Legislation

Supporting breastfeeding parents helps all people in Connecticut to continue to participate fully in society. We all deserve the liberty to exist in the public world—no matter our circumstances—and sometimes those circumstances include feeding a baby breastmilk. By aligning state law with federal law and strengthening workplace protections, this bill advances gender, racial, and economic justice. It recognizes that breastfeeding parents—women, transgender men, and nonbinary people—already face wage disparities compared to cisgender men and should not have to choose between their livelihoods and feeding their children.

The ACLU-CT believes in a society where all children and families can flourish. All children deserve to have their basic health needs met without their parents facing economic detriment. Inflation remains extraordinarily high, resulting in people needing to choose between purchasing food or diapers or delaying medical care. We support programs that seek to close the racial wealth gap and break the cycle of poverty. Connecticut is the only state that taxes personal income without adjusting for family size. A refundable child tax credit is one way of providing families with some relief from Connecticut’s high costs of living.

The ACLU-CT wholly opposes the death penalty. The death penalty is the ultimate denial of civil liberties as it is an irreversible punishment used by a criminal legal system that repeatedly makes mistakes. Between 1973 and 2023, 192 innocent people on death row were exonerated and released. One study estimates that over 4 percent of people sentenced to death are innocent. An overwhelming majority of people exonerated from death row are Black or Latine, and over half of those exonerated from death row are Black. Regardless of guilt or innocence, the death penalty is an astoundingly inhumane, disproportionate, and irreversible punishment, and the criminal legal system consistently fails to account for nuances like the potential for rehabilitation, systemic biases, or the deeply flawed legal processes that disproportionately affect marginalized groups.

The ACLU-CT is an organization that is dedicated to furthering reproductive justice and gender equality. The ACLU-CT believes in a future where everyone can make decisions about reproductive health care, pregnancy, gender-affirming care, and parenting that are the best for them, which includes access to safe, legal, and affordable abortion. We are witnessing existential threats to civil rights and liberties in America, including regressive attacks on reproductive health care and gender equality. As the federal administration indicates its refusal to enforce EMTALA as it relates to emergency pregnancy-related care, patients who may require this care are especially vulnerable. Connecticut has a responsibility to protect patients who need access to time-sensitive, lifesaving pregnancy care—including abortion.

The ACLU-CT believes in a society where all people, including those who have been convicted or accused of a crime, have equal opportunity to contribute to their communities and build successful and fulfilling lives. Everybody needs a safe, sanitary, and stable place to live, which builds prosperous communities. As such, we support legislation and policies that strengthen tenants’ rights, increase access to housing justice, and hold landlords accountable when they violate their tenants’ rights. This includes: Senate Bill 1264, An Act Requiring a Notification of Rights to Parties Before a Fair Rent Commission, Senate Bill 1302, An Act Prohibiting the Eviction of a Residential Tenant for Nonpayment of Rent if the Landlord’s Online Rental Payment System Prevents Such Payment of Rent, House Bill 6943, An Act Concerning Protections for Residential Tenants, Senate Bill 1303, An Act Concerning Nonresident Landlord Registration and Increasing Penalties for Repeat Building and Fire Code Violations, House Bill 6891, An Act Prohibiting a Landlord from Requiring a Security Deposit in Excess of One Month’s Rent from Any Tenant, House Bill 6892, An Act Limiting the Increase of Rental Charges Upon Transfer or Residential Property to a New Owner, Senate Bill 1304, An Act Prohibiting a Landlord from Retaliating Against a Tenant Who Prevails in a Fair Rent Commission Proceeding, and House Bill 6939, An Act Authorizing State Funding for the Right to Counsel Program.

H.B. 7228, An Act Concerning Various Reforms to the Administration of Elections in this State, which would allow for several things that would advance voters' access to absentee ballots and the ballot box before and on Election Day.

The ACLU of Connecticut supports, with amendments, H.B. 7229, An Act Concerning Accessibility to Absentee Ballots to Electors in State Custody, which would allow for eligible electors who are incarcerated in the Department of Correction facilities to apply for absentee ballots.

S.B. 1514, An Act Concerning Curbside Voting Accessibility for Electors with Disabilities or Other Incapacities, would allow for designated areas for curbside voting at polling places to assist electors with disabilities and other incapacities in casting their ballots.

If passed, S.B. 1502, the CT Survivors Justice Act would provide trauma-informed sentencing for survivors whose offenses were influenced by their experiences with domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking.