Three of Representative Lanoue’s Top Legislative Proposals Advance to the House Floor

HARTFORD- On Monday, three, top legislative proposals of State Representative Brian Lanoue (R-45) passed major milestones by getting moved favorably out of the Finance and Appropriation Committees. They now await further action on the House floor before the end of regular session on June 9th.

H.B. No. 5722 An Act Allowing Personal Income Tax Deductions For Stipends Pain To Volunteer Firefighters And Volunteer Ambulance Members, was passed by the Public Safety Committee on March 24th. The House referred the bill to the Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding on April 26th and it was passed unanimously, out of committee Monday. Representative Lanoue is the lead proponent of this bi-partisan bill, which was also co-introduced by numerous legislators, including the co-chairs of the legislative Fire and EMS Caucus. The legislation would help with recruiting and retaining volunteer Firefighters and EMS personnel with the hopes of giving people a little more incentive to serve their communities.

“This is very good news for our volunteer first responders in this state, as well for municipalities in recruiting volunteers for these vital services. I want to thank all my fellow co-introducers and sponsors for working so hard in a bi-partisan way to get us to this point. I also want to thank the Finance Committee for their overwhelming support for this very important bill,” Rep. Lanoue said.

Two other bills were referred by the House to the Appropriations Committee, H.B. No. 5586 An Act Concerning The Expansion Of The CRISIS Initiative Pilot Program Throughout The State And The Emergency Intervention By A Police Officer When A Person Suffers An Opioid Overdose, which was passed unanimously by the Public Safety and Security Committee on March 24th. The CRISIS Initiative Pilot Program creates collaboration between local and state emergency response, mental health and substance abuse professionals to provide treatment and prevention resources to individuals struggling with opioid abuse. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased social isolation, stress and uncertainty for many residents, with a corresponding increase in the number of opioid-related emergencies, according to recent studies in Connecticut and across the United States. Also, H.B. No. 6417 An Act Requiring Background Checks For Certain Employees Of Youth Camps, which was passed by the Committee on Children on March 11th. This is a bill that aims to help protect children from sexual predators while attending camps, legislation that Rep. Lanoue was surprised was not already law. Rep. Lanoue’s determination to get this legislation passed goes back three years to his freshman year in the legislature, in 2019. Last year, the bill passed through the committee process, but a vote was never taken on the House floor due to the COVID-19 shutdown. The bill will add another layer of protection to those that have access to children when they are away from home at camp.

“If we have learned anything over this past year, it is the imperativeness of people’s mental health and protecting our children. These two legislative proposals aim at doing just that and I want to thank the members of the Appropriations Committee, for acting favorably and advancing these two very important public policy issues forward ,” Rep. Lanoue added.

State Representative Brian Lanoue, in his second term, proudly serves the 45th Assembly District which includes the towns of Griswold, Lisbon, Plainfield, Sterling, and Voluntown.

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