On Feb. 29, the joint Housing Committee approved legislation that would strengthen protections for renters facing eviction, prohibiting landlords from evicting their tenants without “just cause.” The bill, SB 143, would expand existing just cause protections, currently reserved for elderly and disabled tenants in buildings with five or more units, to almost all renters in the state. The fight for the bill has been spearheaded by Growing Together Connecticut, the Connecticut Tenants Union and Make the Road Connecticut, among other tenants’ rights and community organizations. 

“Many people within our urban communities [including] New Haven cannot even afford to rent, so they’re moving out of our city,” Rep. Juan Candelaria, the Deputy Speaker of the House who represents portions of Fair Haven and the Hill, told the News. “We need to control this.” 

Candelaria voiced his support for the bill, calling it “overdue.” He said that he sees SB 143 as a critical tool to address the affordable housing crisis and discriminatory housing practices in New Haven and around the state. In particular, Candelaria said he is concerned with protecting tenants from large “mega landlords” who often buy up rental properties from out-of-state. He told the News that he thinks evictions at the end of a lease without cause are far too frequent in Connecticut.

According to the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, landlords filed 2,224 no-cause eviction notices in 2023, around 11 percent of evictions statewide. In 2023, over 20,000 evictions were filed in the state, an approximately four percent increase from 2018. In New Haven alone, 1,769 evictions were filed in 2023, 240 without cause. 

Candelaria said that his office has received several messages from New Haven residents in support of the bill, which he committed to do, calling it “the right measure.”

Sen. Rob Sampson, ranking member of the Housing Committee and himself a landlord, raised several objections. He accused the Democratic caucus of discriminating against landlords, at one point equating the bill to racial and gender discrimination. 

“That’s all racism,” Sampson was quoted saying in the CT Mirror. “It’s been bad since the very first day that anyone judged anyone based on the color of their skin.” 

A related bill that would have capped annual rent increases at four percent plus inflation failed to pass the General Assembly last session after opposition from members of the Housing Committee. This session, the Senate Democratic caucus has added SB 143 to their list of legislative priorities

In conversation with the News, Candelaria pushed back on Sampson’s claims.

“If you’re going to increase rents, we’re not saying, ‘don’t increase them,’” he said. “Make sure those rents are fair and equitable so that we can manage the housing crisis in our cities. That’s all that we’re saying with this bill.” 

Tenant advocates support bill for low-income renters

Luke Melonakos-Harrison DIV ’23, Vice-President of CTU, also disagreed with Sampson’s claims, condemning the argument that landlords should face no regulation as ignoring the necessity of housing. He cited similar just cause legislation in several states and municipalities as evidence of its effectiveness and “positive impact” on housing stability and housing security.

“It’s a little bit hard to take seriously when you’re actually seeing what’s going on between tenants and landlords in real life and not in an abstract, theoretical debate,” he told the News.

Melonakos-Harrison did express concerns about the addition of a carve-out to the bill which exempts buildings with four units or less from the new regulations. The carve-out, he said, would reduce the bill’s effectiveness, confuse tenants about their eligibility, and play into the misconception that landlords of smaller buildings are less predatory. Instead, Melonakos-Harrison suggested, his organization might accept requirements based on the number of properties a landlord owns.

At the moment, CTU will continue advocating for the bill in Hartford.

“We’re focused on working with our members and our coalition partners across the state to reach out to their legislators and let them know how they feel about this bill and the importance of Just Cause,” Melonakos-Harrison said.

Teresa Quintana is the housing equity organizer for Make the Road Connecticut, an organization dedicated to providing legal assistance and support services for immigrant communities. 

Quintana said that immigrants, particularly those who are undocumented, are especially vulnerable to no-cause evictions.

“Many people in the undocumented community live that way because they trust,” she said. “They say, ‘Oh, they’re good landlords. We take care of the place,’ so they think [evictions are]  never going to happen… to them. And then it happens.”

According to Quintana, Make the Road Connecticut has collaborated with CTU and other organizations to encourage community members to testify in support of the bill.

She noted that immigrants are often reluctant to share their personal experiences with no-cause evictions, necessitating visits to their communities.

“When you’re going to tell [your] story, you’re going to feel that your soul is opening, because there’s a big, big scar,” she said, recalling her frequent words of encouragement to immigrants. “We’re going to expose how these people [are] taking advantage of you, your families.”

Melonakos-Harrison testified in support of the bill and helped organize members to do the same. He sees SB 143 as critical to preventing “gentrification” fueled by landlords evicting tenants to raise rents and preventing retaliatory eviction of “outspoken” tenants, especially tenant union supporters.

He said he is confident that the bill will help address the state’s affordable housing crisis by forcing landlords to negotiate with tenants, and limiting rent increases. SB 143 would provide tenants with “leverage” to negotiate a reasonable rent increase at the end of their lease, Melonakos-Harrison told the News.

“Lapse of time evictions are an easy tool for landlords who want to quell dissent, to kind of punish advocates and organizers and people who are even just requesting basic repairs,” Melonakos-Harrison said.

Landlords push back against proposed eviction protections

Rick Bush, a property manager and the treasurer of the Connecticut Coalition of Property Owners, testified in opposition to the bill at a public hearing on Feb. 20. 

Bush described lapse of time evictions as a “tool” for landlords, for example, if they need to remove a tenant to renovate their property.

“The idea that a tenant, once they take possession of a property, can stay in perpetuity is just completely ridiculous,” he told the News.

