Monthly Statewide Criminal Justice Call Notes November 18th, 2025

Monthly Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call Notes

November 18th, 2025

Thank you for joining the November Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call. Please find detailed notes and an overview from the call below. Because we do not record these calls, we encourage you to join the next call for complete details. Our next statewide criminal justice reform call will be Tuesday, December 9th, at 11 am on Zoom. You can register for the monthly calls here. 

Speakers: 

• John Bailey II, TCORS Capitol Group, john@ctcapitolgroup.com

• Stephanye R. Clarke, Black Health Collective, stephanyerclarke@gmail.com 

• Jaymiah Herring, Chicks Ahoy Farm, Inc., jaymiah@chicksahoyfarm.org

Presentations:

John Bailey, TCORS Capitol Group 

CT Election Results Overview

• On November 4, 2025, CT held hundreds of local races, including mayors, first selectmen, and city councils.

  • Major Party Shifts

    • 27 towns flipped from Republican to Democratic control for mayor/first selectman positions including New Britain, Norwich, Branford, and Westport

    • 3 towns saw Town Council power shifts

  • Key Democratic Gains

    • Significant wins in Ansonia, Milford, Stratford, and New Britain

• Voter Engagement

  • Turnout was 36%, about 10% higher than typical municipal elections 

Special Session- Four (4) Bills  

• Housing Growth Act (HB 8002)

  • Impact: Empowers public housing authorities and targets families spending over 30% of income on housing or facing homelessness.

• Budget Reserve Fund Allocation

  • Action: Transfers $500 million to the rainy-day fund to offset federal funding cuts after the recent shutdown, SNAP, WIC, LIHEAP, ACA subsidies, School Meals

• UConn Health Center Expansion

  • Action: Authorizes UConn Health Center’s takeover of Waterbury Hospital and raises its bond cap by $390 million.  

• Catch-All Bill (HB 8004)

  • Actions:

    • Restricts state agencies from sharing personal data with non-public entities, limiting federal immigration enforcement access

    • Expands funding and mandates studies on service demands for children’s behavioral health; raises insurance coverage age for autism treatment to 26

    • Adjusts Temporary Family Assistance calculations to reduce SNAP/TANF error rates and protect funding for low-income families

    • Requires transparency in redistricting data to ensure accurate voter registration updates

• For more detail, see John’s full notes here. 

Stephanye R. Clarke, Black Health Collective

• Stephanye discussed the impact of the current administration's policies on community safety and food insecurity, highlighting a significant increase in pantry usage and the need for continued support.

Jaymiah Herring, Chicks Ahoy Farm, Inc. 

• Cultivating Justice has launched the F.R.E.E. CT! Campaign and the CT Probation Reform Support Letter for proposed HB 6361, a bill that will remove incarceration as a consequence for non criminal violations, remove the requirement to report technical violations to SNAP, introduce earned time credit, and eliminate the probation-to-prison pipeline.

• F.R.E.E. CT! Greater Hartford Meeting is on December 17th, from 6 PM - 8 PM. Please rsvp here: F.R.E.E. CT! Greater Hartford Community Meeting | RSVP

• Join our F.R.E.E. CT! Bi-weekly Meeting: F.R.E.E. CT! Action Meeting  

• Reach out to Cultivating Justice: cultivatingjustice@chicksahoyfarm.org 

Thank you once again to all of our presenters for your outstanding work on the criminal justice system in Connecticut. Our next statewide criminal justice reform call will take place on Tuesday, December 9th, at 11:00 a.m. on Zoom. You can register for the monthly calls here. If you would like to present on future Statewide Calls, please email Nick at nick@chicksahoyfarm.org