December 8 - Senator LeBeau welcomes comedian, actor, author and activist Dr. Bill Cosby to Hartford to speak on the problem of fatherless families in America.
October 29 - Senators Williams and Doyle host a summit to examine the rising cost of food and explore options that will enable the consumer to reduce weekly expenses.
February 7 - Senators Williams and Looney announce the Senate Democrats' 2008 Legislative Agenda which focuses on economic relief, children's health, cell-phone users, and aggressive driving.
April 21 - Senator Williams is joined by AARP National Director of Government Relations David Sloane, to announce the beginning of an aggressive two-week campaign to help Connecticut become the first state to offer a universal 401(k) plan.
January 16 - Senator Williams, Looney, Prague, Harris, Doyle and Harp discuss proposals for dealing with the nursing home crisis and assuring quality care for our most vulnerable seniors.
June 23 - Senators Williams, Looney, Prague, and Stillman detail why it is vitally important to override Governor Rell's veto and raise the minimum wage.
August 28 - Senators Handley and LeBeau announce the 19 new school districts which have qualified for healthy food certification for the upcoming school year. The certification, which is part of the 2006 school nutrition bill, sets standards for nutritional value and portion size of school lunches.
March 26 - Senators Williams, Prague and Looney are joined by senior-care advocates to announce a plan for raising the current statutory minimum staff-to-resident ratio in Connecticut nursing homes.
April 2 - Senator Duff joins twenty students from Brien McMahon High School's Senators Community Foundation in Norwalk to memorialize the victims of child abuse in Connecticut.
February 4 - At the Meigs' Point Pavilion at Hammonasset State Park, Senator Meyer is appointed as Senate Chairman of the Environment Committee by Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr.
July 22 - Senators Williams, Looney and Fonfara call on the governor to support an already approved program to provide incentives for middle-income residents to upgrade their furnaces to more energy-efficient models.
March 25 - Senators Williams, LeBeau, Slossberg, Prague and Maynard discuss a proposal that would help grow jobs and tax revenue for Connecticut by giving an advantage to in-state businesses competing with certain out-of-state companies for state contracts.
January 6 - Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr. and and in-coming Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan discuss the start of 2009 legislative session and changes being made to help reach budget agreement on time.
February 15 - Senator Harris questions the Governor's $4.7 million cut from the state budget that would have provided language assistance and improved access to health care for residents who do not speak English.
Senator Doyle protests a decision by the state Department of Consumer Protection that prohibits the Berlin Turnpike's Hess gas station, the only company in Connecticut that allows its stations to offer discounts to customers who pay cash, from advertising their lower cash price.
January 11 - Senator Stillman expresses her concern over a report by federal regulators that found no environmental or safety issues with Broadwater Energy's proposed liquid natural gas terminal on Long Island Sound.
July 1 - Senator LeBeau discusses the state's new "Responsible Lending and Mortgage Security Act" which institutes a variety of important new homeowner-friendly measures.
July 28 - Senator Handley visits Manchester Hospital to detail a new law that will make Connecticut's hospitals safer and reduce the likelihood that patients become ill after they get to the hospital.
March 11 - Senator Harris discusses pending legislation that could help meet the state-mandated goal of reducing childhood poverty by 50 percent by 2014.
![Making Connecticut\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/Ej984t6KaDs/2.jpg "Making Connecticut\")
