The Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health took time to reflect on their accomplishments this legislative session. At a meeting on Thursday, June 12, members of the commission ran through bills that were passed that they believed upheld their goals as an institution and reflected their advocacy.
These include Public Acts 25-93 and 25-82, which aim to make it easier for parents to find and afford child care in the state. The Commission’s Executive Director, Pareesa Charmchi Goodwin, also spoke about efforts to expand Connecticut’s shield law making it is easier for girls in Connecticut to access contraceptives and abortions, and to protect physicians to provide abortions and gender-affirming care for people living outside the state.
One accomplishment that was highlighted by Chair Ayesha Clarke was Public Act 25-94. This law will require the Office of Health Care Management and the Office Policy Management to make an online portal to show patients financial assistance available to them at hospitals they go to.
“As we know, medical debt has been one of the deterrents for individuals to go seek care and/or make decisions to pay for basic needs, because they have a debt,” Clarke said. “We can erase that debt, but then we also know there is the cycle that can start again. So with this financial assistance is really to help support families in doing that.”
Although the legislative session is over, they say the work is not quite done.
HB5002, a controversial housing bill, has yet to be signed by Gov. Ned Lamont.
“It represents a critical step forward in Connecticut’s efforts to create a more affordable, equitable and stable housing future for all residents,” said Carline Charmelus, a policy analyst at Partnership for Strong Communities and a member of the Commission. “This comprehensive housing and zoning reform build extends renter assistance; it supports middle housing and transit-oriented development. It helps limit local exclusionary practices and support investment in fair housing enforcement and infrastructure.”
Among many things, the bill would allow developers to build complexes with nine units or fewer on commercial lots without a special hearing at a local planning and zoning committee, and it would introduce minimum numbers of off-street parking spaces in a residential facility and criminalize
“All of these provisions that are incorporated were topics that came up during the Housing, Environment and Community Subcommittees when we were discussing the community plan,” said Charmelus.
There is a part of the bill, which Clarke called “Towns Take the Lead,” which would require each town to plan for and construct a certain number of affordable housing units every five years. Critics of the bill say it takes too much control away from local towns.
Charmelus encouraged listeners to reach out to Lamont to advocate for the bill.
The Commission doesn’t just advocate for bills. Last year, Inside Investigator uncovered that the Commission played an active role in killing a bill that would have allowed businesses and nonprofits to buy health insurance through an association (APH) or form multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWA). Although this policy was popular among small business owners and nonprofits who believed it would lower their health care costs, members of the Commission, including Clarke, claimed it would increase inequity. They argued that, since there are higher rates of chronic illnesses in Black and Latino communities, this would translate to higher health care costs for companies with more Black and Latino employees.
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