General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1098
January Session, 2021 LCO No. 6635
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND
BONDING
Introduced by:
(FIN)
AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR PEDIATRIC
EARLY LITERACY PROGRAMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 Section 1. (Effective July 1, 2021) (a) The Office of Early Childhood
2 shall provide a grant to fund the provision of pediatric early literacy
3 programs in alliance districts, as defined in section 10-262u of the
4 general statutes. Any such program shall:
5 (1) Include a two-part model under which the program (A) assists
6 health care providers trained in research-based methods of early
7 language and literacy promotion to provide, at health supervision well-
8 child visits, encouragement to parents and guardians to read aloud to
9 their children and developmentally appropriate recommendations and
10 strategies to assist such parents and guardians in such efforts, and (B)
11 provides to each child in an alliance district the program serves, who is
12 between the ages of six months up to and including five years, with a
13 new, developmentally appropriate children's book for the child to keep;
14 (2) Demonstrate, based on research published in peer-reviewed
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15 journals, effectiveness in (A) positively altering parent and guardian
16 behavior regarding reading aloud to children, and (B) improving
17 expressive and receptive language in children; and
18 (3) Be endorsed by nationally recognized medical associations and
19 academies.
20 (b) Any pediatric early literacy program receiving a grant under this
21 section shall provide, through private contributions, matching funds in
22 an amount equal to not less than fifty per cent of the grant, up to five
23 hundred thousand dollars of the grant.
24 (c) The provider of any pediatric early literacy program receiving a
25 grant under this section shall submit a report, in accordance with the
26 provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the Commissioner
27 of Early Childhood and the joint standing committees of the General
28 Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children and finance,
29 revenue and bonding, in the calendar year following any year such
30 program received a grant under this section. The report shall include a
31 description of the program, an assessment of the effectiveness of the
32 program in achieving its goals and data to support such assessment.
33 Sec. 2. (Effective July 1, 2021) (a) For the purposes described in
34 subsection (b) of this section, the State Bond Commission shall have the
35 power from time to time to authorize the issuance of bonds of the state
36 in one or more series and in principal amounts not exceeding in the
37 aggregate two million dollars, provided one million dollars of such
38 authorization shall be effective July 1, 2021, and one million dollars of
39 such authorization shall be effective July 1, 2022.
40 (b) The proceeds of the sale of such bonds, to the extent of the amount
41 stated in subsection (a) of this section, shall be used by the Office of Early
42 Childhood for the purpose of funding the provision of a pediatric early
43 literacy program as set forth in section 1 of this act.
44 (c) All provisions of section 3-20 of the general statutes, or the exercise
45 of any right or power granted thereby, that are not inconsistent with the
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46 provisions of this section are hereby adopted and shall apply to all
47 bonds authorized by the State Bond Commission pursuant to this
48 section. Temporary notes in anticipation of the money to be derived
49 from the sale of any such bonds so authorized may be issued in
50 accordance with section 3-20 of the general statutes and from time to
51 time renewed. Such bonds shall mature at such time or times not
52 exceeding twenty years from their respective dates as may be provided
53 in or pursuant to the resolution or resolutions of the State Bond
54 Commission authorizing such bonds. None of such bonds shall be
55 authorized except upon a finding by the State Bond Commission that
56 there has been filed with it a request for such authorization that is signed
57 by or on behalf of the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management
58 and states such terms and conditions as said commission, in its
59 discretion, may require. Such bonds issued pursuant to this section shall
60 be general obligations of the state and the full faith and credit of the state
61 of Connecticut are pledged for the payment of the principal of and
62 interest on such bonds as the same become due, and accordingly and as
63 part of the contract of the state with the holders of such bonds,
64 appropriation of all amounts necessary for punctual payment of such
65 principal and interest is hereby made, and the State Treasurer shall pay
66 such principal and interest as the same become due.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To fund the provision of pediatric early literacy programs in alliance
districts.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
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