Legislative Update

The Connecticut legislative session ended on May 7th at
midnight, leaving many people disappointed in the results.
There were some successes during the short session,
but bills calling for funds did not get a vote. The Governor
and Legislative Leaders choose to make no mid-term
adjustments on our bi-annual budget, so new funds were
not allocated.

No Legislative outcome:
1) SB 339: An Act Concerning Child Nutrition
Programs - This bill would have increased participation in
the School Breakfast program through in classroom grants,
expand the summer nutrition program and would have
created a child nutrition outreach program at the State
Department of Education.
2) SB 415: An Act Concerning Appropriations for
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and
Grants for Emergency and Community Food Sites - This
bill allocated $ 2 million for the state's food banks to buy
protein food and vegetables to give to the our emergency
food sites.

Legislation of interest that passed the House and Senate:
1) HB 5536: An Act Establishing the Connecticut
Healthcare Partnership - This bill would open the state
employee health care insurance pool to municipalities,
nonprofits and small businesses with 50 employees or less,
and create cost savings. This bill passed both the House and
Senate and is now awaiting action by the Governor.
2) SB 344: An Act Concerning Family Prosperity
and the Recommendations of the Child Poverty and
Prevention Council - One of the many parts of this bill
requires that the Department of Social Services establish a
Food Stamp Employment and Training and grant program
for providers who serve food stamp eligible recipients. This
bill passed both the House and Senate and is now awaiting
action by the Governor.
3) HB 5105: An Act Concerning the Minimum Wage
- This bill would increase the minimum wage to $8.00 in
FY09 and to $8.25 in FY10. This bill passed both the House
and Senate and is now awaiting action by the Governor.
4) HB 5873: An Act Concerning the Face of
Connecticut Account Steering Committee and the
Preservation of Farmland - Face of Connecticut steering
committee established, which would be charged with
allocating a pool of funds through state grant programs.
5) HB 5658: An Act Concerning the Confidentiality
of Social Security Numbers - This bill requires any
business that collects personal information, which is
information that can be associated with an individual
through an identifier like a Social Security number, to have
a privacy protection policy and to safeguard the computer
files and documents containing it. The privacy protection
policy must: protect the confidentiality of Social Security
numbers, prohibit unlawful disclosure of Social Security
numbers, and limit access to Social Security numbers.