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Police bill plays big role in Connecticut legislative races

Democrats argue the new law is being misrepresented and they have a strong record to run on, despite COVID-19 greatly limiting legislative successes in 2020.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this July 23, 2020, file photo, people participating in a "Back the Blue" rally to show support for law enforcement officers march toward the State Capitol in Hartford, Conn. Republicans in the Connecticut legislature have latched onto police accountability legislation that managed to pass in a special session earlier this summer, believing voters will agree it goes too far. GOP incumbents and challengers throughout the state argue the bill, which cleared the Democratic-controlled state legislature in late July along mostly party lines, is an overreach that makes it more difficult for officers to do their jobs. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

HARTFORD, Conn — Republican candidates for Connecticut's General Assembly have latched onto the police accountability legislation as a key issue in this year's election.

Meanwhile, Democrats, who currently control both the House and Senate, argue the new law is being misrepresented and they have a strong record to run on, despite COVID-19 greatly limiting legislative successes in 2020.

Democratic Senate President Martin Looney notes that Democrats helped negotiate bipartisan legislation in 2019 with unions and local municipal leaders to provide one year of workers’ compensation coverage to police and firefighters suffering with post-traumatic stress-related psychological injuries, without having had a physical injury.