Buckbee Participates in July Special Session: Votes in Favor of Critical Public Health Initiatives

Posted on July 27, 2020

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Hartford – The House of Representatives was called into Special Session on Thursday, July 23, to address several pieces of legislation. The subject matter of the bills varied greatly, ranging from protecting Connecticut’s voters in the fall to providing insulin at a reasonable cost. The legislature also addressed measures to increase access to public health and reform police protocols.

“The fiscal crisis is a glaring issue that the state must move to address. When the Speaker of the House calls us in for Special Session, it’s usually for a very specific reason – like fixing the budget. The extreme range of subjects that we took action on, along with the fact that the standard legislative procedures had been circumvented, made it difficult to support each bill with limited knowledge or vetting,” said Rep. Buckbee.

Since the regular session was shortened because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the legislature suspended all business including public hearings and committee meetings. Typically, legislation is brought forth from the committee of cognizance. It is then vetted by committee members and heard in public hearing before it moves along to the House or Senate floor. None of the four bills the House addressed in Special Session went through the official legislative process.

“While I disagree with how these bills came to be on the floor, I proudly supported several of the new laws,” said Rep. Buckbee. “Many of these concepts, such as safely encouraging voters to participate in the election process and providing necessary healthcare resources, were critical initiatives to deliver to New Milford residents.”

As a former elections moderator, Buckbee noted a possibility for the integrity of the state’s election system to be violated as a result of self-certifying ballots and placing them in unsecure drop boxes. However, Buckbee also identified a greater issue, which is the unnecessary threat of coronavirus exposure to elderly and at-risk populations while standing in line at the voting booth. Consequently, Buckbee supported a new law that allows Connecticut residents to mail-in their ballots due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The law only pertains to the 2020 election and does not dictate the absentee voting process for any additional elections.

Buckbee also went on to support two separate public health related initiatives regarding telehealth services and capping insulin costs.

Telehealth is a growing function of modern medicine that allows greater access for patients to engage in healthcare services in a remote setting. Conceptually, Buckbee supported the legislation but advocated for stronger language. The current language of the bill sunsets in March of 2021, which could place many residents at an unnecessary risk after the current timeframe. Going forward, Buckbee is looking to work with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support a more permanent telehealth delivery mechanism.

The skyrocketing costs of insulin have been exacerbated by the pandemic, forcing many diabetics to conserve their insulin supply. Buckbee noted that capping the price of a lifesaving treatment is a good start made by the new law but could be made better by including greater pharmaceutical reforms. Regardless, the bill was acted upon with overwhelming bipartisan support and will expand coverage for diabetes screenings, cap the out-of-pocket costs for diabetes-related drugs and treatments, and cover the costs of emergency diabetes-related remedies.

Despite voting affirmatively for most of the legislation debated during Special Session, Buckbee could not fully support the overhaul of how police in Connecticut conduct business.

“I have been actively engaging with members of our community to learn more about racial injustices and how we can collectively address such issues. I do not condone any form of violence, whether it be from a police officer or a private citizen. We should all be held equally accountable, but unfortunately I could not support the underlying legislation because it included many stipulations that will make it difficult for police to protect the public,” explained Rep. Buckbee.

The legislation was brought out for debate after 1:00 a.m. on Friday morning, making debate difficult for legislators who had already been in session for 14 hours. Buckbee pointed to several sections that could have a chilling effect on public safety. Ending qualified immunity will put a large cost on municipalities and towns across the state because of increased insurance liability. With added costs, funding for recruitment efforts and other department improvements are diminished.

Consequently, House Republicans ran an amendment that would have stripped that section from the underlying bill. Buckbee voted for the amendment, but it failed as a result of a tie vote of 72-72.

The new law fails to address the issue of police bargaining units representing rank and file officers and their superiors. This system has allowed many police officers that have been suspended as a result of public complaints to return to their jobs or be reassigned. Without making changes to the complaint and grievance system, it makes it difficult for a police officer to be fired on account of poor behavior or performance.

Buckbee identified other issues with the legislation. Law enforcement officers will have less options available to them when making traffic stops, which will make it even more difficult for drugs and illegal firearms to be removed from public spaces. During his time in Hartford, Buckbee has vehemently opposed unfunded municipal mandates because at some point the taxpayers will be responsible to pay the bill. The legislation disallows local police departments from getting excess federal policing equipment, in turn adding even more stress to municipal budgets to outfit their departments.

“Debating this bill at such a late hour really hurts the integrity of the racial justice discussion,” Buckbee said. “It’s disturbing that political motivations to rush legislation through prevailed, and it is saddening that we could not work together to come up with a bipartisan solution. Despite the outcome, I will continue to work with our community to address instances of social injustice and hold each other accountable equally.”

All four pieces of legislation await further action in the Senate, which is expected to convene this week.

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