Over 500 members of the Recovery For All Coalition rallied at the Governor’s Mansion on May Day to escalate the demand for a truly equitable budget.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Saturday, May 1st at 12:00 p.m.
Contact: Dhrupad Nag | Recovery for All | dhrupadnag@gmail.com | 203-747-6646
Hartford, CT – More than 500 members of the Recovery For All Coalition joined with elected officials at a rally in front of the Governor’s Mansion this Saturday, May 1st to call on the Governor to meet the moment by adopting an equitable state budget.
Protestors took direct action by blocking the street and staging a mass die-in in front of the Governor’s mansion to commemorate Connecticut residents who have struggled — or even lost their lives — due to the current crises. The mass direct action highlighted the pain and suffering that so many residents have experienced and the need for the Governor and other state officials to take immediate action through the state budget. The event caps Recovery for All’s Week of
Action, which included events in Hartford, Bridgeport, and Simsbury.
Over 45 faith, community, and labor organizations make up the Recovery for All Coalition. They are demanding that Gov. Lamont passes a budget that repairs our broken tax structure, makes a dramatic investment in our communities, and lays the foundation for rebuilding a better and more equitable Connecticut.
This mass direct action was a response to Gov. Lamont’s threat to veto a budget if it contains the equitable revenue package passed out of the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee on April 22nd. The member organizations of Recovery for All are opposed to a status quo budget, as they believe it would ignore the decades of disinvestment in working-class communities, especially communities of color.
Quotes
Suzanne Clark – Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU 1199 New England
“People are still hurting from Covid-19. But frontline workers and Black and Brown communities have been hurting for a long time. It’s time to share the wealth. It’s time for wealthy individuals and corporations to pay their fair share. Going back to normal is simply not an option because normal is broken. Making a robust public investment now in our essential services infrastructure will help all our communities in the long run.”
Careen Reid – Certified Nursing Assistant, Icare Trinity Hill in Hartford
“Nursing home workers like me have put everything on the line during Covid-19. We have worked long hours for small wages. We’ve been through protection equipment shortages, testing shortages and critical staffing shortages. We’ve risked our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. But now we are going out on strike until nursing home workers and residents get justice in the form of funding to protect these services.”
Sheena Graham – 2019 CT Teacher of the Year and member of the Connecticut Education Association
“Short-term federal funds are NOT the solution to long-term equity issues,” said 2019 Connecticut Teacher of the Year and Bridgeport Choir teacher Sheena Graham. “We need to focus on the whole child, and address students’ social emotional wellness and learning recovery, and we can’t forget about the need for improvements in the safety and health of our school buildings, technology upgrades, special education needs and so much more. In order to address these challenges, we need a fair budget and a tax system that will generate equitable funding for our schools so that all students, regardless of where they live, have the opportunity to achieve.”
Reverend Josh Pawelek – Unitarian Universalist Society: East
“Apparently Governor Lamont thinks he is listening, but he isn’t. He’s given no serious explanation of how his proposed budget responds over the long-term to the needs of people whose lives have been devastated not only by the coronavirus pandemic, but by decades of policies that benefit the most wealthy and increasingly leave everyone else behind. Federal dollars offer a welcome, one-time relief to the worst effects of the pandemic. But they are not a sustainable solution to the problem of massive income inequality in our state.”
Carmen Lanche (Director, Comunidades sin Fronteras)
“It is important that the governor implement a recovery plan that helps all residents in the state of Connecticut without regard to the person’s citizenship status. Workers have been a group that have kept our society functioning. With their contribution in mind it is essential that government officials take care of those who have been on the frontlines and have been greatly affected due to their marginalized status. We demand that the governor give free Medicare, free education, and give more worker protection. It is time to invest in communities not in millionaires and businesses. It’s time for a Recovery For All, not just the few.”
State Senator Jorge Cabrera – SD-17 (Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Hamden, Naugatuck, Woodbridge)
“If we are serious about equity, we have to do more than just talk. We have to act,” said State Senator Jorge Cabrera. “That’s why I was proud to join my colleagues and vote for the Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee’s revenue package. It’s an important first step toward addressing the longstanding economic and racial inequities that have afflicted working class communities, especially communities of color, for decades. I hope the Governor has a change of heart and begins to embrace what equity really means.”
State Representative Edwin Vargas – HD-6 (Hartford)
“The pandemic has been painful for my constituents. They don’t own big fancy houses like the ones on Prospect Avenue or along the Gold Coast. They’re decent, hard working people trying to make a living in Hartford,” said State Representative Ed Vargas. “Without help, it will take many years to recover from this devastation. That’s why I support the Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee’s revenue package. It responds to the suffering with permanent tax relief and ongoing investments in our communities, not one-time boosts with federal funds and budget gimmicks. I urge Governor Lamont to come walk a day in my district and then tell me we can’t do more.”
State Representative Jillian Gilchrest – HD-18 (West Hartford)
“The pandemic illuminated Connecticut’s racial and economic disparities that have existed for far too long,” said State Representative Jillian Gilchrest. “Middle and low-income working families are struggling. We need a recovery that remedies the wrongs of our past and sets Connecticut on a new trajectory. We need equitable taxation in order to invest in programs and services that can provide Connecticut families with relief and opportunity.”
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Recovery for All CT is a statewide coalition that brings together dozens of labor, community, and faith organizations. Together, the coalition represents more than half a million residents—black, brown, and white—across the state.
We are united in a long-term mission to eliminate the extreme inequalities in Connecticut as we work to build a more just, democratic, and egalitarian society. Recovery for All CT is advocating for a major investment in all the goods, programs, and services required to meet the enormous level of human need across the state and to eliminate the systemic inequalities that have divided our state for decades.
