, with certain bonuses for leadership roles.

Representative Jonathan Steinberg

State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg will conclude four years as the Chair of the Public Health Committee next week and serve in his new role as Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee.

Steinberg has certainly had a long and unpredictable journey to becoming chair of this committee that he's had on his wish list since he was elected in 2010. Jonathan utilized his first vice-chairmanship where he worked across the Senate with Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr. when they were both Aging Committee Chairs. They accomplished something that wasn't seen as feasible which was getting accelerated Medicaid eligibility approved in one session as a PILOT program.

After a few years in that role leadership in the House his Committee would be his most challenging assignment to date. On the docket for Jonathan was working on his champion legislation that is still considered each year which is the "right to die" legislation, which would allow health providers to end the life of those facing terminal illness. 

His legacy is most heralded as the chief champion of passing legislation that requires vaccinations for all school aged children by removing any non-medical exemptions to vaccines. It took three sessions to pass given the national attention of anti-vaccine advocates who flew dissenters from across the country to Connecticut for public hearings and forums on the topic.

In the end those who followed this issue were keenly aware of Jonathan's steady and reliable leadership on this topic that helped see it get adopted and he is already preparing in good circumstances what will be his most contentious session of all. 

Representative Eleni Kavros-DeGraw

In this week’s in the loop, we will be highlighting a co-chair of a committee that impacts many of our client’s interests. Representative Eleni Kavros-DeGraw is an extremely influential legislator from the Canton-Avon area that encompasses the 17th District in Connecticut. She recently won re-election by over 1,700 votes in a tough district. How do we know it is a competitive district? Well Rep Kavros-DeGraw first ran in 2018, narrowly losing to Republican Leslee Hill by just over 100 votes! In 2020, she beat then-Rep Hill by over 500 votes and recently won her re-election to the General Assembly. Rep Kavros-DeGraw did a lot of influential work as the Vice Chair of the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee last session and has since shifted her influence over to the Planning and Development Committee as the new co-chair. She will remain a member of the Finance Committee but her focus will shift to a leadership role with the P&D Committee.

Planning and Development oversees all matters relating to local governments and economic development programs impacting our wonderful local governments. This includes things like fire, sewer, and regional planning BUT most importantly, it is focused on housing, urban renewal and planning and zoning. The housing piece of this will be particularly important this year as we get into the nitty gritty around zoning issues across our state.

Rep Kavros-DeGraw also has a significant community background. She co-founded two grassroots organizations in her area, was an active board member for Hands on Harford for six years, and was a Giving Team Coordinator for Foodshare, ever present during the pandemic. She will have her hands full this session with a committee that is looking to do a lot of work around the many issues it covers. 

The Final Nominations of the Lamont Team Are In!

Governor Lamont announced yesterday that he will reappoint the following commissioners and agency heads to continue serving their respective positions upon the start of his second term in office early next year:

• Department of Administrative Services: Michelle Gilman

• Department of Aging and Disability Services: Amy Porter

• Department of Agriculture: Bryan P. Hurlburt

• Department of Banking: Jorge Perez

• Department of Children and Families: Vannessa Dorantes

• Department of Correction: Angel Quiros

• Department of Developmental Services: Jordan A. Scheff

• Office of Early Childhood: Beth Bye

• Department of Education: Charlene M. Russell-Tucker

• Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection: James C. Rovella

• Department of Energy and Environmental Protection: Katie Dykes

• Office of Higher Education: Timothy D. Larson

• Department of Housing: Seila Mosquera-Bruno

• Insurance Department: Andrew N. Mais

• Department of Labor: Danté Bartolomeo

• Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services: Nancy Navarretta

• Office of Military Affairs: Robert T. Ross

• Office of Policy and Management: Jeffrey R. Beckham

• Department of Public Health: Manisha Juthani

• Department of Revenue Services: Mark Boughton

• Department of Veterans Affairs: Thomas J. Saadi

• Office of Workforce Strategy: Kelli-Marie Vallieres

December 30: Mutiny at Connecticut's Valley Forge

When Americans think of the hardships faced by starving, shivering Continental Army troops during the harsh winters of the Revolutionary War, they usually remember the infamous winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1777–1778. What few realize, however, is that the eastern division of the Continental Army under the command of General Israel Putnam endured virtually identical trials and tribulations one year later while encamped in the vicinity of Redding, Connecticut.

The choice of Redding was a strategic one for Putnam’s division of troops: they had spent the previous months patrolling and skirmishing along the crucial Hudson River Valley, and from their camp in western Connecticut, they could still easily dispatch troops or couriers to West Point, Westchester County, New York City, or the interior of New England. Once the troops settled in for the winter in November 1778, however, what little energy they had left became fully devoted to surviving the same type of brutal winter conditions suffered by their compatriots at Valley Forge the year before. Compounding the harsh winds, snows, and frigid temperatures was a critical lack of supplies, including food, blankets, and winter clothing. Even worse, the troops had been paid in devalued paper Continental currency, rendering many of them unable to provide financial support for their families at home.

All of these miseries, and the frustrations that came with them, culminated in an attempted mutiny which took place at the Redding encampment on December 30, 1778. That day, a large number of troops decided to abandon the camp and march on Hartford to demand relief from the state General Assembly. Sometime that morning, General Putnam got word of the forthcoming uprising, and rode his horse to where the disgruntled troops were gathering. There, according to several sources, he rode among them and delivered a rousing speech, rebuking them for deserting their country in its hour of need and appealing to their sense of patriotism and honor:

“You have behaved like men so far; all the world is full of your praises, and posterity will stand astonished at your deeds; but not if you spoil it all at last. Don’t you consider how much the country is distressed by the war, and that your officers have not been any better paid than yourselves? …Let us all stand by one another then, and fight it out like brave soldiers. Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut men to run away from their officers.”

Putnam’s inspiring speech to his starving troops worked well enough to restrain them from carrying out the planned mutiny. And having regained control of his command, Putnam was lenient on the mutineers. Out of the many soldiers involved, only one one was identified as an unrepentant ringleader and confined. (He was later shot to death by a sentry while trying to escape).

While the uprising of December 30th was narrowly prevented, the grueling winter and terrible conditions continued, with only limited relief in the form of food and supplies. The Connecticut encampment was plagued by threats of desertion and mutiny for the entire length of the troops’ stay in Redding, which later acquired the fitting nickname of “Connecticut’s Valley Forge.”

Today, the site of Putnam’s winter encampment is open to the public as Putnam Memorial State Park. Established in 1887, Putnam Memorial was the first public park owned and administrated by the State of Connecticut. A dramatic statue of Israel Putnam on horseback greets visitors at the park’s entrance, and an obelisk with quotes from Putnam’s speech of December 30, 1778 commemorates the patriotic troops who stayed and suffered there during the harsh winter of 1778 – 1779.

To view the full story on the CT Historian's website, click here.