The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Assembly’s minority caucus rolls out justice agenda
HARTFORD — Minority lawmakers on Tuesday brought out an ambitious legislative agenda, including police transparency, ballot access and housing equity, but conceded it could be too much for one special session of the General Assembly.
Their voices for bringing legislators back to Hartford multiple times before the end of the year, to address deep issues of justice, are gaining momentum.
At a news conference on the Capitol steps, members of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, stressed the need to make progress while the Black Lives Matter protests are still active.
It remains to be seen what will make the final cut for debate during the week of July 20, a list that’s already impossibly long for just a few days of lawmaking. Rep. Brandon McGee, D-Hartford, chairman of the caucus, announced an additional, ambitious list of goals on Tuesday.
That includes coverage for telehealth visits with physicians, economic supports, statewide oversight of violent police incidents, Worker’s Compensation eligibility for front-line workers in the pandemic and more financial relief to the state’s most-vulnerable.
“Home ownership is the foundation of wealth,” McGee said.
Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, co-chairwoman of the budget-setting Appropriations Committee, said that health benefits in particular are important for the underserved minority neighborhoods “It is dramatically underfunded, and underfunded in our community,” she said.
When will it all happen? House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said there will likely be a follow-up special session in September for other issues. But those issues could be more mundane, including the approval of school construction projects and real estate conveyances.
Ritter, who attended the caucus’ news conference, said the legislature has a hard deadline of July 31 to approve mail-in voting for the November election, which is hindered by state law and a state Constitution that prohibits most voters from using absentee ballots unless they are actually ill on Election Day.
Changing state law to include fear of illness could be a seemingly easy fix for the obstacle, but GOP lawmakers charge that it could be used to possibly foster election fraud.
Senate Democrats also have an ambitious agenda for the likely special session this month and beyond. Much of that agenda aligns with the goals outlined Tuesday by the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.
Gov. Ned Lamont, speaking with reporters in New Haven a couple of hours later, warned that the upcoming special session would be better left to short-term goals.
“I’m pretty cautious what you can do on a two- or three-day special session,” Lamont said. “I like what we’re focused on right now, which is voting and voting rights and absentee (ballots) as well as police accountability. There may be a few other things we can get done without big public hearings, but I think the public has the right to weigh in on bigger issues and bigger decisions, and that will probably have to wait until the fall.”
Lamont said while he is in constant contact with legislative leadership, large subjects might be better left to the 2021 General Assembly. “I think for some of these bigger issues the public has the right to be heard and this is not the ideal time to have them packing a hearing room,” he said.