These news briefs were originally written for CT Politics, The Connecticut Mirror’s weekly newsletter providing updates on the 2025 legislative session. To sign up for CT Politics, click here.
Scholarship displacement takes center stage
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee held its first public hearing of the 2025 legislative session Thursday.
The public testimony hearing covered seven bill proposals, but most testimony, both written and spoken, focused on one piece of proposed legislation that would ban scholarship displacement.
Scholarship displacement is a practice by higher education institutions to reduce university financial aid if a student receives scholarships from another outside source. For example, if a student was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from a university, but received a $500 scholarship from a nonprofit organization, the university could withdraw $500 from its initial offer.
“The displacement of scholarships penalizes students for seeking out additional resources and can limit our ability to fully engage in educational and professional growth. For low-income students like me, outside scholarships can mean the difference between being able to afford unpaid internships, study abroad programs, or even basic expenses like textbooks and winter clothing,” said Libby Lamport, a student at Yale University, in written testimony.
The bill received vast support during the public hearing. If passed, Connecticut would become the seventh state following California, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington, to have banned the practice.
— Jessika Harkay, Education Reporter
New notice rules under consideration
The Planning and Development Committee will again look at changing the requirements for legal notices to possibly allow towns to post these notices online instead of in a printed newspaper. The committee on Monday voted to take a measure looking at online notices to a public hearing.
The issue came up in the 2023 session while the borough of Fenwick was grappling with the question of where to post its legal notices because it doesn’t have a local newspaper. It had historically published notices in the Middletown Press, which had no subscribers in the borough. The Hartford Courant only had five subscribers, and officials said they didn’t know where to publish the notices.
Newspaper companies spoke out against the proposal, saying it infringed on transparency requirements and access to public information.
— Ginny Monk, Housing & Children’s Issues Reporter
Trump, the accidental fundraiser
Donald J. Trump is raising money for New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
Not on purpose, of course. The Democratic mayor is playing off Trump’s eventful first 10 days in office, including ICE raids and deportations, in a fundraising appeal for his 2025 reelection campaign.
“Now, more than ever, we need local leaders who will stand up for our most vulnerable friends and neighbors,” Elicker said. “That’s what I’m doing. I’m not going to stop speaking out and I’m not going to back down.”
More than anyone, Trump should appreciate the pitch. Using a political opponent or a setback to raise money is part of his playbook. Some of his best fundraising days came immediately after criminal indictments.
“Thanks for being on this team,” Elicker wrote. “There are more trying times ahead, but I appreciate knowing that you have my back.”
On the other side of the coin are the Connecticut Senate Republicans. While Elicker is raising money off the anger directed at Trump and his policies, the Senate GOP are playing off the Democratic resistance to the president.
“Connecticut taxpayers are footing the bill for reckless policies that prioritize illegal immigrants over hardworking families. The Democrat controlled legislature has done nothing to address the real concerns of Connecticut residents,” the Republicans say.
The Republicans are raising money for the mid-term elections in 2026. The last time Trump was in the White House, the mid-terms were the start of a tough run for the state Senate GOP. Last year, they won only 11 of the 36 seats.
“The Democrats have failed us. They’ve encouraged illegal immigration, drained our resources, and our public safety at risk,” they said. “We cannot afford their reckless agenda any longer.”
There’s about 18 months until all 36 senators and 151 representatives in the General Assembly are up for election.
The two fundraising appeals landed on the same day.
— Mark Pazniokas, Capitol Bureau Chief
Expanding Medicaid for residents with disabilities
The Human Services Committee voted to pursue legislation that would eliminate asset limits for HUSKY C, the Medicaid program for residents who are over 65, blind or disabled. Currently, in order to qualify, a single resident must limit their savings to $1,600 or less (the limit is $2,400 for a married couple). The bill that legislators voted to draft would phase out the asset limits entirely over a five-year period in an effort “to create greater equity in Connecticut’s Medicaid program,” according to the draft language.
Advocates and enrollees have fought for years to increase HUSKY C’s income and asset limits with limited success. The income limits for HUSKY C are lower than those for other Medicaid programs, and it is the only one with any asset limits at all.
— Katy Golvala, Health Reporter
Covering cost of diapers for those in need
On Monday, Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, was joined by advocates from several nonprofits to promote a bill that would allow the state’s Medicaid program to cover the cost of diapers.
According to state data, over 17,000 children under the age of 1 and a further 76,000 children between the ages of 1 and 4 qualified for Medicaid last year. Gilchrest said that the legislation would focus on providing diapers in cases where it was deemed “medically necessary.”
Joining the lawmaker was Janet Stolfi Alfano, executive director of the Diaper Bank of Connecticut. The organization currently receives $750,000 annually through the Department of Social Services, assisting a total 8,000 families throughout the state. Alfano said “Having Medicaid cover diapers for infants aged 3 and under is the innovation we need.”
Both Gilchrest and Alfano characterized the seriousness of the need for the bill, citing the prevalence of urinary tract infections and severe skin irritations among infants in the state. Forty percent of all the patients who are hospitalized for urinary tract infections are under the age of 1, they said. The bill has narrowed the eligibility of coverage from previously considered legislation advising diapers be expensed under Medicaid coverage in 2023 and 2024. The exact language of bill is yet to be finalised.
— James Watson, Legislative Intern
Lawmakers fret over Aquarion Water sale
After passing legislation last year to allow the sale of the state’s largest regulated water company to the quasi-public Regional Water Authority, some lawmakers expressed anxiety this week after that exact scenario played out.
On Monday, Eversource announced its plans to sell the Bridgeport-based Aquarion Water Company to RWA in a deal worth a reported $2.4 billion.
“We set the table for the deal,” said state Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, referring to language that was inserted into a 137-page omnibus bill passed during a special session last June.
“All I hope is that the best interest of the ratepayers and Aquarion customers are served by this,” he said.
As an investor-owned utility, Aquarion’s rates must be reviewed and approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Under the terms of the deal, Aquarion is set to become a standalone water authority outside of PURA’s purview for future rate adjustments.
Another skeptic of the deal, state Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, said on Tuesday that he was “extremely concerned” over what he said was a lack of transparency surrounding the bidding process, and its potential impact on Aquarion’s roughly 250,000 customers. Fazio, like most other Republican lawmakers, voted against the legislation allowing the deal to take place.
PURA, along with regulators in Massachusetts and New Hampshire where Aquarion also has customers, must still review and approve the deal.
“I certainly encourage them to pick it as deeply as possible, and if they deem it reasonable and legal to reject any deal,” Fazio said.
— John Moritz, Energy and Environment Reporter