With the bill now moving on to the state assembly, Bush said he plans to keep lobbying against it and recruiting other members of the CCOPO to submit testimony in opposition.

CCOPO President John Souza is another landlord who testified against the bill.

Souza attributed tenants’ housing instability to the state affordable housing shortage, rather than lapse of time evictions. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that there is a shortage of over 89,000 affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters in Connecticut.

“Until they build a lot more housing, it’s really just musical chairs for everybody,” he said.

Currently, lapse of time evictions require landlords to provide tenants with a minimum of three days between receiving their eviction notice and vacating the property. 

However, Souza pointed out that tenants can contest such evictions, prompting a court process that lasts a few months. Tenants can also petition the court for additional stay for up to six months, providing them with extra time to find new housing.   

“I’m disappointed in the small-mindedness and short-sightedness of the legislators in Connecticut,” Bush said. “[Disappointed] that they… would fail to provide adequate housing for their constituents and that their vote is going to have the unintended consequence of making [renting property] more difficult, more expensive and less attractive to tenants. It’s going to be a disaster.”

The bill passed the Housing Committee along partisan lines. Candelaria said that he is optimistic that the bill will pass the legislature this session, most likely without any Republican support, but declined to speculate on whether Governor Ned Lamont would sign the bill into law.

Five states currently have some form of just cause eviction legislation.

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In 2019, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law a bill that incrementally increased the minimum wage in the state from $10.10 per hour at that time to $15.00 by 2023. The bill also instituted yearly raises based on the federal Employment Cost Index starting this January.

“The minimum wage for many years remained stagnant, making existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security,” Lamont said at the press announcement of the increase last year. “This is a fair, modest increase and the money earned will be spent right back into our own economy and support local businesses.”

Five years ago, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a minimum wage increase that pegged its growth to economic growth. The minimum wage in Connecticut increases annually on Jan. 1, tied to the Employment Cost Index, a measure of nationwide wage growth calculated by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

According to Connecticut Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo, the increase will benefit between 160,000 and 200,000 minimum wage workers in the state.  

Gildemar Herrera, who represents New Haven’s municipal management employees as the president of AFSCME Local 3144, welcomed the increase in the minimum wage but said that she foresees little impact on working families struggling to afford rising food prices and rent hikes. 

The state minimum wage, among other key programs, directly impacts the many working families Herrera represents, especially single mothers with young children to support. Herrera said that she worries, in particular, about immigrant families struggling to pay the bills.

Those earning a $15.69 wage remain “working poor,” according to Herrera, who said that more should be done to support those workers. 

But Garrett Sheehan, the president of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, said he was opposed to the automatic minimum wage increases, and that he would support policies that promote flexibility and follow “economic realities.”  

“While we understand the increased cost of living and are fully supportive of paying employees livable wages, we sympathize with employers, specifically small businesses who are the most negatively impacted by the consequences of well-intended legislation,” Sheehan said. ”There should be a balanced approach to minimum wage policies — one that aims to support the prosperity of businesses and the well-being of our workforce.”  

Historically, the introduction of a minimum wage was tied to women’s labor politics in the late 19th century, as mostly women were working in the lowest-wage jobs, according to Yale labor historian Jennifer Klein. Bartolomeo said that nowadays, approximately 60 percent of minimum wage earners in Connecticut are women. 

Another policy challenge Klein identified is employers reclassifying their workers as non-employees to evade labor standards and minimum wage legislation.

What makes low wages unlivable in the U.S., Klein says, is the absence of state benefits, like healthcare, childcare and housing, which some other countries subsidize. 

“Nobody ever became not poor working for minimum wage,” Klein said, echoing Herrera. “What you really need to talk about is what’s going to change the balance of power for workers. And what are you going to do to make that possible? The technocratic fix is not enough.”

Klein said that she believes that minimum wage increases will not necessarily push businesses away from the state. When employers need more workers, “they hire more workers.”

When the minimum wage increase was passed, State Rep. Robyn Porter emphasized that the increased wages for residents would benefit local businesses and produce revenue for Connecticut. Announcing the most recent increase, Lamont seconded this sentiment. 

For tipped workers in Connecticut, the minimum wage is lower — at $6.38 for waiters and $8.23 for bartenders. This year, CGA might consider a bill that will eliminate this gap. 

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. 

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The press conference, hosted by Rep. Jeff Currey, D-East Hartford, co-chair of the General Assembly’s Education Committee, was called in response to Governor Ned Lamont’s proposal to redirect more than $39 million in funding for charter, magnet and technical schools allocated last session. The funds would help pay for a five-year plan restructuring of childcare in the state, developed by a “Blue Ribbon Panel” of experts and stakeholders ordered by Lamont last year. Lamont’s proposal was introduced as HB 5050 on Feb. 8.

“Early childhood deserves the same respect and commitment this year. We can and we should do both,” Currey said. “The attempt to pit us against each other is not the path forward.”

In Connecticut, the state budget is passed on a biennial basis, with a new budget every two years and minor adjustments in the intervening session. Last year, the General Assembly passed a budget for 2024 and 2025 that included a historic $150 million in investments for K-12 education statewide. According to Lisa Hammersley, executive director of the School + State Finance Project, this was the second-largest allocation in state history. Rep. Currey played a key role in negotiations with the governor to secure these commitments.

In a recent interview with the News, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker criticized the proposal, saying that educational spending should be increased, not decreased.

