Category: State News

HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that his administration is releasing an additional $1.1 million in state funding to support the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) in the state’s ongoing efforts to prevent families and individuals from becoming homeless, particularly those who are on the verge of homelessness. The flexible assistance funding will complement a $2.5 million donation to the Hartford-based nonprofit that was announced late last year by the Day 1 Families Fund, a philanthropic effort led by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

 

Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, which shows that homelessness in Connecticut decreased 23.7 percent between January 2018 and January 2019.

 

Governor Lamont said that nonprofit organizations like CCEH are important partners to the state in the effort to strengthen communities and provide necessary support for residents.

 

“Increasing the availability of housing for those who are most vulnerable of becoming homeless results in stronger, safer, and more stable communities where families thrive and businesses grow,” Governor Lamont said. “By having supports in place for those who are on the verge of becoming homeless, we can rapidly respond to the situations they are facing. Connecticut’s state agencies and nonprofit providers have formed a solid partnership and collaborative approach on these efforts – and I applaud each of them because the work they are doing is turning lives around.”

 

The funding is being released by the Connecticut Department of Housing through its current operating budget.

 

“I believe my job extends beyond the four walls of my office,” Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said. “I’ve been in my role close to year now and have traveled all over the state visiting developments and shelters, and meeting with housing and homeless advocates.  I’ve taken a tour of the 2-1-1 system and as I continue to meet with the Coordinated Access Networks, we’ve discussed what works well and what can be done better. The number one item I hear about is that more dollars are needed to help households before they reach the crisis stage. We hope with this new commitment that we will continue to see a decline in the number of households enter into our system, especially as we look to our annual snapshot count.”

 

“Over the last few years, Connecticut has developed a range of tools to help local families avoid or quickly exit homelessness into stable housing,” Richard Cho, CEO of CCEH, said. “These sizeable investments enable us to scale-up our response so that we can reach every family that falls into homelessness. We applaud Governor Lamont and Commissioner Mosquera-Bruno for their leadership and financial commitment.”

 

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HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont announced that he signed into law legislation his administration negotiated that brings a long-sought solution to the ongoing legal issue concerning wages earned by restaurant employees. The legislation was approved by overwhelming bipartisan votes in both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly during a special session last month.

 

“This complex area of law governing wages earned by restaurant workers stirred up passions from those on all sides of the issue,” Governor Lamont said. “In the end, we were able to deliver a fair solution that strikes an appropriate balance that both ensures wages rightfully earned by employees are protected and provides some relief to restaurant owners who made good faith efforts to comply with the law. I appreciate the efforts of legislators from both sides of the aisle in negotiating and reaching a compromise measure that avoids the legal and other issues that caused me to veto the prior proposal. I also am grateful for the participation of the stakeholders on all sides of this issue who worked with my administration to come to a solution that I could sign into law.”

 

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Hartford, CT)– Attorney General William Tong  joined a California-led coalition of 20 states and D.C. in filing a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in Texas v. U.S. The decision held the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional and called into question whether the remaining provisions of the ACA could still stand, including those that protect and provide coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions. Because this decision causes uncertainty that may harm the health of millions of Americans, and severely impact doctors, clinics, patients, and the healthcare market, Attorney General Tong and the coalition are petitioning the Supreme Court to take up the case and resolve it before the end of the Court’s current term in June.

In Connecticut alone, 250,000 residents have benefited from the expansion of Medicaid. Thousands of young adults under the age of 26 have health insurance through their parents’ plans. Nearly half a million residents with pre-existing conditions have health coverage as a result of ACA protections.

“Hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents have access to affordable healthcare as a result of the ACA. No one wants to return to the days where insurers discriminated against patients with so-called pre-existing conditions like diabetes, childhood cancer or pregnancy. No one wants thousands of young people, or hundreds of thousands of Medicaid patients kicked off their plans overnight. The consequences in this case are literally life and death for far too many people in Connecticut. I join my colleagues across the nation in urging the Supreme Court to end this uncertainty and resolve this case before the end of its current term,” said Attorney General Tong.

The lawsuit was originally filed by a Texas-led coalition, and supported by the Trump Administration, which argued that Congress rendered the ACA’s individual mandate unconstitutional when it reduced the penalty to $0. They further argued that the rest of the ACA should be held invalid as a result of that change. The Fifth Circuit held that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, but declined to further rule on the validity of the ACA’s remaining provisions. The court instead sent the case back to the Northern District of Texas to determine which provisions of the 900-page law are still valid.

