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U.S. Sen Chris Murphy visited  Friday to announce newly proposed federal legislation that would invest billions of dollars into free summer programs for kids across the country.

The Hartford camp, which bills itself as the largest and oldest free summer day camp in the country, serves hundreds of children each year. It would be among those that could benefit should the  were to become law.

The measure proposes the creation of two grant programs that would be funded by $4 billion of federal money over the course of four years.

Murphy said that if passed, Connecticut could see about $10 million in funding each year from the legislation. 

鈥淭he bill will have two different grant programs, one that will go directly to camps and camps can apply directly to the federal government for dollars to help expand the slots that they have for low-income families,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淭he second grant would go directly to states 鈥� which they could use in any way they saw fit.鈥�

Murphy called the proposed bill 鈥渁bsolutely critical,鈥� especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic where schools saw high levels of , mental health  and disruptions to socialization.

鈥淥utside experiences, adventure experiences, summer experiences, where you get to improve and enhance your socialization skills, where you get to have your mind opened to new possibilities, new hobbies, new interests 鈥� it鈥檚 necessary. It鈥檚 life changing and often it鈥檚 life saving,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough time to be a kid. It鈥檚 a tough time to be a parent. So, we have to make sure that when our kids leave school for the summer, they don鈥檛 lose access to learning and socialization.鈥�

Murphy was joined by Gov. Ned Lamont at the news conference, who gathered a group of Camp Courant children and asked if they loved their camp and whether 鈥渃amps like this should be available to everyone.鈥�

The children erupted in screams and nodded their heads.

鈥淲hat I love about Senator Murphy is that he takes the very best ideas from Connecticut 鈥� what we鈥檝e done on gun safety, what we鈥檙e doing in our summer learning camps 鈥� and makes sure it鈥檚 available across this state and hopefully across this country,鈥� Lamont said.

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