Legislators invited students in affected programs, advocates and faith leaders from across the state to attend the press conference. And they did. Speakers were flanked by a sea of dark blue Future Farmers of America uniforms worn by students in agricultural programs whose funding would be cut by the Governor’s proposal.

Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, was one of the first to speak. She emphasized the impact of cuts to magnet and charter programs on her district. Without the funds to sustain these programs, Torres-Rodriguez told the crowd, districts like hers would be forced to pay other districts to educate their students. 

“Historically disadvantaged and marginalized communities should no longer face the financial burden of paying other school districts to educate your children,” she said.

Torres-Rodriguez estimates that the governor’s proposal would cost Hartford Public Schools around $11 million. These cuts would impact her district’s finances long-term. 

Earlier this month, the Governor began to release the details of his proposed adjustments to the biennial budget for this year’s session. In a press release on Thursday, Lamont defended his proposal, emphasizing the importance of a strong early childcare system in supporting K-12 education.

“The ability of our K-12 education system to succeed depends in great part on the success of our early childhood education system,” Lamont said. 

A number of child-care advocates spoke in opposition to the governor’s proposal on Thursday. 

Eva Bermúdez Zimmerman, coalition director for Child Care for Connecticut’s Future, voiced her frustration with the governor’s proposal. She emphasized the need for more early childcare funding and thanked the governor for his attention to the issue, but insisted that early childcare advocates must stand in “solidarity” with K-12 educators.

“People outside of this room are telling us, ‘Take the money. Run.’ Where does it matter where it’s coming from? It’s more money for early care. Isn’t that what you want?” Bermúdez Zimmerman said. “Not if it’s on the backs of other children, not if it’s on the backs of teachers who have sacrificed for the K-12 system,” Bermúdez Zimmerman said.

Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington, chair of the Early Childhood Caucus, reiterated her support for early childhood programs, but insisted that early childhood and K-12 education, both critical for the state’s future, cannot be “pitted against each other.”

Kate Dias, president of the Connecticut Education Association, a major teachers’ union in the state, also spoke in opposition to the governor’s proposal. She highlighted the critical role that educators play in their students’ lives and educational trajectories, even as Connecticut teachers are paid low wages and expected to provide many of their own classroom supplies. 

Dias urged a new approach to education funding in the state.

“Education is not some liability that we are saddled with, this horrible obligation that we have to struggle to find a way to fund,” Dias said. “It is the anchor for everything that is potentially possible in the state of Connecticut.”

Leonard Lockhart, president of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, expressed grave concerns about the financial stability of the state’s education system and the “difficult decisions” facing school districts without the funds allocated in 2023.

Lockhart urged Lamont and the legislature to ensure that “promises made are promises kept, and we can safely support every single child within the state of Connecticut.”

GOP legislators also criticized Lamont’s proposals. Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown, ranking member of the Education Committee, and Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, echoed the sentiments of their Democratic counterparts. 

Sen. Douglas McCrory, D-Hartford, co-chair of the Education Committee, stressed the need to continue supporting magnet, charter and technical programs statewide. These programs are critical for the stability of families and school districts, he told the crowd.

McCrory emphasized the state’s responsibility to guarantee accessible public education to all young people in Connecticut. Municipalities, he argued, are too often asked to fill in funding gaps and address achievement concerns better addressed with state funds.

McCrory thanked those gathered and urged them to continue their work.

“Thank you for forcing us to have this conversation. Thank you for pushing. Don’t back down. Our children, our families depend upon us,” he said.

The Connecticut General Assembly is in session until May 8.

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Building on a temporary state child tax credit that existed during the pandemic, CT Voices for Children, an advocacy organization based in New Haven, is recommending a permanent child tax credit for Connecticut families. 

The report, authored by Patrick O’Brien GRD ’18, CT Voices for Children research and policy director, was released in January. It describes a child tax credit as being a critical measure to address issues of wealth inequality, racial wealth gaps and the cost of living crisis for Connecticut families.

“It could help to reduce income inequality. It could help to reduce racial and ethnic income gaps.  It could help to reduce income poverty, and because of the important relationship between income and wealth, it would also then in turn help to reduce wealth inequality, racial and ethnic wealth gaps and wealth poverties,” O’Brien told the News. 

According to the report, it costs the average, married, middle-income family $18,390 annually to support a child in the region, with around 18 percent of Connecticut families reporting it “very difficult” to meet expenses — with the figure rising to 27.6 percent for low and middle-income families with children. Following the removal of federal pandemic assistance, child poverty more than doubled among Connecticut children from 3.8 percent in 2021 to 11.1 percent in 2022.

A child tax credit — a refund on a family’s income tax filing for each child — would help make up for this dramatic rise in child poverty, support working families in Connecticut, more equitably distribute the state’s tax burden and bolster the state’s economic growth, which has stagnated in recent years, according to O’Brien.

O’Brien’s report makes the case for a $500 or $600 statewide child tax credit similar to those in place in other states, presenting three different options for implementation with varying degrees of refundability, income phase-in and eligibility cap. The child tax credit would impact up to  82.8 percent of Connecticut children, depending on the option pursued, and cost up to $307.6 million annually. 

Connecticut is one of the most economically unequal states, and Connecticut residents face one of the highest costs of living nationwide. 

According to Conor Clarke LAW ’15 GRD ’18, professor at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, a child tax credit is essentially a social welfare program administered through a state’s revenue service, especially if the refundability is high — allowing families to receive most or all of the funds regardless of how little taxable income they report. 

