Brian Lanoue

March for Life 2026

On Wednesday, I was honored to once again speak at the Connecticut March for Life Rally, standing alongside hundreds of advocates from across our state. Each year, I am encouraged to see such a strong, diverse, and growing crowd - especially so many young people - publicly affirming the dignity and value of every unborn child. At a time when these protections are under attack, it is more important than ever that we stand firm. Our founders declared that every person has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That right to life begins in the womb - and our commitment to defend it must never waver. As your state representative, I am here to be the voice for - including the unborn.

Read Across America 2026

Another year of Read Across America is in the books! On top of some very busy weeks at the State Capitol, it was great to get into the district in celebration of Read Across America! I had a great time meeting our youth across the 45th District. Here is a summary of my stops along the way! Monday, March 9th: Griswold Elementary School and Veterans Memorial in Preston I had a great day reading to the second grade classes at Griswold Elementary School and the third and fourth graders at Veterans Memorial in Preston. We read and discussed making green eggs and ham as well as what it means to be a hero. The kids had some great ideas to make the world a better place including no more wars, kindness to one another and no more homelessness. It was particularly touching seeing so many children of parents whom I went to school with during these same grade years. Wednesday, March 11th: Voluntown Elementary School and Lisbon Central School As part of Reads Across America, it was great partnering with my friend and president of Light the Way, Jessica Britagna, as well as Bay - Connecticut’s Water Safety Dog. Jessica, Bay, and I visited with Voluntown Elementary School’s third grade and Lisbon Central School’s second and third grade classes. I got to read “Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim” which highlights key water safety rules for children. Bay & Jessica did a great job emphasizing the importance of wearing life vests as well as Bay’s role as a water rescue dog. Once she finishes training, Bay will help people who find themselves in danger in the water. The kids asked some amazing questions and they did a wonderful job with the renditions of Stewie’s song “Don’t Jump In Til You Learn to Swim.” Friday, March 13th: Juliet Long School in Gales Ferry My final read in 2026 was with Ms. Craig’s first grade class at the Juliet Long School in Gales Ferry. Thank you to Jessica and our four-legged pal Bay for the fun and very important water safety presentation. The kids were great and I loved seeing all the wonderful interactions between them and Bay. I also want to thank the kids for their opinions and comments regarding the pending legislation before the legislature on requiring children to wear life jackets while on a dock in CT. Special shout out to the Duchess for securing us a copy of “Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim” with lighting speed so we could share his story and song with the children throughout the 45th!

Rep. Lanoue Testifies on Behalf of His Task Force to Examine AI in Labor Committee

Tuesday I testified before the Labor Committee in support of HB 5497, which includes my bill proposal to form a task force to examine AI and how it will affect the trades programs. I am suggesting we establish a task force that will consist of our various certified trades professionals, CTECS administrators, engineers, software and hardware designers, and AI experts to examine what will be needed to integrate AI knowledge and training into various trades curriculums in our tech schools and programs in Connecticut. It is imperative that we find out what we don’t know, and ensure that our current and future tradesmen are certified and trained in the technologies needed to remain competitive into future. The advent of artificial intelligence has brought a new age of technological advancement and rapidly changing industry. While much attention has focused on office-based jobs, it is crucial to understand how AI is affecting and transforming the trades. AI tools are already increasing efficiency in project planning and predictive maintenance and are changing the skills workers need to succeed. Raised H.B. 5497 will establish a task force to study the effects of AI on the trades and provide key information to help ensure workers have the skills they need in an advancing technological landscape. This task force should review not only how AI is changing work on job sites and in facilities, but also how it should shape training and education pathways, including curriculum at our technical high schools and trade schools, as well as for those already in the workforce. Because AI is evolving at a rapid pace, this work is an attempt to hit a moving target. Bringing together certified tradesmen from a range of trades with AI experts, engineers, and designers will help Connecticut thoughtfully harness this transformative technology to strengthen and support the trades industry. I urged the committee to act swiftly to advance this bill so Connecticut can proactively prepare its trades workforce for the challenges and opportunities ahead. I want to thank Co-Chairs Kushner and Sanchez; Vice Chairs Cabrera and Wilson; Ranking Members Sampson and Weir; and the distinguished members of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, for their consideration. I will update you on this bill in the coming days. To view my full testimony, click below- https://youtu.be/rSNOP3wOcRE

Rep. Lanoue's Volunteer Stipends Bill Receives Bi-Partisan Support at Public Safety & Security Committee Public Hearing

