New Haven Independent: Looking to influence the future course of their party, New Haven’s Democratic Town Committee plans to endorse one of the leading candidates for national chairman in a hard-fought battle reviving the conflicting visions of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
Winfield, who supported Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary, came to know Ellison through their work in a states-level organization organization that worked to turn red states blue. He said Ellison isn’t someone who just talks about being progressive. Winfield said Ellison is someone who has been in the fight as the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and as the first Muslim member of Congress. Ellison is “someone who is willing to fight to make our politics a little more blue than they currently are,” Winfield said
FOX 61: Where the state legislature’s budget battle is heading, after hearing Governor Malloy’s proposal for dealing with yet another huge deficit.
Hear from both sides with Republican Senator Paul Formica, from East Lyme, who is also Co-Chair of the Appropriations Committee and Democratic Senator Gary Winfield, from New Haven, who is the Chair of the Banking, Energy and Technology and Government Affairs and Elections Committees.
Sen. Marilyn Moore’s Statement on the Lewis Latimer Statue Location
BRIDGEPORT—After efforts to move the statue of Bridgeport’s 19th century African-American inventor Lewis Latimer to the University of Bridgeport were met with opposition from local Black leaders, including State Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport), the City of Bridgeport’s administration has decided to keep the statue in its current location outside the Margaret E. Morton Government Center downtown.
Senator Moore, who publicly objected the move earlier this week, released the following statement in response to the decision:
“The decision to not move the Lewis Latimer statue makes good sense. And it also should be an indication to the entire community that if we speak up in a united voice, we cannot be silenced. I’m appreciative of the members of the City Council and community who spoke up regarding the statue,” Senator Moore said.
Sen. Marilyn Moore Testifies in Support of Minimum Wage Bills
State Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) testified in support of two bills that will substantially improve the quality of life for people earning minimum wage in Connecticut.
Sen. Moore read her testimony Thursday afternoon during a public hearing of the Labor and Public Employees Committee in support of Senate Bill 13, which aims to provide more economic security to Connecticut families by increasing the minimum fair wage, and House Bill 6208, which looks to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour over a five-year period.
Sen. Moore, who chairs the Human Services Committee, highlighted in her remarks the struggles of caregivers in the state who are only earning the current $10.10 minimum pay.
“I have heard testimonies from hundreds of men and women who are the caregivers for our parents, our children, the elderly, the sick, and the disabled. Men and women who we depend upon every single day so we can leave our loved ones in a safe place while we go to our jobs,” Sen. Moore said. “From the daycare worker at our centers to the health care worker taking care of our moms and dads, I’ve heard their cry for respect; pay me for the work I do and pay me a wage that allows me to take care of my family and not be dependent upon state subsidies to meet my families’ needs.”
An hour before the public hearing began, standing alongside low-wage workers and family medical leave advocates, Senator Moore and her colleagues in the Democratic Senate declared that the time has come for Connecticut to pass a gradual increase to minimum wage to $15 an hour.
“The happiest day of my life, while being here, was when we rallied around the capitol and all the people came together to fight for fifteen,” Sen. Moore said. “And it was people of all ages and all colors, coming from so many different jobs, and as the chair of Human Services, and now that I’m chairing the Children’s Committee, I really do see the impact that low wage has on families and I think it’s unfair and unjust and I think all people want is equity.”
Senator Moore’s full public testimony on Senate Bill 13 An Act Concerning the Minimum Wage and House Bill 6208 An Act Increasing the Minimum Wage:
Senator Gomes, Senator Minor, Representative Porter, and members of the Labor and Public Employees Committee. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to this committee in support of SB13 An Act Concerning the Minimum Wage and HB6208 An Act Increasing the Minimum Wage.
My name is Marilyn Moore and I am the State Senator representing the 22nd district that includes Bridgeport, Monroe and Trumbull. This is my second term in the legislature, but my first employment in the Legislature was as a legislative aide for Senator Gomes who was the Chair of Labor chair at that time also.
As his aide, I had the opportunity to meet laborers throughout the state and learn about their lives. For the most part there was a common thread that wove them together; they were dedicated workers who wanted to work, wanted to support their families, and were willing to stand together for fair wages, fair working conditions, and support each other in their quest for decent quality of life. They inspired me to champion the fight for $15 in my first year as a legislator and Chair of Human Services.
