Conn. Senate votes to explore bullying and hate speech
— A statewide study of the effects of bullying and hate speech was the centerpiece of legislation that won unanimous approval in the state Senate on Wednesday, in its first major day of action with a month left of the General Assembly session calendar.
“That has become really a problematic epidemic in recent years,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, shortly before the Senate convened for an afternoon-long session.
“We have seen since 2016 a growth in the through line of people being unkind, saying whatever comes into their mind, not thinking about the other person and we know that in our districts across the state, children are dealing with issues of racism and antisemitism and homophobia,” said Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, co-chairwoman of the legislative Committee on Children. “We must look at what are the reasons why this is happening. What is the effect on children and what are the programs that exist currently in communities that are successful? This is an important bill and it is very much in the moment as we are seeing across our state.”
The bill, which passed 35-0 with one member absent, next heads to the House of Representatives. If ratified there and signed into law by the governor, the 10-member task force would have a January 2026 deadline to submit a report and recommendations.
“Where are they hearing it? Is it online? Is it in the classroom? Is it in the community?” said Maher, who was accompanied by Looney and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk after the vote. “Looking at the ways that they are hearing the hate speech and where it’s coming from. And the impact it has on children and then looking at programs across the state that actually work to prevent this from happening” is what’s needed.
When the bill reached the Senate floor around 1:30 p.m., the debate was brief.
“It’s worth noting that there has been a more than 300 percent rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7,” the date of the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, setting off a fierce conflict in Gaza, Maher said. “We’ve also seen an enormous rise in racism, in homophobia and other forms of hate speech over the past several years. This kind of hate speech and anti-caring for other people has effects on children that last well into their adulthood. So, the purpose of this bill is to look at what are the effects of hate speech on children and to look beyond that and see what are the programs around the state that are working to ameliorate the effects on children, and to stop hate speech.”
The Senate also voted 34-1 with one missing, to create a group to study a universal patient intake form for children who are accessing behavioral health services.
“What we know is that when children go to an urgent crisis center or into a facility or even when they are meeting with a provider, parents are in a state of crisis, the child is in a state of crisis, and what we’re trying to do with this form is put in all of the things that a parent needs to go,” Maher said to reporters prior to the session. “The full picture of what a child is going through is so essential to providing the correct help for that child.”