ALICE Advocate - March 10, 2025 Edition

TAKE ACTION

TODAY at 5:30: Speak up for Child Care at the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus Meeting 

Join CT Early Childhood Alliance and CSEA/SEIU 1199 to speak in support of HB 5003, HB 7044, and HB 6839 at the Black & Puerto Rican Caucus' organizational hearing. Note: This is a hearing for organizations - BRPC has already held a hearing for the general public. Sign up to speak or submit testimony ASAP! RSVP Now. 

Testify in Support of Nonprofit Providers – Sign up by 3 pm TODAY 

H.B. 7184 “An Act Concerning Government Oversight” will be heard at the Government Oversight Committee tomorrow, Tuesday, March 11th at 1:30pm in Room 1A, LOB. 

Register by 3 pm TODAY to testify.

Download The Alliance’s talking points and submit your testimony here. 

Child Tax Credit

Two out of every five households across every zip code are struggling to afford the basics — a 13% increase in ALICE households since 2019.  

A refundable CT Child Tax Credit would put money back into families' pockets, allowing them to cover essential costs that other programs overlook. 

Connecticut remains the only state that taxes families without accounting for the cost of raising their kids. 

Connecticut families can’t afford to wait any longer!  

Take two minutes TODAY to share why creating a CT Child Tax Credit is your top priority. Contact your legislators today.

  1. Add your contact information to automatically email your locally elected state legislators 
  2. Edit the message with your story or ideas — this is very important because they want to hear your perspective 
  3. Press send and then forward this email to a friend 

Strengthen 211 to meet increasing demand.

Since 2019, phone and web requests have increased 300% (excluding COVID).  

With adequate funding, 211 can serve an additional 1,740 callers every week and reduce wait times. Since 2010, Informational and Referral services funding has been flat, causing significant staffing capacity. 211 improves the efficiency and effectiveness of our social service ecosystem by connecting residents with 40,000+ community resources. Additionally, 211 can be leveraged to reduce youth disconnection with a new AI-enabled app, awareness campaign and flex funds.  

Customize UWCT’s online form to tell your legislators why 211 is important to you and your community! 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance Weekly Testimony Prep 

TODAY! Monday, March 10th 1:30 pm 

Join CTECA and Senator Maroney to discuss SB 1463, which would direct an additional funding stream to Early Childhood. RSVP HERE 

The SB 1463 General Law Committee public hearing is March 12th at 10 am . Agenda | YouTube | Submit Written Testimony | Register to Testify by March 11th at 3pm – Email Vanessa@cteca.org if you are interested in testifying 

Danbury Collective’s Civic Engagement Series “How Does CT Fund Special Education?” 

March 11th 6-7 pm on Zoom 

The School + State Finance Project will present:

  • The history of special education funding 
  • Revenue sources for special education 
  • Opportunities to engage on the topic during this legislative session and beyond 

Register today! https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XcuaKm8NREC_XYg73gUc0g#/registration 

UPDATES FROM HARTFORD

All hearings can be viewed on CT-N or each Committee’s YouTube channel. Full CT CGA calendar is available online here.

Monday, March 10th 

Tuesday, March 11th  

Wednesday, March 12th  

Thursday, March 13th 

  • Early Childhood Caucus Meeting, 9:30 am, LOB Rm. 1B 

Friday, March 14th 

RESOURCES

Miss our Office of State Ethics Nonprofit Lobbying Training? Check out the training materials below. 

211 

Visit the 211 Professionals webpage to list your organization and learn how to leverage 211 to better serve your community. To better understand your community’s most pressing needs, visit 211 Counts for real-time, searchable and visual presentations of 211 CT data. Review data and trends by town, zip code, school district or legislative district to easily share information with decisionmakers and services agencies. Follow 211 legislation this session, including SB 164. 

Youth Disconnection 

In Connecticut one in five young people between the ages of 14 and 26 – 119,000 in total – are at-risk of not graduating from high school or have already disconnected from education and the workforce. This crisis impacts youth in every town, endangering the well-being of our communities and the economic future of the state. To learn more, read the 119K Commission’s “Young People First” Report, which highlights the importance of a CT Child Tax Credit and 211. Follow youth disconnection legislation this session, including SB 6 and SB 164.  

Special Education and Nonprofit Emergency Funding  

HB 7163 passed last week, which will provide $40M in emergency special education Excess Cost Grant funding this fiscal year. The additional funds will be transferred for distribution to school districts by mid-April. Check out the School and State Finance Project’s grant estimates.  

SB 1453 also passed - allocating $3M in emergency funds this fiscal year for nonprofits supporting LGBTQ+ services, reproductive health, refugees, immigration, and community/youth empowerment. 

Have questions? Visit www.unitedwaycwc.org/advocate or contact Tida Infahsaeng at tida.infahsaeng@unitedwaycwc.org.