States began implementing child tax credit programs nationwide after the passage of a partially refundable federal child tax credit in 1997, a process of state imitation of federal policy not unusual for tax innovations, according to Clarke. Income tax filings are often used instead of direct welfare programs for distributing funds to residents. 

Child tax credits tend to elicit bipartisan support by appealing to Democrats’ desire for progressive tax policy and Republicans’ emphasis on promoting the interests of families. 

Connecticut did implement a temporary child tax rebate in 2022 during the pandemic. It was modeled on a temporary federal child tax credit passed as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, contributing to a historic drop in child poverty nationwide. According to O’Brien, however, the state program’s impact was limited as it required a separate process to claim the funds rather than being included in every family’s income tax filing. 

O’Brien’s preferred option would be fully refundable up to $500 per child on the state’s income tax filing, with no income floor, no income-based phase-in and no cap on the number of children eligible. 

“$500 fully refundable over the $1,400 refundable part of the federal tax credit does just strike me intuitively as a nice size,” Clarke said of CT Voices for Children’s proposal.

However, Clarke does not consider the state’s lack of a child tax credit a critical issue alone, favoring instead a holistic approach to evaluating a state’s support for working families. 

Joe DeLong, executive director and CEO of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, voiced support for measures aimed at addressing the inequity of the state’s tax code like the child tax credit, but remains adamant that broader progressive reform is necessary.

“You can’t continue to have a regressive tax code that’s really built on protecting the wealthy and have these types of programs work,” DeLong said of the child tax credit proposal.

He expressed concern with what he perceives as Governor Ned Lamont’s commitment to reducing the tax burden on the state’s wealthiest residents while the municipalities his organization represents are forced to raise property taxes to pay for essential services.

“In the shadows, what ends up happening is more and more is getting shifted into the property tax and down on the lower income people,” DeLong told the News.

At the beginning of this legislative session, Rep. Kathleen McCarty introduced H.B. No. 5034 to the General Assembly, a bill that would create a child tax credit similar to that proposed by the CT Voices for Children report. Earlier this month, the bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding.

Connecticut first implemented a state income tax in 1991.

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The Connecticut General Assembly passed a biennial budget last session to be adjusted this session for fiscal year 2025, a budget which included over $150 million in additional funds for education this coming year. Lamont, however, is determined to stay within the bounds of the state’s spending cap, passed in 1991 and accompanying the introduction of the state’s first income tax. He has proposed cutting education funds allocated last session for education to afford new investments in early childhood care. Local and state officials have expressed outrage at the proposal. 

The budget lawmakers passed last session allocated $150 million in additional funding to public education statewide for the coming fiscal year — including $52 million to magnet and charter programs — and $50 million to early childhood care. The governor’s proposed changes would use some of the $52 million allocated to magnet and charter programs to help fund a supplementary $40 million for childcare. 

Rep. Jeff Currey, co-chair of the Education Committee, voiced his frustration with the governor’s approach in an interview with the CT Mirror soon after the Governor announced the proposal. 

“Unfortunately, the governor has not kept his word,” Currey told the Mirror. “The only thing you bring with you into the legislature is your word.”

Connecticut is facing a crisis of declining educational outcomes, both in terms of statewide graduation rates and core subject performance metrics. According to a new report from the Dalio Foundation, 119,000 youths in Connecticut, or 19 percent of those 14 to 26 years old, qualify as “disconnected youth,” which includes those lacking educational opportunities and employment.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker joined the chorus of politicians and advocates sharing concerns with Lamont’s proposal. 

“Early childhood education is hugely important, and absolutely should get more funding, but not by robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Elicker said.

New labor contracts have included pay raises, a development Elicker welcomes, but New Haven Public Schools must now face increased staffing costs and tighter budgets, all at a time when pandemic-era grant funding is drying up. Elicker said that he worries about the impact of the Governor’s proposal on schools in need of state funds. 

“At a time when we need more educational funding across the system, it’s not time to be cutting those funds,” Elicker told the News.

Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, also criticized Lamont’s proposal, emphasizing the need for increased K-12 education funding in New Haven and statewide. Batteau insisted that funds allocated last session to support public schools must be protected, if not expanded, this session.

“Our teachers need more support for classrooms and school projects and supplies to ensure that they can bring to life hands-on, meaningful experiences for our students,” Batteau said.

Hyclis Williams, president of AFSCME Local 3429 — which represents over 400 paraprofessional educators in New Haven schools — also told the News that she is opposed to the governor’s approach. 

Williams wrote in an email to the News that she would like to see increased state funding for childcare, but not at the cost of much needed funding for Connecticut public schools. Instead, Williams advocated for raising taxes on wealthy Connecticut residents to pay for investments in education.  

“It’s more than possible for us to support our workforce and provide our students with appropriate care and a proper education without creating an either-or approach,” Williams wrote. 

In his State of the State Address Tuesday afternoon, Lamont touted “our state’s largest ever commitment to childcare, K-12 education, our universities, workforce training and not-for-profits” in the biennial budget along with its increased funding for the state’s Education Cost Sharing program — the central state funding source for Connecticut public schools. In addition, Lamont noted $400 million in federal pandemic relief funds made available for Connecticut schools.

Nevertheless, Joe DeLong, executive director and CEO of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said that he is concerned about the proposed cuts in the context of significant statewide declines in educational outcomes. He warned that poor performance in educational metrics has a concrete impact on property values and even the state’s overall “economic viability.”

