by Jamil Ragland The New Haven independent
HARTFORD, CT – The Connecticut General Assembly’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus (BPRC) announced its six pillars for the ongoing legislative session Thursday, honing in on subjects ranging from education to artificial intelligence that lawmakers say are crucial to the well-being of communities of color across Connecticut.
The six pillars – education, career advancement, justice, housing, health and human services, and economic empowerment and stability – will serve as “guiding lights” for legislative policy that the caucus will pursue this session, said Rep. Derell Wilson, D-Norwalk, vice chair of the caucus.
Chair Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, spoke about the educational disparities that exist in Connecticut for students of color and how Connecticut has one of the worst racial education achievement gaps in the nation.
“We are doing things and we are moving forward, but we are not moving forward fast enough, and there are studies that show that,” Felipe said. “We can look at higher education. I know that there are members behind me who have talked about student loan debt forgiveness and we have seen that in this current budget, that is not reflected in the way that we think it should be.”
One of the major priority bills that Senate Democrats have introduced this year ist which deals with many elements of the budding artificial intelligence industry. Sen. Jorge Cabrera, D-Hamden, spoke about how unregulated use of artificial intelligence can have negative impacts on communities of color.
“In the summer of 2024, Lehigh professors published a paper where they studied a chat bot used for making mortgage decisions,” he said. “They found that if you had a 640 credit score, but you were white, you had a 95% chance of getting approved for your mortgage. But if you had a 640 credit score and you were black, you only had an 80% chance of getting approved for your mortgage. So we’re seeing these algorithms more and more affect our economy, become part of our society, and we’re calling for the legislature and this caucus to support SB 2 to make sure that these detrimental negative impacts on our constituents can be prevented and to make sure that people are given a fair shot at the American dream.”
The state’s housing crisis was addressed by Rep. Kadeem Roberts, D-Norwalk, who called on the legislature to pass House Bill 6114 that would address the issue of the “benefit cliff,” where families receiving rental assistance lose their benefits at a faster rate than their income and other assets increase, creating a gap they cannot fill.
Roberts also addressed the governor’s announcement during his budget address of shifting funds to build 500 more units of supportive housing.
“Great idea, just not enough,” Roberts said. “We need more. We can’t afford for people to keep moving out of our communities. We need them to stay here. In this session we are tackling homelessness and we are tackling working with our communities so that the children are the future and that the elderly are available, those that are on fixed costs, to provide for their families and themselves.
Rep. Kai Belton, D-Middletown, co-vice chair of the Public Health Committee and co-chair of the Black Maternal and Infant Health Caucus, laid out a health agenda that includes improving health care access and affordability, including mental health, and addressing the disparity in maternal health for women of color in the state.
One of the bills that Belton has introduced is HB 6589, An Act Establishing Accountability Measures For Maternity Care.
“Black women are still dying at alarming rates during and after childbirth and we will not accept this as status quo,” Belton said. “The stats are improving for everyone else but us. So this session we will advance policies that will hold hospitals accountable.”
Belton has also introduced HB 6590, which would create a task force to be created to focus on maternal mental health, as mental health and substance use are the leading causes of deaths for moms and babies. She also introduced HB 6584, which would require the licensure of international board certified lactation consultants to help new mothers and newborns.
“Public health is a right that we all deserve, and the BPRC is committed to ensuring that every policy we push forward this session reflects that belief,” Belton said.
Immigration issues have moved to the forefront for many constituents, and Rep. Geraldo Reyes, D-Waterbury, discussed the caucus’ full commitment to the Trust Act and protecting immigrants in the state.
“Folks, we are really in unsettling times,” Reyes said. “We are being led by a president that is acting as an authoritarian, not as a president. And what I have to tell you is that in my community and the communities that we represent, we have hard-working, contributing immigrants that are now afraid of living in the villages and the towns that we represent. And these are folks that contribute. They run daycares. They run construction companies. They do the work that a lot of people here don’t want to do. We have to protect them in the BPRC.”
Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, co-chair of the appropriations committee, reiterated the caucus’ commitment to justice and fairness for all the state’s residents.
“Let me be clear. Equity is not a word, it’s a mandate,” Walker said. “Connecticut Statute Section 4-74A does not suggest equity, it requires equity. Equity is a cornerstone of governance that works for all people in this community. It is a force that levels the playing field so that every person, no matter what your background, where you live, what your zip code is, has a fair shot at success. We want that and we want it now and that is why we’re here today.”