Your Advocacy Makes an Impact on Homelessness

June 24, 2021

 

The 2021 Connecticut legislative session ended this month and the biennial 2022-23 Fiscal Year (FY) budget was approved. While the impact of the budget on Columbus House is unclear, two new funding lines and three signed bills offer hope:

 

Budget – Increases to nonprofit providers are expected to provide Columbus House a 1% COLA on state contracts. The legislature allocated $5mm each FY specifically for homeless shelters.

 

Senate Bill 1019 – or "Clean Slate" – reduces barriers to housing and employment by establishing a process to erase certain criminal convictions after a period of time and prohibiting discrimination based on erased histories.

 

House Bill 6531 – allots $10mm in American Rescue Plan Act funds in the biennial budget for DOH to provide tenant representation in eviction cases – a safeguard against people falling into homelessness when the eviction moratorium ends.

 

House Bill 6107 – aims to enhance housing affordability and equity and includes permitting one accessory apartment on single family house properties.

 

Advocacy planning is underway for the 2022 legislative season. With your help we've made tremendous progress, but more work lies ahead to reach our goal of making homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring. We're grateful for your commitment to this ongoing effort!

 

Photo by New Reach: Margaret Middleton, CEO (l), joined our partners in ending homelessness to advocate at the State Capitol on May, 18, 2021

 

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