The 2017 Legislative Session is underway!

With an evenly divided Senate and the House featuring barely a majority of Democratic representatives, legislative activity will no doubt be interesting to watch. The budget will likely dominate the overall conversation and “bandwidth” of legislative attention but there are many other high priority issues that will be addressed.

Longtime CAS lobbyist, Marshall Collins, recently merged his firm with former Speaker of the House Jim Amann; their firm is now “International Government Strategies, LLC.” The firm recently hired Mike Rell, son of former Governor M. Jodi Rell. Marshall and Mike are working tirelessly on behalf of CAS, having already arranged many meetings between CAS and key legislators.

A wide range of proposed bills affecting education have been released. CAS members can follow the progress of these bills using the legislation tracker system provided by Marshall Collins’ firm. To access the system:

• Visit http://www.legislationtracker.com/login/igs
• Login and password are the same: CASCIAC

As of today there are just over 70 proposed bills in the system that address educational issues. A proposed bill is a brief “placeholder” of sorts; introducing concepts. Many of the concepts being proposed are of significant concern for schools and for educational stakeholders.

We will be inviting feedback from school leaders and keeping you posted on our activities in Hartford as the session moves along. Also- will soon be establishing space on our website for members to post legislative questions and concerns. Your voice and feedback play a critical role in guiding our legislative efforts!

By Dr. Karissa Niehoff, Executive Director