CCM Public Policy & Advocacy

PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY

For our Public Policy & Advocacy team, this was the year to get back to work. After COVID shortened and cancelled the short legislative session in 2020, they knew that the Governor and the General Assembly were going to have a lot on their plate. From COVID relief and PFAS to on- line gambling and legalized marijuana, this year’s bills were sure to be complex and, at times, controversial.

The first area of note was the tiered Payments-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes program that was proposed early on in the session. Many leaders from around the state and joined us in support of this legislation. But while our support was there, we issued a statement saying that this cannot be another broken promise. All too often, these programs are passed and signed without the appropriate funding behind it.

We also came out in support of bills that would allow municipalities to continue holding hybrid meetings. This bill’s passage seemed obvious until last minute changes nearly altered the bill to mandate these hybrid meetings instead of making it simply permissible. With your help, we were able to see the bill passed in its original form.

From 2020, we were also able to keep an eye on SB 837, which banned the use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. Throughout last year, we held a series of webinars on these so-called “forever chemicals” and their deleterious effects on the environment. Fortunately our concerns were heard and a takeback program was instituted for fire departments to upgrade their outdated materials for newer, safer fire prevention supplies.

We also made a successful intervention into the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (PURA) investigation of Eversource Energy and United Illuminating after Tropical Storm Isaias. Through past failures, we urged the Governor and General Assembly to review PURA’s regulatory process to determine if it could be stronger in its oversight of the public utilities.

In addition to our work at the Capitol, we also made sure that we did our part to help towns and cities understand the American Rescue Plan and the Opioid Settlement. We visited municipalities that needed assistance with the ARP funds and provided updates on these important programs that will help on the path to recovery in 2022.

With so many different voices in our state, it important that we all stay on the same page when it comes to understanding the impact of these bills. Our Public Policy & Advocacy team is doing that crucial work throughout the year, and even across years as with the PFAS. Even with so much on the legislative plate, no bill that affected municipalities fell off the radar, defeating over 120 new mandate proposals. Though not every bill was a victory, our advocacy and teamwork with our members made sure that our legislators knew our towns and cities have a powerful voice.