“Now’s not the time to be cutting investments to education,” DeLong said.

Unlike many states, Connecticut schools are funded at a hyperlocal level, mostly through property taxes. According to DeLong, this exacerbates educational inequity, especially in cities like New Haven with large tax exempt landholders like Yale. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, however, municipal property taxes already represent a substantial burden on Connecticut residents, who pay the third highest property taxes in the nation. 

DeLong said that he is concerned that Lamont’s failure to adhere to promises made during budget negotiations last session could hinder effective policy making and bipartisanship in Hartford. Lamont’s proposal, DeLong said he believes, is the result of “self-imposed constraints” which artificially limit the state’s ability to invest in public education and early childhood care. 

DeLong said that he remains confident that the governor and General Assembly can come to a consensus which will provide the necessary funding for both services, but DeLong is adamant that the state’s spending cap should not unduly limit education funding this session.

“The spending cap was never designed to keep us from investing in our kids,” he told the News.

In a conversation with the CT Mirror, Lamont’s chief budget official, Jeffrey Beckham, indicated that funds would mostly be diverted from the $52 million dollars allocated for magnet and charter schools statewide for the next fiscal year.

While her union opposes increased funding for charter schools, Batteau said that she worries about the impact of funding cuts on teachers and students in the several magnet schools overseen by the New Haven Board of Education, whose teachers she represents. In particular, Batteau said she believes cuts to magnet programs could have an impact on attendance, a chief concern for the State Department of Education.

Batteau added that she would like to see increased funding for both K-12 and early childhood education, but that she resents Lamont’s attempt “to pit these two interests” against each other in the interests of “human-created fiscal guardrails,” a tactic she called “really problematic.” She said that she would like to see Lamont support an increase in taxes on the wealthy to support both public schools and early childhood care. 

Despite Lamont’s proposal, Batteau said she thinks that the General Assembly will increase support for teachers and students statewide in the 2024 session.

“We really want to look bigger than what we did last year, and certainly we can accept nothing less than what was approved last year,” Blatteau said.

The General Assembly will adjourn on May 8.

Correction, Feb. 9: A previous misspelling of Leslie Blatteau’s name has been corrected.

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The Connecticut General Assembly will begin its 2024 session on Wednesday. Funding challenges and adjustments to the biennial budget are set to be at the center of discussions in Hartford in the coming months. While the agenda for the session is theoretically limited to minor adjustments to the budget that was passed last year, municipal leaders and union representatives pointed to the cost of living crisis and education funding shortfalls as key issues in need of attention. 

Labor

Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, told the News that she will concentrate advocacy on the preservation and expansion of K-12 public education funds this session, an issue that is her top priority. Teachers, students and families in Connecticut public schools need state support, Blatteau said.

“We really want to look bigger than what we did last year, and certainly we can accept nothing less than what was approved last year,” Blatteau told the News.

The NHFT will mobilize members to testify in Hartford for public education funding, better working and learning conditions and progressive measures aimed at alleviating the cost of living crisis for New Haven teachers and students.

Blatteau said she worries that financial guardrails might impact education funding, but remains confident that “progressive” legislators will advocate for her members and working families in New Haven.

Gildemar Herrera, who represents New Haven’s municipal employees as the president of AFSCME Local 3144, wants to see the legislature address the regressiveness of the state’s tax system, redistributing more of the tax burden from the working families her union represents to Connecticut’s wealthier residents. 

Herrera’s union, which represents some 400 management employees in state and municipal agencies, is particularly concerned about the lack of basic services for low-wage immigrant employees, who make up a significant portion of the city’s workforce. 

Paraprofessionals — assistants to teachers in the classroom in New Haven Public Schools represented by AFSCME Local 3429 — often work multiple minimum wage jobs and raise children as single parents at the same time, Herrera said. Housing, healthcare and childcare in particular are challenging for her members to afford.

Too many in Connecticut, Herrera told the News, are “working poor.” 

Herrera also said she wants to see more funding for technology and internet access in public schools. Educational IT and supplemental tutoring, she told the News, is critical to “closing the gap” in the state’s educational outcomes. 

City Hall

City officials often testify in state committees for legislation affecting New Haven. City Hall also works closely with the city’s delegation in Hartford to advocate for programs benefiting New Haven communities, Mayor Justin Elicker said.

“We will help support their efforts to lobby and advocate, both publicly and by having one-on-one conversations with other legislators and decision-makers,” he told the News. 

Elicker emphasized the need for increased state funding to address homelessness and bolster affordable housing in the city. In particular, Elicker would like to see state funds “cover the gap in costs” that makes affordable housing developments less profitable for developers.

The mayor said that he is optimistic that his advocacy this session will be successful, but shared concerns about the governor’s proposals for adjustments to the biennial budget. 

Lamont, who has not fully released his proposed amendments to the budget as of Tuesday night, released a proposal to fund early childhood care late last month. The proposal seems to entail the diversion of education funds, especially those earmarked for magnet and charter schools, a reality acknowledged by Jeffery Beckham, Lamont’s budget chief, when asked by CT Mirror. 

“Early childhood education is hugely important, and absolutely should get more funding, but not by robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Elicker told the News. 

Elicker also wants to see more state support for “disconnected youth.” According to a new report from the Dalio Foundation, 119,000 youth in Connecticut, or 19 percent of those 14 to 26 years old, fall into this category, which includes youth who lack employment or educational opportunities.

