skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump announces new auto tariffs in major trade war escalation; Florida child labor bill advances amid exploitation concerns; Indiana sets goal to boost 3rd grade reading proficiency; Kentucky doctors say GOP lawmakers' attempt to clarify abortion ban confuses instead.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Newly released Signalgate messages include highly classified data. Americans see legal political spending as corruption. Activists say cuts to Medicaid would hurt maternity care, and cuts and changed rules at Social Security are causing customer service problems.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks face significant clean air and water risks due to EPA cutbacks, a group of policymakers is working to expand rural health care via mobile clinics, and a new study maps Montana's news landscape.

CT lawmakers urged to focus on LGBTQ+ legislation

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 15, 2025   

Advocates for the LGBTQ+ community want Connecticut lawmakers to consider bills that would help address a variety of this community's needs. They include legislation to ensure LGBTQ+ seniors in long-term care facilities aren't discriminated against, and expanding protections under no-fault eviction legislation.

William Ollayos, administrator with the LGBTQ+ Justice and Opportunity Network, noted that the group is also looking for funding to update a needs assessment that was first done in 2021.

"Something like that should be reciprocal and done every couple of years, because community needs change. If you're talking about any marginalized community - queer folks, people of color, immigrants - their needs are going to change year to year. And especially after COVID, we just really need that updated data to inform some of the additional legislation we're talking about," he said.

The current needs assessment finds 69% of people in this community have experienced discrimination. Ollayos said other issues legislators should work on include safe school initiatives that preventing queer kids from being bullied, and mental health care.

While the General Assembly's LGBTQ+ Caucus has grown, competing priorities are expected to be a challenge to passing these bills.

Matthew Blinstrubas, executive director of Equality Connecticut, predicts President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration and Congress' Republican majority will harm the work they're doing.

"We are always concerned about the federal government maintaining its support for medical services, keeping our schools safe and welcoming, and making sure that our community is not used as a political tool to hold funding hostage," he said.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Meals on Wheels of Northern Illinois has community cafés in Cook, Grundy, Kendall and Will counties, providing home-delivered meals to older residents of these areas. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A local "Meals on Wheels" organization is forging ahead with an event to provide meals and personal care items to seniors in four Illinois counties…


Environment

play sound

The feasibility of putting solar panels over the state's network of canals is the topic of a big new research project, co-led by the University of …

Environment

play sound

In the wake of plans to reopen the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township after three years of inactivity, major tech companies have pledged to …


Legislation failed to pass this session which would have capped health care providers' fees at $50 for patients and their advocates to access their records. (xixinxing/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Patient's rights advocates are working to restrict huge fees some Washington patients must pay in order to access their complete medical records…

Environment

play sound

A new report has found some progress has been made to improve the nation's aging infrastructure, but a lot more needs to be done. This week…

Nationwide, 1.63 million students used e-cigarettes, according to data from the CDC. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Kentucky will soon begin licensing retailers who sell nicotine, which advocates have said will help regulate an industry and protect minors from …

Social Issues

play sound

Wildland firefighting is a tough job and the industry has long struggled with worker retention. Training boot camps have helped bring new …

Social Issues

play sound

By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for West Virginia News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021