On Thursday, the Public Safety and Security Committee held a public hearing, on my bill, S.B. 373, An Act Allowing a Personal Income Tax Deduction For Stipends Paid To Volunteer Firefighters, Volunteer Fire Police Officers And Volunteer Ambulance Members. Volunteer first responder annual stipend checks have played a critical role in recruiting more people into volunteer service, in particularly, our young people whom many are not yet be home and property owners. However, stipends are currently taxed as income, creating a financial burden that local fire departments report are driving volunteers away and making it harder to staff critical services like such as fire and ambulance calls. The bill would exempt the first $2,000 of these annual stipends from Connecticut taxes, providing a benefit to the people who step up to protect us in our time of need. Appearing in front of our committee was retired Griswold Fire Chief Thomas Holowaty and Jewett City Fire Captain Richard Waselik, who testified in favor of this bill and shared their informative experiences in front of the committee. They explained that volunteers commit to meetings, training, and emergency calls, and many departments offer annual stipends as a modest incentive to support recruitment and retention. I want to thank them both for their leadership, advocacy, and day-to-day service to our communities. In many Connecticut towns, including all five towns in my district, our safety in an emergency depends on volunteer firefighters, fire police, and ambulance personnel. This bill will serve as a critical tool to help with recruitment and retention of volunteer first responders to help preserve our volunteer departments. In recent years, enrollment statewide has fallen resulting in the closure of a few volunteer departments. If enrollment continues to plummet across our state, many towns will need to follow suit with their neighbor communities by hiring on full-time staff that will significantly increase property taxes here in our small, rural towns. Chief Holowaty reported during his testimony to the Committee that he has seen volunteer numbers go from over 100 to now are around 20 with only 12 active volunteers. Both the Chief and Captain were clear that if the volunteers go away there will be no alternative but paid departments. This cost, for the Griswold fire district alone, will be in the millions causing major property tax increases as a result. Both also reported over the last 5 years since I first proposed this legislation, and the legislature has failed to pass it into law, recruitment and volunteer numbers have continued to drop. I want to thank Committee Co-Chairs Senator Gaston and Representative Boyd, Vice Chairs Senator Slap and Representative DiGiovancarlo, Ranking Members Senator Cicarella and Representative Howard, and all the members of the Public Safety and Security Committee for raising and hearing this important bill. The time to act was years ago, lets help support our local volunteer first responders and heroes, I urge the committee to act favorably on S.B. 373 and support this commonsense tax exemption for our volunteer first responders. Let’s get this done! To view Chief Holowaty’s and Captain Waselik’s testimony, click the link. https://youtu.be/PueyGl-ob4U

Children's Committee S.B. No. 6 Update

During Tuesday’s public hearing and today’s Committee on Children meeting, much of our discussion centered on S.B. 6—a comprehensive bill drafted to protect children. While there are many parts of the bill that we all agree would benefit the welfare of children, Section 5 has rightfully received much criticism and scrutiny. Section 5 would require school districts to notify the state Department of Education (SDE) whenever a student is withdrawn from public school by their parent or guardian. The SDE would then alert the Department of Children and Families (DCF), which would check if the family had any open abuse or neglect cases. I believe this overreaches by targeting families simply for choosing alternative educational options outside of the public school system. Specifically, this will unfairly target innocent and law abiding homeschool families that have done nothing wrong but their information about themselves and their children will be in the DCF pipeline for simply choosing to exercise their constitutional rights to educate their children at home. That’s why, today, I introduced an amendment (LCO 1889) to pause and reconsider this approach. This proposal stemmed from my questioning of DCF Commissioner Hamilton on Tuesday, which would remove section 5 from the bill and instead create a study group involving the SDE, DCF, and the Attorney General’s office. This group would focus on the families already involved with the system and study the practicality of having DCF share information on children and families currently receiving protective services with substantiated claims with the local school districts. The local school districts would then in turn alert DCF if any of these highly vulnerable children were pulled out of school. What this would NOT do is unfairly target any innocent families, particularly our homeschoolers, as the bill section is currently drafted. I strongly believe this would not only streamline the process but prevent all families from landing on certain lists or databanks for absolutely no reason at all. The amendment did receive bi-partisan support, but ultimately failed. I voted NO on the overall bill that did pass through the committee. I will keep you all up to date on the progress of this legislation. March 3rd - Rep. Lanoue Questions CT DCF Interim Commissioner Susan Hamilton Concerning Section 5 of S.B. No. 6 https://youtu.be/_AHutra9bLc March 5th - Rep. Lanoue Introduces Amendment B During Children's Committee Meeting to Improve S.B. No. 6 https://youtu.be/XJH9Kdzsmqk