Hi! And apologies this message is so late :)

CT's HUSKY expansion for kids of any immigration status took effect recently, and advocates are calling for another expansion that would include residents of all ages and immigration status. Legislators have signaled they're open to debating the idea, as this story mentions: https://ctmirror.org/2023/01/10/ct-husky-medicaid-insurance-coverage-children/.

Our health reporter will definitely be keeping an eye out for any updates!

Hey! This is another issue we've seen a lot of interest in — our fantastic housing reporter, u/GinnyMonk1, has covered affordable housing in Connecticut. The General Assembly is likely to take up legislation surrounding housing and zoning in 2023, as she reported earlier this month: https://ctmirror.org/2023/01/05/ct-legislative-session-housing-evictions-zoning-homelessness/.

One state law passed three decades ago — commonly referred to by its statutory reference, 8-30g — was designed to encourage affordable housing development in CT's suburban communities. An "explainer" on 8-30g can be found here: https://ctmirror.org/2022/10/18/ct-8-30g-affordable-low-income-housing-rent-cost-of-living/.

Hi! Energy service/costs have been a huge issue in Connecticut lately, as you know — we've covered it, though certainly not to the extent it deserves. Happy to pass along some of these questions.

In the meantime, our energy & environment reporter took a deep dive into the rate hikes we've been seeing. The piece can be found here: https://ctmirror.org/2023/01/03/ct-energy-winter-shortage-natural-gas/.

Also, a story we published today notes that Eversource and Avangrid (whose subsidiaries include United Illuminating) each donated $25,000 to Lamont's inaugural ball. As the story notes, "Underwriting inaugural balls long has been deemed by state ethics lawyers as a permissible gift to the state, exempt from bans on personal gifts to state officials or restrictions on contributions to campaigns for governor or other state offices." — but it feels worth mentioning either way. Here's the full story: https://ctmirror.org/2023/01/19/ct-ned-lamont-inaugural-ball-funding-donations/.

Definitely! Connecticut is a very car-dependent state, which can be costly to those who own a car and very limiting to those who don't (not to mention harmful for all the other reasons you mentioned above).

We actually took a deep-dive into the rise in deadly car crashes in CT about a year ago: https://ctmirror.org/2022/02/06/connecticut-traffic-deaths-fatalities-dui/.

Additionally, one of our contributors writes a weekly opinion column centered around transportation issues. He founded the CT Commuter Action Group and is a big proponent of public transit, especially trains: https://ctmirror.org/talkingtransportation/.

I'll pass your note along to our urban and regional issues reporter :)