Sean Scanlon (politician)

In 2014, at age 27, Scanlon was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives 54%-46%. He ran unopposed in 2016, 2018 and 2020.^[7]

During his first term, Scanlon led the legislature's effort to combat Connecticut's opioid epidemic and became a leading voice on issues of mental health and addiction. As a freshman legislator he worked to pass legislation requiring education for doctors and other prescribers on prescription drug abuse, cracked down on "doctor shopping" for prescription drugs, and allowed pharmacists to prescribe life-saving anti-overdose drugs like Narcan over the counter.^[8]

In 2016 Scanlon wrote and sponsored legislation making Connecticut the second state in the nation to limit first-time opioid prescriptions to a seven day supply with exemptions for chronic pain as a way of reducing the number of unused and expired drugs in our communities.^[9]

In his second term Scanlon became chairman of the Insurance and Real Estate committee.^[10]

During four years as co-chairman, Sean wrote and passed legislation protecting people with pre-existing conditions from insurance discrimination^[11] establishing the lowest monthly co-pay cap for insulin in the nation at $25^[12] preventing insurance companies from covering mental health different than physical health^[13] requiring health insurance plans to cover ten "Essential Health Benefits" such as maternity care and hospital visits^[14] creating Connecticut's first prescription drug price transparency law requiring drug companies to justify large price increases^[15] and instituting the first insurance and consumer safety standards for ride-share services like Uber and Lyft ^[16]

In 2018, Scanlon worked with constituents Kristin and Mike Song to introduce Ethan's Law^[17] in honor of their 15 year old son Ethan Song who was killed in a tragic gun accident. The bill became the first bipartisan gun safety legislation in recent history.^[18]

At the start of his fourth term became chairman of the legislature's Finance, Revenue and Bonding committee^[19]

In his first term as chairman, Scanlon pushed for the creation of a state child tax credit^[20] and helped negotiate a bipartisan, no tax increase state budget^[21]

On 4 April 2022, Scanlon announced his candidacy for state comptroller in the 2022 election.^[22]