Hundreds of people signed up to speak out about two controversial bills dealing with vaccines in Connecticut.

Opponents are concerned that the bills will lead to government overreach, while supporters say the bills simply ensure that people who want to get vaccinated still have access.

“I don’t want to be told what to do. It’s my body, my choice,” said Joe Murphy of Meriden.

From people gathered outside the state Legislative Office Building in Hartford to those inside, many voiced their opposition to proposals related to vaccines.

“We just want transparency in government. We want them to listen to what we’re here to say,” said Katerina Bouzakis of Wolcott.

Hundreds of people signed up to speak about the vaccine legislation. Democrats say the plans help make sure people can get the vaccines they want.

“It was very clear from the conversation that we’re having a lot of people who are here have misinformation about what the bill does,” said Sen. Saud Anwar (D–South Windsor).

Under these two bills, state recommendations for immunization would be based on a broader group of experts, not just a CDC advisory group that was overhauled by the Trump Administration and has recently been making changes to vaccines.

Lawmakers say the state proposals would help with insurance coverage, and any updates would still have to go through a regulatory process.

“Passing this law will allow us to maintain our current access and purchasing power,” said Dr. Manisha Juthani, Public Health Commissioner. “I want to be very clear that this bill in no way institutes any new vaccine mandates for children or adults.”

Opponents also worry about how the bills might impact a fight to restore religious exemptions for school vaccinations. And they also pushed back on the decision to cut off the hearing.

“Democracy does not end at 12:15 a.m. this morning. It continues on,” said Sen. Heather Somers (R – Groton).  “I think that this is an absolute gross overreach of the majority party that doesn’t want your voices to be heard.”

Republicans say they will continue to listen to comments even after the official hearing ends.

Democrats argue that, compared to other places in the country, 14 hours is a long time for a public hearing on this issue, and that previously, when it came up here, about 40% of the speakers were from out of state.

According to a study published by Win.gg, all those late-night gaming sessions aren’t just wrecking your sleep—they’re wrecking Connecticut’s bottom line. Yeah, apparently your midnight raid or Fortnite grind comes with a side of lost productivity, and it adds up fast.

Win.gg surveyed 2,000 working gamers across the U.S., then crunched the numbers with data from the U.S. Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The results? Roughly 47% of employed gamers in Connecticut admit they’re dragging the next day after a late-night session. On average, that translates to about 2.6 hours of work that… well, never really happens. If you put a dollar figure on it, that’s about $104 lost per worker in a single day. Multiply that by the state, and we’re looking at a staggering $74 million in lost productivity. Yup, you read that right—$74 million just because people stayed up too late chasing loot or finishing that last level.

Read More: Three Arrested for Burglary in New Fairfield 

It’s not just your career that’s taking a hit, either. Gamers in the state report cutting their sleep by an average of 1.8 hours to fit in those extra hours of gaming. And we all know what happens when you skimp on sleep: coffee consumption goes up, focus goes down, and suddenly responding to emails feels like decoding hieroglyphics.

So, what does this mean for Connecticut? Employers are essentially paying for productivity that doesn’t happen, and the state as a whole is bleeding money. But let’s be real—nobody’s about to stop gaming. If anything, this is a reminder that maybe those late-night raids are best saved for the weekend, or at least capped so the Monday grind doesn’t feel like a marathon through molasses.

If you want to dive into all the numbers and methodology, Win.gg has the full breakdown here. But the takeaway is clear: your gaming habit might be costing more than you think—both in sleep and in dollars.

State Treasurer Erick Russell achieved a 14% increase last year investing Connecticut’s pension fund assets, gaining roughly $8.3 billion for retirement programs for state employees, teachers and other municipal workers. 

The state, which oversees nearly $69 billion in pension assets, aims for an average annual return on pension investments of 6.9%. 

Expectations for bigger gains grew throughout the past year as key stock market indices surged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges, grew by more than 13% in 2025. And the S&P 500, which follows 500 traded companies, topped 16%.

Among peer states and other entities that manage public pension funds holding more than $10 billion in assets, Connecticut’s 2025 performance ranks in the top 17%, Russell said. 

But the treasurer, who also announced this week he will seek a second term, said the latest big earnings stem from more than the big gains Wall Street enjoyed in 2025. 

“Markets certainly have been strong, but a lot of this is about our overall asset allocation,” said Russell, who updated the Investment Advisory Council Tuesday on the state’s portfolio. “The progress we’ve been making … is a good sign that we’re set up for future success.” 

Russell also reported investment gains of 10.3% for the 2024 calendar year and 12.8% for 2023. 

State officials particularly have focused on improving investment returns since a May 2023 report from Yale University researchers found Connecticut’s results badly lagged the nation’s over the prior decade. 

That only compounded an even larger pension problem that state officials began to address in the early 2010s. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Connecticut governors and legislatures failed to save adequate for pension benefits for more than seven decades prior to 2011. This deprived the state treasurer of huge assets that otherwise could have been invested to generate billions of dollars in revenue over those seven decades. 

The treasurer’s office under Russell has put more funds into private and domestic markets and curbed reliance on investment managers who receive large fees for their work. 

Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly also have greatly assisted efforts to bolster the fiscal health of pension programs in recent years. Since 2020, they have used $10 billion from budget surpluses to make supplemental payments into pensions for state employees and municipal teachers. That’s in addition to annual required payments that currently approach $3.3 billion in the General Fund. 

“These returns highlight the impressive work of Treasurer Russell and his team in increasing investment returns,” Lamont’s budget spokesman, Chris Collibee, said Tuesday. “Gov. Lamont’s focus has been on building a sustainable Connecticut for the future. Every dollar in additional investment revenue is funds the state can use to cut taxes and provide more resources for essential programs like education, child care, housing, and social services safety nets.” 

Russell, a New Haven Democrat, said he has tried to make the office both “disciplined and forward-looking.” 

“Over the last several years, we haven’t just changed how the office works, we’ve changed who it works for. We’re ushering in a new era of fiscal responsibility, making significant payments on long-term debt that has allowed us to invest in the residents of Connecticut and begin to lift up communities across our state.” 

Russell also brokered a key compromise in 2023 between Lamont and the legislature that salvaged the Baby Bonds program, an initiative that invests long-term funds in Connecticut’s poorest children when they’re born to help finance educational and business opportunities later in life.

Keith M. Phaneuf is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org). Copyright 2026 © The Connecticut Mirror.