I was a spring 2026 legislative reporting intern at the Connecticut Mirror. I covered several bills on transportation, education and housing by attending press conferences, committee meetings, public hearings and session days. I turned around daily stories and published two in-depth feature stories that garnered state and national attention. I was also in the newsroom when the CT Mirror won its first Pulitzer Prize for local news reporting.
In-depth stories
CT churches aim to add affordable housing, ‘Yes in God’s backyard’
April 5, 2026
Connecticut lawmakers have long addressed the shortage of affordable housing in the state. In spring 2026’s session, religious leaders voiced their support for a passage of a bill that would make it easier for them to build affordable housing on their property. Opponents of the bill argued that the passage would be neglecting town zoning boards who know their town best. Over several weeks, I talked to church leaders, housing experts, legislators and town government leaders in Connecticut, and widened its scope nationally, looking at other states enacting similar legislation and diving into Connecticut’s housing problem.
The story was picked up by Associated Press, which then prompted republishing in The Washington Post and several other outlets across the state.
A look at food insecurity across CT college campuses
May 18, 2026
Several public Connecticut campuses are expanding access to food pantries and free dining services for students. I visited university food pantries and talked with leaders on how they are expanding to support more students. With food insecurity on the rise statewide, university and food support leaders say are seeing these trends reflect on their campuses.
The story was republished in several other Connecticut outlets.
Covering the legislative session
House kills bill to hold nonresident landlords accountable
May 7, 2026
Republican legislators threatened to run the clock on the last day of session on a bill that would have increased penalties for repeated building and fire code violations and require nonresident landlords to register personal identifying information. With a few hours left of the spring 2026 legislative session, I ran around the Capitol talking to legislators, both for and oppose the bill, about what this would mean for landlords in Connecticut. This comes after I covered the evacuation of 2,000 residents at an apartment complex in Rocky Hill in February.
CT leaders call on Lamont to continue microtransit funding
April 27, 2026
Connecticut completed a two year pilot program for microtransit, a form of public transportation that operates like Uber or Lyft, and state leaders pushed to extend the services for another year during the 2026 legislative session. I covered coalition meetings and public hearings on the services as they advocated to continue the program funding for another year.
More of my coverage at the CT Mirror can be found here
Sara Bedigian 