Today’s filing by Connecticut and its coalition states makes clear that patients, doctors, hospitals, employers, states, pharmaceutical companies and more will be impacted by the looming uncertainty of the Fifth Circuit’s decision. It asks the Supreme Court to review the case this term. It also highlights important advancements in healthcare access made under the ACA, including:

• More than 12 million Americans receiving coverage through Medicaid expansion;
• Nearly 9 million individuals nationwide receiving tax credits to help afford health insurance coverage through individual marketplaces;
• Millions of working families relying on high-quality employer-sponsored insurance plans;
• Important protections prohibiting insurers from denying health insurance to the 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions (like diabetes, cancer, or pregnancy) or from charging individuals higher premiums because of their health status; and
• Nearly $1.3 trillion in federal funding being dedicated to keeping Americans healthy and covered, including Medicaid expansion and public health dollars.

Joining Attorney General Tong in today’s filing are the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota (by and through its Department of Commerce), Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Kentucky.

 

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U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) posted the following tweets after American airstrikes killed Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps:

Trump Admin owes a full explanation of airstrike reports—all the facts—to Congress & the American people. The present authorizations for use of military force in no way cover starting a possible new war. This step could bring the most consequential military confrontation in decades.

 

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WASHINGTON, D.C –In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman, Joseph Simons, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged the agency to take immediate, aggressive action against YouTube influencers who are deceptively and unfairly advertising to children as young as two years old through their content. Led by Blumenthal, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D- Calif.).

 

“The popularity of YouTube with children has created a new generation of child-directed “online influencers,” video channels starring kids and young adults who play, live their lives, and review toys with their friends and family for millions of viewers. What parents may not see is that many of these channels are little more than hidden advertisements for toymakers, movies, and fast food,” wrote Blumenthal.

 

As advertisers spend tens of thousands of dollars per paid post and video on popular YouTube channels, marketing to children by online influencers has become a booming field bringing in tens of millions in endorsements. Eager to exploit this new social media gold rush, many advertisers and sponsors have thrown basic ethics and the law out the window, disregarding even the minimal standards adopted to protect children.

 

A study by ad watchdog group, truthinadvertising.org (TINA.org) found that the popular “kidfluencer” YouTube channel Ryan ToysReview, who pulled in an estimated $22 million in earnings for 2018, referenced at least one product recommended for children under the age of five in nearly 90 percent of videos reviewed. While some videos did disclose a sponsorship, an overwhelming majority did not.

 

“Despite repeated attempts by the FTC to inform, warn, and persuade online influencers, so far little has changed to protect children and parents. Even prominent child-directed channels have ignored clear warnings and continue to flout the law. Without real action from the FTC, this manipulative behavior will continue,” Blumenthal added.

 

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U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)  announced over $500 million in federal funding to assist law enforcement and domestic violence groups nationally to reduce the number of domestic violence incidents and provide support services to survivors. This funding will help victims of domestic violence in Connecticut. In 2019, there have been 13 domestic violence homicides in Connecticut, and over 33,000 calls for service to Connecticut’s statewide domestic violence hotline in between July, 2018 and July, 2019.

 

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#Hartford, CT – Attorney General William Tong has been named co-chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General Internet Safety/Cyber Privacy and Security Committee, continuing to position the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General as a national leader on digital privacy and online consumer protection. Among the issues the committee will examine are digital privacy, child safety online, and security of personal, business and government data.

“Beginning under Attorney General Jepsen, the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General has earned a national reputation as an aggressive leader in the digital privacy field. Working closely with attorneys general across the nation, this work has remained a core priority under my administration,” said Attorney General Tong. “Consumers have a right to know how their personal information is used, stored, and protected and should have control over what companies do with that information. Companies that violate that trust must be held accountable.”

Connecticut co-led the multistate investigation into the 2017 Equifax data breach that culminated in a $600 million settlement with the company earlier this year — the largest data breach settlement in history. Connecticut also co-led the multistate investigations into data breaches at Uber and Target in the past couple of years. As with Equifax, those investigations shed light on widespread data safeguarding failures, and they also yielded historic settlements.

Connecticut is currently leading several ongoing national multistate privacy investigations, including an investigation into Facebook’s privacy practices that were brought to light by the incident involving Cambridge Analytica. Additionally, attorneys working in the Connecticut Attorney General’s Privacy and Data Security Department frequently serve as speakers at conferences and industry-sponsored events, espousing constant investment and vigilance in data safeguarding practices as necessary for compliance with evolving state, federal and international privacy laws.

In addition to co-chairing the Privacy and Security Committee, Attorney General Tong has been appointed to serve on NAAG’s Antitrust, Civil Rights and Federalism committees.

 

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Hartford, CT) – , U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill  announced success in the fight for critically needed funding to protect election integrity that they advocated.  As a result of their fight, along with others, Congress just approved $425 million for states to enhance election technology and make election security improvements.

Blumenthal advocated for not only more funding, but also has helped lead the fight for more funding for voting systems, has helped lead several measures to protect the integrity of our elections, and hold accountable anyone who attempts to interfere in our democratic process. These measures include legislation that would make it a federal crime to hack any voting system used in a federal election, create a duty to report attempts by a foreign agent to interfere in an election, require federal cybersecurity standards for voting systems, and provide states with funding to strengthen election cyber defenses.

