Ed. 3, 12.19.24
As the holidays approach, we want to express our gratitude to the clients, colleagues, leaders, and thought partners who have enabled us to continue the important work of making “good policy” together. We feel proud and privileged to be working alongside you. Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season and new year!
With thanks and warmest regards,
Amy and Nicki
New CGA Committee Leadership for 2025
Heading into the 2025 legislative session, both House and Senate Democrats have announced that several joint committees of the Connecticut General Assembly will have new leadership. Of particular note are changes to the Education Committee (Rep. Jennifer Leeper appointed as co-chair, assuming a seat formerly occupied by Rep. Jeff Currey) and Housing Committee (Sen. Martha Marx as new co-chair, following the retirement of Sen. Marilyn Moore).
Rep. Leeper (Fairfield and Southport) has a background that includes working for Success Academy Charter Schools as Student Achievement Manager and in the Connecticut State Department of Education's Performance Office. During her campaign, she expressed a strong belief in investing in education systems and structures and said that she looks at education funding as an investment benefiting all communities. Rep. Leeper won her third term last month by a hearty margin against Alexis Harrison, leader of CT169 Strong, the NIMBY organization focused on blocking efforts to reform zoning laws and expand housing options in the state.
And speaking of housing: as a signal of what kind of chair Sen. Marx (Bozrah, East Lyme, Montville, New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Salem, Waterford) might be for the Housing Committee, she indicated in an October candidate questionnaire that housing is the most serious problem facing the state, and that she favors state incentives over zoning mandates. Sen. Marx was a visiting nurse for decades, as well as a union president.
In an all-important budget year, the leadership on the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee and the Appropriations Committee each stay the same–headed by Sen. John Fonfara with Rep. Maria Horn, and Sen. Cathy Osten with Rep. Toni Walker, respectively. We look forward to all of the ✅good policy to pass in the 2025 legislative session and beyond.
A Fresh Idea to Address the Fierce, Upcoming State Budget Debate
Comptroller Sean Scanlon this month projected large budget surpluses in the fiscal year ending in June 2025. The state has also announced that the Teachers' Retirement System is 62.3% funded, its highest ratio since 2008, and that the Governor's Budget Chief plans to deposit an extra $1 billion into state pensions next year.
However, the CT Mirror’s Keith Phaneuf notes that lawmakers are anticipating a fierce debate over whether to pare back the state’s spending limits, especially given the fiscal cliff associated with the end of federal pandemic relief. Advocates (and research funded by them—see here and here) are arguing that—although the fiscal guardrails have allowed the state to chip away at pension debt—spending on core programs like education and nonprofits is lagging. But the Governor’s office is urging lawmakers to maintain the fiscal guardrails to which some attribute Connecticut's current stabilized finances.
With available dollars scarce and needs growing, how can the state find new sources of funding for its core programs? If you haven’t yet had a chance to look at Equable’s report on teacher pension financing in Connecticut, it’s worth a read: the group identifies that the state is a national outlier, inequitably paying teacher retirement benefits and shouldering all of the local pension costs. As the report explains, if some municipalities setting their salaries at the top of the scale were to offset these obligations, the state could stand to secure hundreds of millions of dollars that it could then invest in core programming, like K-12 education for districts most in need.
Districts “On Notice” About Science of Reading
Earlier this month, two Massachusetts families filed a class action lawsuit against Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas, Gay Su Pinnell, their publisher, and others—alleging that they deceptively marketed their materials as "research-backed" and “data-based" even though they knew these products were not effective and would make it harder for students to learn to read. The families are asking to be paid back for expenses such as tutoring and for punitive damages, as well as for free replacement curricula for Massachusetts schools. As Chalkbeat writes, the suit interestingly says the defendants violated consumer protection laws in Massachusetts by willfully ignoring research into the science of reading. APM Reports also notes that, "the case will affect only Massachusetts families, but other lawyers have been contemplating similar suits elsewhere."
It’s a concern that was echoed just this week during a meeting of Connecticut’s Reading Leadership Implementation Council. Although Connecticut’s 2021 Right to Read legislation requires all districts to adopt evidence-based and state-approved early literacy curricula by 2025, a small handful of districts have resisted change. “On the question of non-compliance, we are, in the State of Connecticut, in a state of emergency when it comes to early literacy acquisition," commented Council member Steven Hernández, Executive Director of ConnCAN. "Whether you're looking at local lawsuits regarding children who are graduating without being able to read or… larger trends and lawsuits in our sister states—our districts are on notice if you're not in compliance... So this isn't a question of whether or not you're going to comply. It's a question of how it is that we can really help you." Next year, the Council will consider programs to expand research-based reading interventions in grades 4 to 12 to reach more students across the state.
