A difficult vote: Sen. Sampson outlines why bill for kids mental & physical health falls short

“An excellent article by Frank Ricci exposing some of the same reasons I voted No on Senate Bill 1 – AN ACT CONCERNING CHILDHOOD MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH SERVICES IN SCHOOLS.

“Billed as the answer to adolescent mental health problems in CT, there was a lot more meat to this 50 page bill. Now even the typically Democrat leaning CT Association of Public School Superintendents are voicing their concerns about some of the policies they now say they were “blindsided” by.

“It was no secret what was in this bill when it passed and while it has some positive provisions, I felt it was seriously weighed down by massive expansions of government and spending to go with it, loss of local control, more mandates on local school districts, and ultimately very little that directly benefits students at all. Kudos to my friend and colleague Senator Ryan Fazio for joining me on a hard vote 34-2. Like I said at the time, this could have been done better, and if the purpose truly matched the title and the proponents stuck to that, it would have been.”

Article from the Connecticut Mirror:

In a stunning rebuke, the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) is raising the alarm about legislation altered before passage as the result of backroom negotiations between teacher’s union leaders and General Assembly leadership. They state, “Superintendents were blindsided as this piece of legislation was hidden from view. There was no transparency.”

Connecticut’s new law Public Act 22-80, “Concerning Mental and Physical Health Services in Schools” is supposed to be about kids’ health and wellness. Unfortunately, the teachers’ union added two provisions late in the process that will have a significant impact on our children.

FULL ARTICLE HERE