Previous federal grants have supported Connecticut purchasing new voting equipment, security enhancements and training for officials, nationally-recognized auditing procedures, and improvements to voting accessibility.

 

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#HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont is applauding both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly for voting to approve an historic agreement his administration reached with the state’s hospitals that will result in the withdrawal of all pending legal claims that various hospitals filed against the state. The governor said that he intends to sign the legislation shortly.

 

The agreement is the result of a months-long effort between the Lamont administration and the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) to bring conclusion to the various claims against the state challenging the hospital user fee. The governor explained that it represents a new chapter in the relationship between the State of Connecticut and its hospitals and he looks forward to maintaining this connection in the years to come.

 

“Today marks the start of a desperately needed reset between the state and our hospitals, and I am thankful that we were able to come together and negotiate a settlement in good faith that provides stability for both sides while reducing the losses the state would have incurred in the absence of this agreement,” Governor Lamont said. “Prolonging litigation in court would benefit nobody, and certainly not the residents of our state. This agreement eliminates the state’s potential exposure to billions of dollars in liability and removes fiscal uncertainty for years to come. Going forward, it is my hope that this partnership will put us on a new path in which we can work with our hospitals and partner in a way that benefits the quality of care for our state’s residents while simultaneously addressing the cost of that care. I want to thank the Connecticut Hospital Association for working with my administration on this agreement, Attorney General William Tong for his leadership, and the overwhelming number of legislators in both chambers of the General Assembly for understanding the importance of what we were able to achieve. In particular, I want to express my gratitude to OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw, my General Counsel Bob Clark, and the rest of our team for their efforts on getting us to this point.”

 

“This is a fair and reasonable settlement that limits and manages the state’s long-term risk and provides both the state and hospitals with predictability when it comes to user fee and Medicaid rates over the next seven years,” Attorney General William Tong said. “Together with the Office of Governor Ned Lamont and the Connecticut Hospital Association, we were able to create a path forward for the state and our hospitals. The Office of the Attorney General, led by Assistant Attorney General and Department Head Henry Salton, was at the table for every step of the negotiations. I want to thank our staff for their hard work in negotiating this comprehensive settlement.”

 

“Today marks the start of a new partnership with the state that will strengthen healthcare in Connecticut for the benefit of everyone who lives here,” Jennifer Jackson, CEO of CHA, said. “We want to thank Governor Lamont, his administration, and Attorney General William Tong for their leadership and dedication to finding a resolution to this issue, and paving the way for a new collaborative relationship. We also want to thank bipartisan legislative leaders and legislators for their support of hospitals. By voting in favor of the settlement agreement, they have demonstrated compassion for all Connecticut residents served by our hospitals, as well as a commitment to building a healthier Connecticut.”

 

For both the state and the hospitals, settling these claims avoids a sizable financial risk, uncertainty, and expense of ongoing litigation, and provides predictability and stability over the term of the agreement. By securing this settlement:

 

·         The State of Connecticut is able to abrogate legal claims that potentially exposed the state to up to $4 billion in liability.

·         Connecticut’s hospitals will have a more stable and predictable user fee schedule, with the agreement providing for a reduction in the user fee from $900 million to $820 million by FY 2026.

·         The agreement increases Medicaid hospital rates by about two percent per year, sets supplemental payments, and provides one-time Medicaid payments this fiscal year.

·         Further, the parties retain the ability to negotiate changes to the agreement in the event of changes in federal requirements that would impact the terms of the settlement.

 

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#HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that as bitter cold temperatures and wind chills are anticipated to impact the state over the next several days, he will be activating the state’s Severe Cold Weather Protocol beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, and lasting through 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 21. This is the first time this season that the protocol has been enacted.

 

The protocol directs staff from the relevant state agencies to coordinate with United Way 2-1-1 and Connecticut’s network of shelters to ensure that the most vulnerable populations receive protection from the severe conditions. A listing of available shelters throughout Connecticut can be located by calling 2-1-1 or visiting www.211ct.org.

 

“Bitter cold temperatures and wind chills are expected to impact our state over the next few days,” Governor Lamont said. “We must ensure that services are available to protect the most vulnerable populations during these periods of cold weather. If you or someone you know is in need of a shelter or warming center, please call 2-1-1.”

 

While activated, the protocol includes the following actions:

 

·         The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security activates its WebEOC communications network, an internet-based system that enables local, regional and state emergency management officials and first responders to share up-to-date information about a variety of situations and conditions. The system is used to monitor capacity at shelters across the state, enabling 2-1-1 to act as a clearinghouse to assist in finding shelter space for those who need it. Local officials, working through WebEOC, can alert 2-1-1 and the state when they open temporary shelters or warming centers.

·         The Department of Social Services, Department of Housing, and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services coordinate with 2-1-1 and the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, along with community-based providers, to provide transportation for people seeking shelter.

 

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