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In today’s email:
- The Fiscal Commission report: first reaction
- Upcoming hearings
- Key bills
- Federal update: fixing the ACA, Farm Bill, SNAP
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The Fiscal Stability Commission Report: First Reaction As part of the budget compromise, the Legislature created the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth, a business-led group tasked with recommending specific policies to move toward a balanced state budget supportive of the interests of families, businesses, and our major cities. Last week the Commission released its much-anticipated report, calling for much-needed investments in education, transportation, regional development, and core city revitalization. While we welcome and applaud their focus on actionable policies to rejuvenate Connecticut’s economy, we find that their failure to call out and address existing disparities in opportunity, income, and wealth contribute to recommendations that could actually widen those gaps. The report does call out many important issues. It rejects the simple but misleading call for pure budget austerity, acknowledging the need for broad fiscal reform to update our outdated revenue system. It highlights the importance of revitalizing urban areas, investing in education and workforce development, and attending to critical infrastructure needs. Perhaps most importantly, it notes the pitfalls of the Bond Lock, a provision embedded in the 2017 budget that threatens to restrict the state’s sovereign authority, hamper economic growth and enhance structural inequality. The report calls for a delay on the implementation of that Bond Lock so as to allow for further study of its implications and ramifications. Unfortunately, the report’s failure to consider the question of equity, and the importance of opening pathways to opportunity for all of our children and families, results in a number of flawed recommendations that would move our tax system in the wrong direction, making an already upside-down tax system, where wealthier residents pay lower tax rates, even more unbalanced. We do believe the Commission has provided an important service, for which they deserve our thanks. We further believe that, by expanding the express goals to include equity of opportunity across the state, the General Assembly could advance the kind of broad, bold structural changes necessary to steer Connecticut towards a brighter future.
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Legislative Hearings: The General Assembly continues holding hearings this week in several key areas. As this is a short legislative session year, we expect most committees to wrap up their work in the next couple of weeks, so they have a really loaded agenda. Here are the relevant dates and locations of hearings related to children and families. The full schedule is available here. Recent Hearings: Government Administration And Elections Committee
Monday, March 5, 2018 We are tracking the following bills closely:
- H.B. No. 5263. An Act Requiring A Publicly Accessible List Of Legislatively Appointed Boards, Commissions And Councils
- S.B. No. 256. An Act Concerning Racial And Ethnic Impact Statements.
Planning And Development Committee
Monday, March 5, 2018 We are following these bills:
- S.B. No. 217. An Act Exempting Certain Tangible Personal Property Owned By A Business From The Property Tax.
- S.B. No. 274. An Act Concerning The Assessment Of Municipal Taxes On Certain Residential Dwellings.
Public Health Committee
Monday, March 5, 2018 We are currently tracking the following bills:
- S.B. No. 216. An Act Concerning The Prophylactic Treatment Of Minors For Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
- H.B. No. 5213. An Act Concerning Oral Health Assessments Of Children.
Human Services Committee
Tuesday, March 6 Committee on Children Public Hearing
Tuesday, March 6 We are following these bills:
- S.B. No. 323 An Act Requiring Notice Prior To The Transfer Of A Child To A New Out-of-home Placement.
- 4. S.B. No. 322 An Act Concerning Guardianship Subsidies For Grandparents Caring For Grandchildren.
- S.B. No. 319 An Act Concerning Parent Members Of School Governance Councils.
- S.B. No. 318 An Act Establishing A Task Force To Study Interventions For At-risk Youth.
- S.B. No. 317 An Act Concerning The Failure To Report Child Abuse And Neglect By Certain Mandated Reporters.
- S.B. No. 316 An Act Establishing A Child Care Facility Neighbor Relations Task Force.
- 13.S.B. No. 313 An Act Concerning Medical Care For Children In The Custody Of The Department Of Children And Families.
- S.B. No. 312 An Act Concerning The Needs Of Children With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities.
- 15.S.B. No. 211 An Act Concerning The Burden Of Proof During Adverse Determination And Utilization Reviews.
- H.B. No. 5328 An Act Concerning The Admissibility Of Admissions, Confessions And Statements By Children Under The Age Of Eighteen.
- H.B. No. 5330 An Act Concerning Homeless Children Enrolling In Child Care.
- H.B. No. 5331 An Act Concerning The Children's Report Card.
- H.B. No. 5332 An Act Concerning The Recommendations Of The Department Of Children And Families.
- H.B. No. 5333 An Act Concerning The Child Abuse And Neglect Registry.
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Upcoming Hearings In addition, the following committees have scheduled hearings for Thursday and Friday. We are still reviewing the bills under consideration; expect a follow-up email with the highlights later this week. We will post our testimonies on our website. You can find the full list of hearings here.
- Aging Committee - Thursday, March 8, 11:15 A.M, Room 1E.
- Education Committee - Thursday, March 8, 11:00 A.M, Room 1A.
- Higher Education And Employment Advancement Committee - Thursday, March 8, 1:00 P.M, Room 2C.
- Human Services Committee - Thursday, March 8, 10:00 A.M., Room 2A
- Insurance And Real Estate Committee - Thursday, March 8, 10:00 A.M., Room 2D.
- Labor And Public Employees Committee - Thursday, March 8, 2:30 P.M., Room 1D.
- Appropriations Committee - Friday, March 9, 1:00 P.M., Room 2C.
- Judiciary Committee - Friday, March 9, 11:00 A.M., Room 2E.
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Highlights: Key Testimony from CT Voices Connecticut Voices for Children testified on several bills last week covering a broad range of topics that directly impact children and families.
- On the Finance Committee, Ray Noonan responded to the Governor’s revenue proposal in his new budget, the state response to federal tax reform, and some misguided sales tax exemptions and business tax credits.
- Karen Siegel discussed some proposed changes to the health insurance markets, supporting increased protections and opposing watered-down health plans.
- Lauren Ruth testified in front of the Committee on Children on the need for an oversight board to hold the Department of Children and Families accountable, and spoke in opposition of a bill that would reduce the age at which minors can be tried as adults.
- In addition, Ruth also testified in front of the Education Committee on school discipline.
- Finally, Nicole Updegrove talked in front of the same committee about helping homeless children and families access child care.
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Event POSTPONED: Breaking the Bond Lock Due to inclement weather, our 2-hour conference on the Bond Lock is POSTPONED. We will reschedule the conference at a later date - and stream it online, for those that cannot attend. The Bond Lock is a crucial issue for the state, and remains our main legislative focus this session. As introduced in last year’s budget, the Bond Lock threatens to tie the hands of the Legislature and prevent our state from making the smart, strategic investments we need to grow our economy and create economic opportunity. Expect a new invite for the event in the coming days. |
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Federal Update: Congress will be taking up the Farm Bill to reauthorize SNAP benefits in the coming weeks. Congress is also discussing further cuts to Medicaid as well as proposals that might stabilize individual insurance markets. More details to come as they emerge. What We Are Reading
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Contact Us
Connecticut Voices for Children
33 Whitney Ave
New Haven, Connecticut 06510
(203) 498-4240
voices@ctvoices.org
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