2021 Legislative Session Wins!

Connecticut’s 2021 legislative session adjourned on Wednesday, June 9. Thanks to your support and advocacy, the General Assembly passed important investments and policies to improve health care access and advance equity. Read more about our victories this session!

Connecticut passed a budget with: 

• Increased investment in sexual and reproductive health care

• Increased access to health care coverage for more residents including extended HUSKY Health (Medicaid) coverage postpartum for a year

• Health care coverage for immigrant children (ages 0-8) and pregnant women regardless of immigration status

Policy that:

• Declares racism a public health crisis and create a commission to address the impact of racism on public health

• Defines the Doula profession in state statute

• Addresses racial disparities in maternal health & breast health

Bills that will:

• Protect patients’ privacy and make people feel safer to use their health insurance

• Expand access to telehealth 

• Regulate deceptive advertising practices in Crisis Pregnancy Centers

• Provide support for survivors of sexual and domestic violence

• Improve state law accommodating breastfeeding in the workplace and combat the gender wage gap

Big wins for the LGBTQ+ community:

• Establishing equal access to parentage rights, including LGBTQ+ families

• Allowing marriage certificates to be amended to reflect changes concerning gender

• Restoring state benefits to veterans who received an other-than-honorable discharge due to their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression

• Non discrimination in life insurance based on sexual orientation and gender identity

 

That’s not all — there were many more big policy wins and we thank our coalition and community partners for leading the fight for social justice in our state. 

• Voting Access: implementing automatic voter registration, restoring voting freedom for people on parole, and creating a 2022 ballot measure for early voting

• CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair): prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles historically associated with race

• Clean Slate legislation that automatically erases a person’s conviction record after a defined period of time

• Justice reforms: ending prison gerrymandering, limiting the use of solitary confinement and abusive restraints in the Connecticut Department of Correction, and guaranteeing the right to no-cost legal counsel to all tenants facing eviction proceedings

All of this is thanks to you. You showed up, spoke out, signed petitions and contacted your legislators — your action made a big difference. The work isn’t over. We know there’s still more to do to ensure health care access for all, protect reproductive freedom, and build a more equitable Connecticut.