As Chair of Human Services, where I continue to serve today, I have heard testimonies from hundreds of men and women who are the caregivers for our parents, our children, the elderly, the sick, and the disabled. Men and women who we depend upon every single day so we can leave our loved ones in a safe place while we go to our jobs. From the daycare worker at our centers to the health care worker taking care of our moms and dads, I’ve heard their cry for respect; pay me for the work I do and pay me a wage that allows me to take care of my family and not be dependent upon state subsidies to meet my families’ needs.
The cost of living in Connecticut is higher than the national average and rent accounts for 43 percent of the paycheck. In 2016, I stood on the floor of the Senate to fight for a $15 minimum wage and faced a five- hour filibuster. One of the most alarming statements was that “everybody is better off as a result of having a competitive situation” and there is a danger of job losses if wages are raised. The real danger lies with the 227,000 people who saw an increase in their pay on January 1 to the new minimum wage of $10.10 that they will be able to sustain their families in the future. It’s time for the State of Connecticut taxpayer to end the practice of subsidizing childcare, food, and health care to people who work for companies who earn high profits and pay low wages. I believe the time has come for Connecticut to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2022. I ask that you support SB13.
Bye Offers Personal Written Testimony in Support of Paid Family and Medical Leave Bill
State Senator Beth Bye (D-West Hartford) was not in Hartford in person today to testify in support of paid family medical leave, but her personal testimony still rang true.
Sen. Bye was instead in Bethesda, Maryland with her wife Tracey, who is undergoing cancer treatment at the National Institutes of Health.
So Sen. Bye’s 2017 legislative intern, Trinity College junior Jennifer Martin, read Sen. Bye’s testimony to the Labor and Public Employees Committee in support of Senate Bill 1, which seeks the creation of a paid family and medical leave policy in Connecticut.
Sen. Bye noted in her testimony that if it were not for her own full-time employment and her wife’s retirement savings, they would be like tens of thousands of other Connecticut residents: unable to take unaffordable, unpaid time off from work for fear of losing a home or a job, possibly at the cost of a loved one.
“I have missed over 20 days of work, and Tracey has missed some work, although she has been able to rely on some retirement income. I expect to miss many more days of work in the coming months in order to care for Tracey as she lives with cancer,” Sen. Bye wrote. “If our family did not have some safety net, we would be unable to meet monthly expenses, and we would literally be faced with choosing between paying our mortgage and caring for a loved one. This is not a hypothetical problem for tens of thousands of Connecticut residents; it is their reality.”
Senate Bill 1 is a ‘concept’ bill seeking the creation of some sort of paid family and medical leave in Connecticut, the specific details of which have yet to be determined.
Jennifer Martin reading Senator Bye’s testimony.
Senator Bye’s public testimony on Senate Bill 1, as read by Sen. Bye’s 2017 legislative intern, Trinity College junior Jennifer Martin of Ridgewood, N.J., who is majoring in public policy and law and education studies:
Good Day Senator Gomes, Senator Miner, Representative Porter and members of the Labor Committee.
I am sending you this testimony from the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, where I am with my wife Tracey, who is undergoing cancer treatment here for the next four weeks.
The issue of Paid Family and Medical Leave is one that has immediate implications for our family because we both have been—and will be—missing work in order to care for a sick family member, as well as due to general illness.
Let me begin by suggesting that the bill as it was structured last year would have been better labeled ‘Earned Family and Medical Leave.’
All of the funds would have been contributed by workers themselves; employees would have paid the full cost. Employers were not asked to pony-up one penny on behalf of their employees for paid leave. The same proposed bill idea in Massachusetts had an employer co-pay.
Connecticut has many strengths. It is known for its top-quality workforce, its good health relative to other states, and its high quality of life. These rankings don’t just happen: they are the result of strategic investments and good public policy.
For a century, we in Connecticut have invested, per-capita, more than almost any other state in education, higher education, health care, and the environment. These strengths are the reason why so many of us have settled in Connecticut, or stayed in Connecticut.
Now it is time for Connecticut to help lead the nation—and to join virtually every other nation in the world—to provide paid time off when a person is ill or a family member needs care.
As I write this, I wonder: Where would my family be today if both Tracey and I were hourly workers and did not have enough sick time or vacation time while Tracey needs care?
I have missed over 20 days of work, and Tracey has missed some work, although she has been able to rely on some retirement income. I expect to miss many more days of work in the coming months in order to care for Tracey as she lives with cancer.