He emphasized the critical role of state funds in mitigating the cost of living crisis. Municipalities are forced to raise property taxes, their main source of revenue, if state support is lacking. In particular, Elicker said he would like the legislature to address the inequities in the distribution of state funds to municipalities, a process he sees as unfair to larger municipalities like New Haven.

Overall though, Elicker struck an optimistic tone, saying that “the state has been very, very good to struggling municipalities” in the last few years.

Connecticut municipalities

Joe DeLong, executive director and CEO of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, an advocacy group representing 168 Connecticut municipalities, told the News that he expects little legislative innovation from a short session dedicated mostly to amending the budget passed last year.

The CCM represents municipal elected officials across the state who meet in committees to identify common interests and policy positions to support in Hartford. DeLong said that the property tax burden on Connecticut residents — the third highest in the country — which makes up a significant portion of funding for cities and towns, is a constant concern for municipalities. The CCM has a closer working relationship with state leaders of both parties going into this session than in recent memory, DeLong told the News.

“We feel like one of the most important things to come out of this session is just some stability,” DeLong said. 

The 2023 fiscal year marked the fifth surplus in a row in Hartford, an achievement DeLong credits largely to increased revenue from capital gains taxation due to a booming stock market. DeLong said he sees the 2024 session as an opportunity to return to financial normalcy and fiscal stability after decades of budget deficits and austerity measures.

The CCM supported the budget last session and wants the commitments made in budget negotiations honored in 2024. DeLong blamed a long history of the state reneging on its financial commitments and passing ambitious programs without effective funding mechanisms for contributing to high property taxes, as municipalities were forced to fund vital programs themselves.  

“Sometimes policymakers are really good at writing out checks with other people’s checkbooks,” DeLong said.

DeLong also pointed to the Dalio Foundation’s report on “disconnected youth” as a key issue in need of legislative attention this session. He also mentioned climate change mitigation and a statewide crisis in municipal solid waste management as other such issues.

DeLong was critical of the governor’s proposed diversion of education funds passed last session, a measure designed to adhere to the state’s spending cap.

“The spending cap was never designed to keep us from investing in our kids,” he told the News.

The state spending cap was first introduced in 1991 alongside Connecticut’s first income tax.

Correction, Feb. 9: This story has been corrected to reflect that New Haven paraprofessional educators are represented by AFSCME Local 3429, not Local 3144.

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New Haven is home to four of the state’s fourteen SSDs, distinct governing authorities created by municipalities to offset disparities in tax revenue. These SSDs — Chapel West, Whalley Ave, Town Green and Grand Avenue — play a critical role in the distribution of state and city funds. They finance street redesign and maintenance, affordable housing projects and supporting city economic development efforts.

Three of New Haven’s four SSDs did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Chapel West SSD declined to comment for this story.

According to professor Conor Clarke of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, special taxing districts in the United States date back to the rural American West in the 19th century, when few municipal structures existed to provide basic services like fire protection to residents. In the 20th century, such districts proliferated as a way to redistribute tax burdens within municipalities and rural areas. 

“That probably makes them the most numerous form of government,” Clarke told the News.

As of 2022, Connecticut alone has a total of 433 special tax districts — of which SSDs are one category — nearly double the 221 in 1967, but slightly lower than the all-time high of 453 in 2007, according to census data compiled by tax attorney Dan Smolnik. 

While Clarke acknowledges that the extremely localized “monopoly” of special taxing districts makes them “pretty useful” in a number of contexts, he worries that they fail a basic “saliency” test, operating largely beyond the scrutiny of residents who struggle to understand their role. 

Special tax districts have shaped Connecticut’s tax code since its founding

Special taxing districts in Connecticut are rooted in the state’s colonial history, according to Smolnik, who serves on the Hamden Economic Development Commission and is a former Connecticut appointee to the IRS Advisory Council. Governance in colonial Connecticut was defined by municipal autonomy, a principle that continues to shape the state’s tax code. The Fundamental Orders of 1639, which merged Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, lack any reference to a central state authority.

1677 legislation requiring municipalities to raise funds for public education through taxation allowed municipalities to fund public education without direct taxation where feasible. The roots of today’s SSDs lie in this exception.

Connecticut today has two major forms of special taxing districts. The first is special taxing districts designated for general “improvement,” or specific services like fire response or sewage. The second is special services districts, which by statute are empowered with much of the same authority as an independent municipality. In theory, Smolnik said, SSDs could even hire their own police force. In reality, though, most SSDs focus on general commercial concerns like street sweeping and beautifying streets.

Special taxing districts enable redistributive policy at a municipal level, Smolnik told the News. Unlike federal or state governments, the average municipality cannot simply raise taxes to provide an additional service. They risk pushing wealthier residents with greater economic mobility outside city or town limits.

SSDs are designed to raise funds from businesses and residents who benefit directly from their services. They also serve to target state and city funds to the neighborhoods most in need. SSDs are often located near large untaxed entities — like Yale — whose property taxes would otherwise have helped fund city services.

Cities in Connecticut, unlike many large cities, do not tax residents’ income. Connecticut is one of the richest states in America, as well as one of the most economically unequal. Some have advocated implementing a municipal income tax to better fund services like public education.

