On The Side of Working People

We believe that you can be both pro-worker and pro-business. We have a record of standing up to the Governor to make sure our hospitals receive the funding they need to maintain high-quality, affordable care. We have developed a program to help working families save for retirement. We have increased the minimum wage. And we have provided earned paid sick leave for many CT workers.

Building on our successes to help working people, our plan will:

  • Make sure that Connecticut Workers are Paid a Living Wage
  • Make sure that Women and Men Receive Equal Pay for Equal Work
  • Provide First-Time Home-Buyers a Break on their State Income Taxes for the first 3 Years that they Live in Connecticut
  • Make Sure You Can Take Time Off to Care for a Newborn or a Sick Loved One
  • Expand Access to Affordable Child Care Programs


Solution: Every worker deserves to be paid a living wage

Businesses do better when consumers have more money in their pockets. No one who works full-time, should live in poverty. House Democrats will work to make sure every worker is treated with dignity and respect and paid a living wage.

Solution: Make sure we have equal pay for equal work

House Democrats will change the standard from “equal work” to “substantially similar work” to prohibit an employer from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working conditions.  

Solution: Provide first-time home buyers a break on their income taxes for the first THREE years that they own a home in CT

CT is a wonderful state to raise a family in, but we need to attract more residents. With our great institutions of higher learning, we have many students who come to CT for school and then settle in other states. House Democrats proposes creating a program where the state provides an income tax exemption for the first three years for first-time home-buyers. In addition to helping these families and attracting residents, this policy will also help our towns that have a high number of vacant properties get those properties back onto the tax rolls.

Solution: Make Sure You Can Take Time Off to Care for a Newborn or a Sick Loved One

Everyone deserves to be able to take time off to care for themselves, for a newborn child, or a sick parent. House Democrats are committed to working with employers and employees to develop a program to provide earned, paid time off to workers that protects our local small businesses.  Nearly 6 in 10 small businesses support publicly-administered family and medical leave insurance pools funded by employees.  These policies would cover maternity leave, paternity leave, and more time off for workers who need to care for a sick child or relative.

Solution: Expand affordable childcare programs

For many parents, the workday is not as simple as 9am to 5pm. However, finding affordable childcare is a challenge. House Democrats will work to expand access to affordable child care programs.  The expense of childcare has outpaced inflation since the recession according to the US. Department of Labor.  From 2009 to 2016 the overall Consumer Price Index has increased by 12 percent while the childcare and nursery school index jumped more than 21 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which means that families’ spending on childcare increased more than their spending on anything else.  

According to the United Way’s ALICE Report, the average cost of attending a full-time, accredited childcare center in CT is $1,893 per month.  Although alternatives such as family daycare centers and state-subsidized preschool programs offers less expensive and more accessible options, high occupancy rates limit their availability.