If our family did not have some safety net, we would be unable to meet monthly expenses, and we would literally be faced with choosing between paying our mortgage and caring for a loved one. This is not a hypothetical problem for tens of thousands of Connecticut residents; it is their reality.
This problem hits low- and middle-income families hardest. A 2016 Massachusetts study found that for those with a family income below the federal poverty level, only 25 percent received some type of wage replacement when they took leave. But for those families that were making twice the federal poverty level income, nearly 80 percent received some type of wage replacement.
A paid family and medical leave program would help to reduce this heartbreaking inequity and allow low- income and other workers to care for themselves and their families.
I urge you that when this Paid Family Medical leave bill is drafted, please ensure that it is a strong bill. Let Connecticut lead with a bill that gives at least eight weeks of paid leave to cover sick people and their caregivers.
This is an issue of basic fairness. One’s socioeconomic status should not determine one’s ability to care for a sick family member, or to receive paid time off when you are sick.
This is such a clear, missing piece in our social safety net and in our public health care policy, not only here in Connecticut, but across the nation. The rest of the world gets it. It’s time for Connecticut to get it.
Let’s lead America once again in creating humane public policies that support families, support health, and support our future economy.
Workers and Allies Join Democratic Lawmakers to Support Minimum Wage and Family Leave Bills
Standing alongside low-wage workers and family medical leave advocates, Democratic lawmakers declared today that the time has come for Connecticut to pass a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and to pass a Paid Family and Medical Leave bill.
“Requiring a sufficient minimum wage in the State of Connecticut is not a luxury,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven), sponsor of the $15 an hour minimum wage bill, SB 13, and the Paid Family and Medical Leave bill, SB 1. “It is a critically important issue for thousands upon thousands of Connecticut families. For parents trying to make ends meet, for single moms working two or three jobs just to provide basic necessities for their children, there may be no more important, pressing issue than earning a fair, adequate and ‘livable’ wage.”
“The inability of employees to take paid time off to care for loved ones or themselves can leave them with no choice but to abandon family members in their time of need, or to neglect their own health,” Senator Looney continued. “Working families should not have to face the prospect of economic ruin when presented with serious family needs such as caring for a newborn, a spouse, or their parents.”
“This all boils down to one thing: ensuring that people in this state who are working, putting in their hours, are not struggling to provide for themselves and for their families,” said Senator Ed Gomes (D-Bridgeport) Senate Co-Chair of the General Assembly’s Labor Committee. Raising the minimum wage to a livable $15 hourly pay will help thousands of Connecticut workers achieve the independence and financial security they desire.”
The gradual increase to a $15 an hour minimum wage would allow Connecticut to keep pace with other states and cities throughout the nation. New York State has already passed legislation—in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner—to incrementally raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 in the highest-cost areas of the state, with fast food workers in New York City going up to $15 an hour almost immediately, in 2018.
California and Washington, D.C. also have enacted gradual increases to $15 an hour, as has Seattle, Washington. Moreover, many other states—while not yet slated to go to $15 an hour—are already above Connecticut’s existing minimum wage of $10.10 an hour, and they are slated to go higher. Connecticut’s neighbor, Massachusetts, currently has an $11 hourly minimum wage, and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is advocating strongly for Boston to increase that to $15 an hour. Oregon is slated to go to $13.50 an hour by 2022, while Maine, Arizona and Colorado are slated to increase to $12 an hour by 2020.
The Connecticut Low-Wage Employer Advisory Board issued a report in December 2016 stating that least 20 percent of Connecticut’s workforce—at least 336,000 workers—currently earn less than $15 an hour. In some of our poorest cities and towns, the percentages are far greater. In Hartford, for example, it is estimated that the majority of workers—53 percent—earn less than that. Moreover, according to the Advisory Board, the sub-$15 hourly workforce is disproportionately female, African American, and Latino.
A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (which is referenced in the Advisory Board report) estimates that in Connecticut, more than a third of female workers, 43 percent of African-American workers, and 52 percent of Latino workers earn less than $15 an hour. Another study referenced in the report paints a far starker picture when it comes to female workers in Connecticut. According to a study conducted jointly by the Economic Policy Institute and CT Voices for Children, women comprise nearly 60 percent of Connecticut workers who would directly benefit from increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The Advisory Board report also notes that an oft-cited misconception about minimum wage workers in Connecticut—that most of them are teenagers looking for spending money—is untrue. Instead, the report significantly notes that the majority of Connecticut workers who earn less than $15 per hour are actually the primary breadwinners in their families.
