Jillian Gilchrest

Jillian Gilchrest
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2019
Preceded by	Andy Fleischmann
Personal details
Born	(1982-03-21) March 21, 1982
Political party	Democratic
Residence(s)	University of Connecticut (BA, MSW)

Jillian Marie Gilchrest (born March 21, 1982) is an American politician who is a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 18th district in Hartford County.

Early life

Gilchrest earned a BA in Women's Studies from the University of Connecticut in 2004. She would later earn a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work.

Career

Gilchrest served as the Director of Health Professional Outreach for the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, and Director of Policy & Communications for the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

Political career

Gilchrest was elected to the West Hartford Board of Education in 2013.

2018 Election

Connecticut House: General Election 2018: 18th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jillian Gilchrest	7,608	71.9
	Republican	Mary Fay	2,977	28.1

Connecticut House: Democratic Primary 2018: 18th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jillian Gilchrest	1,707	52.3
	Democratic	Andy Fleischmann (incumbent)	1,558	47.7

2020 Election

Connecticut House: General Election 2020: 18th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jillian Gilchrest	9,030	72.7
	Republican	Rick Bush	3,387	27.3

2022 Election

Connecticut House: General Election 2022: 18th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jillian Gilchrest	7,676	100.0

Political views

Connecticut family medical leave act (CFMLA)

Glichrest voted in favor of the Connecticut family medical leave act signed into law one June 25, 2019 by Governor Ned Lamont. The bill passed the house on May 31, 2019, by a 79–69 vote. Connecticut will join California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington and the District of Columbia in implementing a paid-family-leave insurance program. The bill provides employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a 12-month period to care for themselves, family members—including a spouse, parents, in-laws, children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren—and anyone else whose close association, whether by blood or affinity, is the equivalent of a family member. Employees will fund the paid-family-leave program by contributing 0.5 percent of their income via a mandatory payroll tax, with contributions commencing in January 2021. Employers make no contributions toward the program. State government employees who belong to unions are exempt, a fact that did not go unnoticed by private business opponents to the bill.

Gun control

In 2020 Gilchrest proposed a bill H.B. 5040, which would require gun owners to pay a 35 percent ammunition tax. In the previous legislative session she proposed a 50 percent ammunition tax, that ended up being unsuccessful. The bill would use money raised from the ammunition tax to fund statewide gun violence prevention and intervention efforts.

Police accountability movement 2020

In July 2020 all three West Hartford representatives, Tammy Exum, Joe Verrengia and Gilchrest, voted in favor of the police accountability act passed by the Connecticut house of representatives. The bill includes a provision that would allow citizens to file civil lawsuits against police, eliminating the qualified immunity which protects officers from being sued in states courts.

Reproductive Freedom Defense Act

In 2022, Gilchrest cosponsored House Bill 5414, along with Rep. Matt Blumenthal, with whom she had cofounded the General Assembly's Reproductive Freedom Caucus that year. The bill, signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont shortly after passage as the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, was a response to the Texas Heartbeat Act and similar legislation passed in other states to restrict abortion access in anticipation of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which overruled Roe v. Wade, and held that there is no constitutional right to abortion, allowing states to ban it outright, as several did in its immediate aftermath. It allows those who provide or facilitate the provision of abortions in Connecticut and are sued under laws like that in Texas to countersue in Connecticut for equivalent damages, prevents the state and its courts from assisting in the investigation or prosecutions of any abortions in other states that would be legal in Connecticut, or extraditing Connecticut residents charged in other states for such acts. It also expands abortion services available in Connecticut by allowing certain non-physicians to perform suction and medication abortions.