Page 3 - Ct Viewpoints News Today

The millionaire migration myth The Hearst Connecticut Media editorial board recently published an editorial parroting refuted Republican talking points of a supposed ‘millionaire migration’ if the legislature dares demand Connecticut’s highest earners pay their fair share. Republicans have resorted to sound bites because they fall short on alternate solutions, or an actual budget, of which they have failed to propose for three consecutive years. Instead, Republicans hope to convince us of...

Time to recognize the human right to housing in Connecticut Homeless rights activists at an October 2018 affordable housing rally Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of Connecticut residents faced the unthinkable tragedy of potentially losing their homes in the middle of a public health crisis. Even in normal times, over 10,000 Connecticut residents are evicted every year. Although both the state and the CDC have implemented moratoria on evictions, these policies contain signifi...

HB 6551: Connecticut’s take on environmental justice: A step in the right direction Connecticut continuously ranks as one of the greenest and most environmentally friendly states in the United States. In 1973, Connecticut enacted its first environmental policy called the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA), which is an evaluation of how the state’s operations affect the environment. This policy was a crucial step forward in environmental preservation for the state. This policy is ...

Physician perspective: Advance public health through the legalization and regulation of cannabis Physician perspective: Advance public health in Connecticut through the legalization and regulation of cannabis This year, Connecticut has the opportunity to join the 15 states that have replaced the failed policy of cannabis prohibition with sensible and effective regulation. Now that the bill has advanced from the Judiciary Committee, we urge the Finance Committee to support Senate Bill 888, “An...

Keep little children in the classroom The chart shows the reasons for out-of-school suspensions for students in preschool through Grade 2. As shocking as it sounds, children as young as pre-school and kindergarten can be and are suspended from school each year, and in fairly sizable numbers. Despite the legislature’s effort in 2015 to largely eliminate the suspension and expulsion of children in preschool through second grade, during the 2018-19 school year (the last full school year before C...

Miss Misinformation is the pageant for me Remember Miss America, she of the eponymous pageant? Well forget her. Ditto Miss Universe, Miss Gluten Free and all the rest. They’re old hat—yesterday’s politically correct Kumbaya news. Who needs to ogle fulsome females bent on curing world hunger and striving for inter-galactic peace whilst strumming ukuleles in their swimsuits? I, for one, won’t miss these Misses. It’s a new century, time for a total makeover of the beauty pageant, this ta...

Ending solitary confinement will protect lives and also save money SB 1059s Fiscal Note is drastically inflated This year the PROTECT Act, otherwise known as Senate Bill 1059, offers Connecticut an opportunity to address conditions in Connecticut state prisons and jails that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture condemns as “a State-sanctioned policy aimed at purposefully inflicting severe pain… which may well amount to torture.” If passed, the PROTECT Act would end solitary co...

We’re trying to end American structural racism. Why are we supporting Israeli apartheid? On April 20, a Minnesota jury convicted former white Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin of killing African-American George Floyd. While far from dismantling systemic racism in the U.S., the verdict is a mini milestone for justice and incentive to press on. Paradoxically, as movement for American racial justice is fortified, the U.S. government continues to support the structural racism of another country...

The not so spun truth about the University of Hartford Hartford Business Journal Mike Clancy, a professor and member of the “2020 Woodward Task Force” recently had much to say criticizing  Mike Gargano’s article “Athletics did not create the financial crisis at UHart.”   Clancy’s article, published just hours after the Board vote to move from Division I to Division III sports, cites Gargano’s experience as an early 1980’s UH golf coach, as evidence of corrupt intent.  Clancy...

Access to health care for undocumented people is both right and smart BRENDA LEON / CONNECTICUT PUBLIC RADIO Supporters of Senate Bill 956 spoke publicly on the consequences of limited access to health insurance for undocumented immigrants outside the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Before the pandemic, Carlos liked playing soccer with his friends and building robots at school. His parents both worked, and provided him with a stable, loving home. Carlos was a healthy and thriving sixth...