Families need help during a recession, said Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, when introducing a bill on the House floor today.
The bill aims to help children and their families during tough economic times, and the House passed it 137-7.
The goal is to tap into all available federal funds and streamline state services to make them as accessible as possible, Urban said. The bill directs state agencies to lead, she said, adding that there is an accountability measure included in the legislation.
“This is not a poverty issue like we’ve known before,” Urban said, referring to the current recession.”There is a precedent for working together in an emergency…This is an emergency.”
Families are hungry and the shelters are full, she said.
Lawmakers say that the current recession is expected to drive 35,000 children in Connecticut into poverty at an annual cost of $800 million in lost earnings and developmental and health problems.
Urban said a legislative task force that she chaired has worked hard over the past year to craft the bill discussed by the House today, getting input from people throughout the state. Connecticut would be the first state in the United States to focus on the economic downturn’s impact on children and families, she said.
Lawmakers should not just help children during a recession, said House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero. They should help those in need at all times, he said.
Cafero was particularly critical of a provision in the bill that would require the Child Poverty and Prevention Council, or a subcommittee of the council, to meet quarterly if the state’s unemployment rate is 8 percent of greater for the proceeding three months.The council would help state agencies mitigate the long-term impact of economic recessions and provide appropriate resources to families.
“Why aren’t they doing their job now?” Cafero said of state agencies and the council, explaining that more bureaucracy is not the answer. “Let’s get to the root of the problem.”
Rep. DebraLee Hovey, R-Monroe, said the bill is an outgrowth of frustration with state agencies, such as the Department of Social Services and the labor, education, public health and children and families departments. It is a bill that micromanages those agencies, she said, noting that it is beyond comprehension that legislation is needed to get state residents the help they need.
House Bill No. 5360 still needs to be approved by the Senate before heading to the governor’s desk.