Len Fasano

Alongside Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, Fasano co-created and co-chaired Connecticut's Bipartisan Round Table on Hospitals and Health Care, established in 2014. In 2016, Fasano was recognized for his work on the Round Table and subsequent legislation that emerged from the bipartisan discussions with the Connecticut State Medical Society Legislative Award.[7]

In 2015, Fasano and Looney worked together to pass a wide-ranging health care bill aiming to help control health care costs and improve transparency for patients.[8][9][10][11]

In 2017, Fasano and Looney worked together again to craft and pass a bill attempting to lower prescription drug costs by, among other measures, allowing pharmacists to divulge information about actual drug price, and forbidding benefit managers from charging customers more than the full price of a drug and keeping the difference (so-called "clawback" practices).[12]

Fasano also worked to make Connecticut the second state in the nation to implement a statewide screening program to test all newborns for adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a genetic brain disorder.[13] He was the lead sponsor for the legislation in 2013 that was fully implemented in 2016.[14]

Fasano has proposed policies focused on urban development and job growth in Connecticut cities.[15] Proposals have included ideas to encourage the poor to enter the job market, remove disincentives to securing a job, and direct certain higher-education funds to subsidize low-income parents seeking college degrees.[16] In 2017 the state Senate passed a bill proposed by Fasano to expedite the brownfield redevelopment process to redevelop old urban industrial properties and encourage urban developers to work with high schools and community technical colleges on curriculum to train future job seekers. The bill was not called for a vote in the House of Representatives.[17]

Fasano has advocated for budgets that protect funding for social services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He has protested deep cuts to these services.[18] He cosponsored legislation in 2016 to improve communication between the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and families in need of services for family members with intellectual and developmental disabilities.[19] Fasano worked alongside a bipartisan group of lawmakers, the DDS state agency, and advocacy groups including DDS Families First and the Arc of Connecticut to draft the legislation which requires DDS to provide families with information about their eligibility status for state resources and initiated communication between the agency and families to improve the system.[20]

Fasano was named a Children's Champion in 2015 [21] and 2016 [22] by the Early Childhood Alliance.

He has been a vocal critic of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families under the leadership of Commissioner Joette Katz appointed by Governor Dannel P. Malloy, including findings that children's needs are not being met by the department,[23] multiple reports of system failures conducted by the Office of the Child Advocate,[24] an unprecedented number of child homicides where children were under the care of the Department of Children and Families,[25] and cases of child abuse reported at the Department's locked facilities.[26]

Senator Fasano has proposed reforms to increase oversight of the department [27] over many years. He renewed calls for reform following a Federal Audit conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families which found that the agency practice is inconsistent in assessing safety and risk in the child's living environment and in preventing children's removal from their homes. The audit also found that Connecticut's child welfare agency is not in substantial conformity with any of the seven child and family outcomes related to children's safety, permanency, and well-being.[28]

In 2017, a bill backed by Fasano to increase oversight of the Department of Children and Families garnered bipartisan support and passed the state Senate.[29]

The Connecticut chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) named Fasano a "Legislator of the Year" multiple times including in 2016 [30] and 2013 [31] recognizing his efforts in support of tougher laws to help prevent drunk driving and educate young drivers about road safety.