New Haven SSDs received significant funding in 2023, but raise questions about inequality 

New Haven’s four SSDs are “state statute enabled, and then they’re codified in the city’s code of ordinances,” Carlos Eyzaguirre, deputy economic development administrator at the City of New Haven, told the News. According to the Chapel West SSD website, SSDs like Chapel West are run by a board of commissioners chosen by the business owners under its jurisdiction.

SSDs face more city oversight than other types of special tax districts.

Each SSD board of commissioners votes on a mill rate — a tax on the value of property within the district — every year, usually amounting to somewhere between 1 and 3 mills. A mill is defined as $1 of tax per $1000 of assessed value. New Haven collects the additional tax with property taxes and forwards the funds to the SSD in question. Each SSD’s budget is subject to the city’s budget approval process and must be voted on by the Board of Alders. New Haven will occasionally supplement SSDs with voluntary payments during the budgeting process.

According to Eyzaguirre, New Haven SSDs receive a mix of funding from federal, state and city sources. 

In fall 2023, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker announced funding for SSDs from congressional American Rescue Plan Act money and the state Community Investment Fund. In recent years, Grand Ave SSD has also received funds from the city’s Neighborhood Equity and Opportunity Challenge to hire a new executive director, a program paid for by federal ARPA funds.

In November, Whalley Avenue SSD, the oldest SSD in Connecticut, received $7 million for street and pedestrian infrastructure from the State Bond Commission, as well as a new affordable housing project with the Glendower/St. Luke’s Development Corporation.

However, these funds are usually not allocated directly to SSDs. Instead, SSDs “will help lead the discussion” on these projects, Eyzaguirre told the News.

Chapel West SSD has been a major recipient of state PILOT funds in recent years, a program designed to support municipal services in cities with large non-profit or government property holders exempt from property tax. Chapel West’s proximity to Yale — one of the largest non-profit property holders in the state — makes it an ideal candidate for such funds. 

Both Clarke and Smolnik worry that special taxing districts can heighten inequality, limiting services to neighborhoods and business districts with enough money and political clout to form and operate them. Special taxing districts centered on the protection of a beach, for example, one of the most common forms in Connecticut, can enforce parking bans on non-resident vehicles and limit the color of paint used on local homes and businesses.

Nevertheless, SSDs continue to play a major role in New Haven’s economic development and neighborhood planning.

“They really are the eyes and ears on the ground,” Eyzaguirre said.

Grand Avenue SSD, the newest SSD in New Haven, was established in Fair Haven in 2009.

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Many of Yale’s most prominent student organizations are known for their exclusivity, but Danceworks, whose semester showcase “Level Up” opens this week, is a proud exception. Their dance workshops and showcases are open to all students, including those with years of dance experience or none at all. This is their fifth in-person show since the pandemic. 

“Our show, Level Up, it sold out in just a few minutes, and most of the tickets are just everybody’s friends and family coming to support because it really doesn’t matter if they’ve performed on stage before or have never even danced,” said co-president Angela Zhao ʼ25. “I think that’s the best part about Danceworks. We’re all just here to have fun and feel confident.” 

As their third dress rehearsal began, Zhao and co-president Josh Atwater ʼ24 spoke from a megaphone in front of a crowd of dancers, rehearsing their introductory remarks for the performance. They invited audience members to try their own moves on the dance floor during intermission and reminded the audience that they too could dance in the showcase next semester.

With that, an elaborate light display illuminated the Off-Broadway Theater and a dizzying audio  narrative began. 

Each of the 28 dances in this year’s showcase, all student choreographed, are framed within a larger comedic narrative filled with knowing references to dance studio drama. This year, the story involves two reluctant dance partners who sucked into a video game. The two have to work together to escape the game. 

Student choreographers clipped their own music, but co-production Managers Resty Fufunan ʼ24, Elyse Nguyen ʼ25 and Anya Bibbs ʼ25 stitched together the audio visual production. 

“I’ve learned so much from the process of running rehearsals, keeping myself on par, with making sure I have parts choreographed, about doing formations,” said student choreographer and fDanceworks member Lindsay Pierce ʼ24.

Pierce had participated in several Danceworks programs before she choreographed her first piece. She said that she was hesitant at first to begin choreographing given her lack of formal dance training, but has since choreographed two full-length pieces. For this semester showcase, she choreographed a “high energy, semi hip-hop” dance to “Fly Girl” by FLO ft. Missy Elliott, she said. 

Danceworks will celebrate its 40th anniversary in the spring. The group was, from the beginning, a space for dancers with all levels of experience to explore the medium together. But COVID-19 brought new challenges.

The pandemic put a halt to Dancework’s in-person performances, but the group’s work continued via Zoom. Atwater told the News that inclusion became more challenging.

“There were certainly some challenges with [inclusion] through COVID,” said Atwater. “There were capacity limits on how many people could be in a rehearsal studio or in a performance venue and whatnot, so we did our best really. The board did their best to make everything the largest capacity possible, while still following COVID guidelines.” 

Zhao credits “the resilience of the Danceworks community” with keeping Danceworks’ mission alive. 

At the beginning of each semester, students sign up for student pieces they are interested in performing and are sorted by the Danceworks board. Danceworks has around 2,000 people on its mailing list, Zhao estimated, but a lot of recruitment happens at showcases. At each performance, the co-presidents invite audience members to sign up for future Danceworks showcases and workshops.

This semester, around 300 students showed interest, with around 200 of them performing in this week’s showcase, one of the largest numbers in recent years. 

Alexis Cruz ʼ27, a first-year dancer in this semester’s showcase, is one of them. Cruz, who danced a lot in high school, said she was drawn to Danceworks because of its emphasis on inclusion and “fun.” 

