Governor-Elect Dan Malloy today announced that he has appointed State Representative Deborah Heinrich to a newly created cabinet-level position within his administration, specifically advocating on behalf of nonprofit providers. Heinrich’s role will require her to resign her member-elect status and not be sworn in to a new term in the State House.

Governor-Elect Malloy first spoke about this new position in the fall of 2009, urging the legislature to once again take up the Nonprofit Human Services Cabinet Bill. The bill was passed unanimously by the Connecticut House and Senate, but vetoed by the governor. Representative Heinrich will serve as the head of the Community Nonprofit Human Services Cabinet, a position that will function at the same level as commissioner of a state agency.

“I have been clear that getting our fiscal house in order will require a shared sacrifice on all our parts, but I’ve been equally clear that I will not cut the safety net,” said Malloy. “Engaging the nonprofit community in a concerted, strategic way to maximize services and minimize cost will be a large part of the way in which we do this. Representative Heinrich has been an advocate for those who need our help the most and I’ll be looking to her to find ways in which the services people need can be provided at a lower cost to taxpayers.”

“We cannot allow the difficult budget situation we face to decimate the services provided to those people in Connecticut who need them the most,” said Heinrich. “This will be a challenge, no doubt about it, but I’m looking forward to working with Governor-Elect Malloy and others in his administration to preserve the safety net and provide services, while reducing the cost to taxpayers.”

Heinrich has served three terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing Madison and Guilford. She was a champion of the Health and Human Service Cabinet legislation, crafting policy initiatives to help create a sustainable non-profit community that serves the most vulnerable in Connecticut. In 2007, she was honored by the state’s non-profit community, receiving both the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits Legislative Award, as well as the Connecticut Community Providers Legislative Award. In 2005, she was a founding member of and has continued to serve on the Results Based Accountability Legislative Task Force, charged with improving accountability, efficiency and transparency in state government. She successfully worked to reform the way that Connecticut distributes education dollars, helping to create a more equitable funding formula that recognizes the economic needs of all of Connecticut’s municipalities. She is also a leader in the effort to provide all of Connecticut’s resident’s access to affordable, quality healthcare.

Representative Heinrich received her undergraduate degree in zoology from Duke University and her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Emory University. She and her husband Russell

are the proud parents of Olivia, 10, and Quincy, 8.