That is borne out by the Federal Reserve study, which states that “the typical worker making less than $15 per hour is in her mid 30’s.” The CT Voices/EPI analysis found that 90 percent of the workers who would benefit from a $15 hourly minimum wage are 20 years old or older. And according to the Federal Reserve study, nearly a third of the sub-$15 an hour workers in Connecticut are parents with children, and that a majority of them are the primary earners in their families.
On the issue of paid family medical leave, according to the 2016 Institute for Women’s Policy Research report “Implementing Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance [in] Connecticut,” only 13 percent of workers have access to paid family leave through their employers, and fewer than 40 percent have access to personal medical leave through employer-provided short-term disability insurance.
Too many families have to make difficult decisions when dealing with an illness or experiencing the joy of welcoming a new child into their homes,” said Senator Mae Flexer (D-Danielson). “The time is now for Connecticut to catch up with the rest of the world and our neighboring states. Paid Family leave will not only make our state a more compassionate place, it will make us more competitive economically. Young workers want to work in places that support their family lives. This policy is key to keeping young workers and entrepreneurs in our state.”
“Taking care of a loved one, whether it’s an elderly parent, a newborn baby, or an ill child, is truly one of the most difficult and burdensome responsibilities any parent or family member will ever take on” said Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport). “And while there many people in this state who are doing it every day, lovingly and with open hearts because they care for that person, the fact is that there are many who are struggling for taking on that responsibility. You had to leave your job. You had to reduce your hours and take a pay cut. All because someone in your family was in need, and you stepped up to be there for them. This decision is never an easy one, but it should never be reliant on whether or not you can afford to do it.”
“Maintaining our current system of unpaid leave for workers who need to take time off for a new child or care for a loved one is simply not enough, and is often completely out of reach for families who cannot afford to lose income,” said Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague), who serves as Vice Chair of the General Assembly’s Labor Committee. “For many, it’s a double edged sword—either you lose your income, or you spend it on outside care. It should not be that way, and as we have seen in other states, it does not have to be.”
“The family medical leave bill is the most important legislation the General Assembly will consider this year,” said State Representative Matthew Lesser (D-Middletown). “With this legislation, we have an opportunity to make a really meaningful impact on the lives of people around the state, and I am thrilled to join Senator Looney in taking a leadership role on this bill. I’m sure that when businesses take a close look at the details of this issue, they’ll see there’s no conflict between being pro-family and pro-business. In fact, economists believe that when we help families by boosting their earning power, we in turn help the economy grow. Slow wage growth has hurt the economy, and this is legislation will help families and spur economic growth.”
“Paid family and medical leave has gained significant traction in the Connecticut legislature over the past three years, and is primed for passage in 2017,” said Maddie Granato, policy manager for the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund. “Employees who need to care for themselves or a close family member should not fall into economic ruin because of events that will occur at least once in every worker’s lifetime. A stronger minimum wage and supportive workplace policies together will improve economic security for women and working families.”
“Taking care of a parent or loved one is a fundamental family value, and working family caregivers should not face loss of pay—or their job—when they need to take time off from work to care for an aging parent or relative,” said AARP CT State Director Nora Duncan.
According to that report, for families with incomes below $25,000 a year, 63 percent of their leaves from work are uncompensated. While some Connecticut workers may be eligible for 12 weeks per year of unpaid, job-protected leave, under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), many Connecticut workers are ineligible for this unpaid benefit. Even for those who are eligible, they often do not take the leave because they simply cannot afford to go without income, even for short periods of time.
Providing family and medical leave benefits is critical to the health of Connecticut children and families. The Women’s Policy Research report found that three-quarters of Connecticut children live in households where all parents work. A lack of paid family and medical leave means, therefore, that the parents of these 550,000 children are unlikely to have the ability to take time from work to care for their children without a severe financial loss; this is especially important when considering that time spent with a newborn and young children is necessary for their health, making access to parental leave an important indicator of child well-being.
WTNH: Students all over the world, and here in Connecticut, are celebrating World Read Aloud Day. Kids at New Haven’s Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy heard local heroes and a Connecticut singing star read to them.
Read the full article and watch the video at WTNH.