“When we all work together to create these dances, it really pays off, and it’s really rewarding to get to put a whole semester’s worth of work on stage,” Cruz told the News. 

Zhao and Atwater encouraged Yale students with any level of dance experience to sign up for their mailing list and watch for future programs on their Instagram. They will announce an informational session for next semester, dates and deadlines for signing up and other pertinent details at the end of the semester.

Cruz encouraged Yalies to get involved in Danceworks’ programs. 

“Everyone is still so welcoming, no matter what your level of dance experience is,” she said. “And you get to meet so many new friends [in a] welcoming and supportive community.”

While tickets to this week’s showcase sold out almost immediately, interested students can register for the waitlist on Yale Connect or watch a live stream of the show at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. “Level Up” was be performed in-person at the Off-Broadway Theater on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. and will play at those same times on Friday

Danceworks was founded in 1984.

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According to a press release sent out by Mayor Justin Elicker and Senate President Martin Looney, the list of projects includes improvements to Union Station and the New Haven Green, developments in traffic safety and affordable housing on Whalley Avenue, improving drainage and reducing flooding on Union Avenue, construction in Long Wharf, renovations to the Shubert Theatre and the redevelopment of the Goffe Street Armory.

“The projects and initiatives funded by the State Bond Commission today are transformative investments that will help drive local economic growth, modernize our public transportation infrastructure, build and maintain affordable housing, improve our parks and recreational facilities, uplift our neighborhoods and enhance the quality of life of New Haven residents,” Elicker said at a press conference announcing the funds on Oct. 6.

The State Bond Commission, a 10-member body, including Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and other state officers and legistors, under the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management. The commission decides on and approves the allocation of funds to finance projects around the state as proposed by Lamont. 

All of the projects approved for funding were on the agenda for the State Bond Commission’s meeting on Oct. 6, and had previously been on a Bond Bill voted on by the General Assembly. Commision projects can be for various areas in Connecticut, including New Haven.

“There are projects that state agencies request to be included in this bill or [that are] included at the request of members of the state legislature,” Chris Collibee, director of Communications at the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, wrote to the News.

The bonds approved are a mix of General Obligation Bonds, or bonds to be paid back through general state taxes, and Special Tax Obligation Bonds, which will be paid back through taxes on motor vehicles and their fuel. Both types of bonds will be paid back over a span of 20 years.

The latest allocations are part of a long-standing partnership between state and city officials on economic development and infrastructure projects that has improved under the Lamont Administration, Carlos Eyzaguirre, Economic Development Officer/Business Projects Manager at the city’s Economic Development Administration, told the News.

“The state really understands this city,” Eyzaguirre said.

The largest receiver of funds was New Haven Union Station, which is owned by the state but managed by the New Haven Parking Authority. Union Station received $15 million under the “Let’s Go!” transportation investment program, a Connecticut program to “transform” the state’s transportation system to support the economy. The $15 million will be used to enhance the property, with improvements including a new “multimodal hub,” a new parking structure and a rental car facility. The funds will also be used to make improvements to the flow of traffic in the area.

New Haveners should anticipate completion of renovations around 2025, Douglas Hausladen ’04, executive director of the Parking Authority, estimated. Planning and design will commence in the coming months with input from the public. Hausladen and Eyzaguirre both encouraged New Haven residents to get involved in the planning process, which so far has included an opportunity to submit feedback on the project.

In addition, $5.8 million were allocated for the New Haven Downtown Roadway Drainage Project to address flooding on Union Avenue, a partial match for a $25 million grant that New Haven received from FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, program in 2022.

These funds will contribute to an extensive city partnership with state and federal agencies to address flooding, sea level rise and increasingly severe hurricanes after floods in September 2022, including expanded drainage capacity and a seawall to protect Long Wharf. 

Various projects around Whalley Avenue were also large recipients of State Bond funds, receiving $7 million for pedestrian and bicycle-friendly upgrades to street infrastructure and a new affordable housing project run by Glendower/St. Luke’s Development Corporation.

St. Luke’s Development Corporation is a community organization focusing on safely developing the area surrounding St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Whalley Avenue. Their collaboration with the Glendower Group, a private affordable housing developer that “provides consulting services, including sourcing allocation, identifying funds, and compliance/asset management services for projects, particularly in low-income, distressed communities,” will focus on augmenting the number of affordable housing units along Whalley Avenue.

Neither St. Luke’s Development Corporation nor the Glendower Group responded to multiple requests for comment.

Like the Glendower/St. Luke’s project, many of the programs that received bond funding are public-private partnerships, a form of cooperation which Eyzaguirre hopes to continue. Included is a $4.99 million allocation for renovations to the Shubert Theatre, a historic venue on College Street. 

Three million dollars was allocated for demolition at the former Gateway Community College site to facilitate the city’s Long Wharf Plan, and $2.3 million for the expansion of the Shoreline Greenway Trail from Long Wharf to East Haven.

“All of these projects, though diverse in their nature and scope, share the common objective of enhancing development in New Haven and helping the city, its residents, nonprofits and businesses reach their full economic potential,” Looney said at the press conference. “It is gratifying to see such a large and broad financial commitment by the State of Connecticut in one of its oldest and largest cities and which serves as a regional hub for education, business, transportation and the arts.”

The State Bond Commission has allocated over $1 billion in bonds so far in 2023.

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