Gerratana jumps right in

 In her first term in the Connecticut Senate, newly installed Senator Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain) will serve as the Senate chair of the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee.
 
Senator Gerratana was appointed to chair the joint standing committee—which deals with all programs and matters related to the state Departments of Public Health, Mental Health and Addiction Services and Developmental Services and the Office of Health Care Access—by state Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn). The committee has cognizance over health issues including emergency medical services, licensing, nursing homes, food and drugs and controlled substances, including the substance abuse treatment.
 
“It’s an honor to be appointed to chair the Public Health Committee, and it’s a position I take very seriously,” Senator Gerratana said. “This committee will play primary roles this year on legislation dealing with health care reform that will touch people of many walks of life in our state. I look forward to getting to work and to addressing some of the challenges that we face.”
 
She will also chair the Select Committee on Children, which addresses matters impacting children in the state of Connecticut and issues pertaining to the state Department of Children and Families.
 
“Issues involving children’s health and well-being were very important to me during my time in the House of Representatives,” said Senator Gerratana, “and I’m excited to be able to continue that work on the Children’s Committee.”
 
In addition to her two chairmanships, Senator Gerratana will serve on the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee and the Regulations Review Committee.
 
Senator Gerratana was sworn into office this past Friday, February 25; she was elected to serve in the state senate in a Special Election held of February 22.
 
She previously served in the Connecticut General Assembly as a member of the state House of Representatives for ten years, where she served as co-chair of the Human Services Committee.