Important legislative proposals that will allow future payments to UConn sports and grant grants to more than 20 volunteer organizations that are facing funding cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration were finalized by the state  and Senate  on Tuesday.
The overall revenue offer of$ 2.88 million,  , Democrats , said, was necessary according to expected breaks at the national level and a lack of money for immigrants and refugees, along with LGBTQ+ companies. Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, which received the largest grant, will receive$ 800,000, despite the Republican opposition, which received$ 800,000.
The measure was defeated by a margin of 25 to 9 votes, with one Republican, Sen.  , Tony Hwang of  , Fairfield, joining the , Democrats, in favour. After , Republicans , objected that conversation had been cut off and the ballot was called to fast, the , Senate , held another vote to evaluate the problem. Sen.  , Patricia Billie Miller of Stamford  , of , was unavailable for both vote as the discussion on House Bill 7066 raged on Tuesday evening.
Legislators voted to alter the state’s laws to permit future payments to University of Connecticut athletes in the rapidly-changing world of college sports as part of the federal bill.
The action was taken in advance of an expected decision by the , NCAA, which oversees school sports and is expected to help players to be paid straight through earnings revealing by the colleges. The maneuver would be the next step in the “name, picture, and likeness” system, or NIL, to replace the current system of obligations.
Sen. Derek Slap, a West Hartford , a , a , Democrat who co-chairs the court’s higher education commission, claimed that UConn and all schools in , Connecticut, will be able to devote “up to$ 20.5 million of revenue that comes into the sport department from ticket income” and on other sources like gifts The cap of$ 20.5 million is set nationwide and would be at that level for football powerhouses like , Ohio State , and , Michigan , as universities with several high-profile sports teams would have the authority to allocate the money within the cap.
According to Slap, the legislature was required to act on Tuesday because the issue is “very crucial for recruiting” for the most elite athletes who are sought by the top basketball schools in the country. According to Slap, the new national policy is expected to be codified over the course of several weeks because several states have already passed similar legislation by executive order and others have already.
Without the legislation, he said, “UConn would begin the recruiting season severely handicapped”.
However, state senator Rob Sampson, a Wolcott Republican, said he was unsure whether his constituents thought the hiring by UConn was necessary because of an emergency.
Slap, however, later stated that the problem is crucial to UConn’s status as a basketball powerhouse for both men and women.
” If we don’t do it, you might as well turn the lights out at Gampel”, Slap told The Courant in an interview. It might prolong the time that student athletes spend in school.
Martin Looney, a long-time college football fan and expert on the Heisman Trophy, said the bill shows the changes over the years.
” That’s just the reality of high-level college sports as it is right now”, Looney said on the , Senate , floor. It’s unfortunate in some ways because it means that we are no longer as aware of amateurism as we did in college sports. Over the years, we’ve heard of numerous reports of booster groups paying players to their tables, hiring them to work in the same as-the-table summer jobs, and other things in unorthodox, illegal, and unacknowledged ways that administrators turned their heads. … This is not a new issue in college sports”.
Emergency bill
According to the Senate and Republicans , Tuesday should not have been the day of the “emergency certified” vote, which is permitted without a public hearing for crucial matters if the top Democratic leaders who control the , House and Senate deemed necessary.
” None of these things is an emergency”, Sampson said. Nothing is ignoble. No pandemic exists. There’s nothing really going on except a political emergency for the majority. …to stoke the Trump administration’s ire and stoke the state’s fury. I don’t know what the urgency is. … There’s no emergency for , Planned Parenthood. I think this is occurring for political reasons.
However, the House Speaker and the Senate and President Pro Tempore both stated that a vote was required on the issues raised in two bills, according to Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk.  , Republicans , pushed for a roll call vote, which was defeated by the , Democrats , along party lines by 24-10.
Chinese drones
Additionally, the bill recommended that Connecticut towns, state offices, and their contractors be prohibited from purchasing Chinese and Russian-made drones in the future because they pose a security threat. Lawmakers fear that the information obtained by the drones could be sent back to the Chinese company, which officials say is an arm of the Chinese military.
After a lengthy debate in the state House of Representatives , the measure failed on the final night of the legislative session in May 2024 as time ran out at midnight.
According to lawmakers, the issue is that the Chinese-made drones are typically less expensive, and that municipalities in Connecticut have been purchasing them because of this.
Grants
The overall funding package of$ 2.88 million,  , Democrats , said, was necessary due to cuts at the federal level from Trump’s administration and a lack of funding for immigrants and refugees, along with LGBTQ+ organizations.
More than 20 organizations, besides Planned Parenthood, will also receive funding in supplemental grants as compensation for their services to the LGBTQ+ community.
The largest grants will be$ 387,500 for the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, Inc., and$ 225,000 for the New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center, Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, Inc., and$ 225,000 for the Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, Inc.
Refuting Republican arguments, Looney said the nonprofit entities had been chosen because they were “unfairly targeted” and “whose national government, in effect, has declared war on them”. He claimed that the national government’s hostile attitude led to the funding being an emergency.
As the money was distributed equally, 20 organizations will receive the exact same amount of$ 62, 500 as the funding was distributed. The groups helping immigrants include the , Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants,  , Jewish Family Services of Greenwich,  , Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition, and , Center , for Children’s Advocacy.
Other recipients of$ 62,500 include: Anchor Health Initiative Corp., Middlesex Hospital for a gender clinic; Triangle Community Center, , Kids in Crisis, , OutCT, Inc., Bridgeport Pride Center, PFLAG Enfield, Inc., PEERPRIDE, &nb
Sampson objected to the funding of Planned Parenthood, claiming that the group has “billions of dollars in assets.”
” Effectively, it’s Christmas for entities that are aligned” with the Democratic majority, Sampson said on the , Senate , floor. Money is being donated to what far-left advocacy groups, in my opinion.
A member of the Roman Catholic Church, which represents the church, also criticized the idea.
” Giving more taxpayer money, even one cent, let alone$ 800, 000, to those in the abortion business is truly tragic”, said , Chris Healy, executive director of , Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference. We can only ask that those in power reject this repugnant notion.
Healy claimed that at the conclusion of the 2024 legislative session, Planned Parenthood had also received an additional$ 3 million. He said the organization is the largest abortion provider in the state, adding that more than half of the abortions “are fully funded by state taxpayers under the Medicaid program” for low-income women.
Sen. Heather Somers, the ranking Republican senator on the committee’s budget-writing committee, questioned why the organizations were all receiving the same$ 62,500 that Sen. Somers noted that she has been a supporter of Planned Parenthood and that she has also been a donor.” I believe this funding is coming from a what if’ in Washington,” Somers said.
She questioned why , Planned Parenthood , already received$ 1.9 million, plus an additional$ 1.3 million, at a time when other organizations and individuals are struggling financially.
Somers compared elderly people to elderly people, saying that additional funds should be given to organizations like Meals on Wheels and  . Some elderly people may only consume one meal per day.
Sen.  , Cathy Osten, a , Sprague , Democrat who co-chairs the budget committee, said she has sat through hundreds of hours of public hearings as money is being sought for nonprofits, workforce development, public schools, special education, low-income heating assistance, and elderly nutrition. One of the hearings lasted until 3 a.m., according to the woman who noted that she is aware of the problems with heating in the winter because she maintains the temperature in her own home at 61 degrees. The current budget process, which includes all financial considerations, is tipped to reach a final agreement at the Capitol  in early June.
” Yes,  , Planned Parenthood , did receive some dollars in the block grant”, Osten said on the , Senate , floor. ” Their costs are significantly higher than anticipated.”
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Hartford Courant 2025
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC
