$150 MILLION IN HEALTH INSURANCE SAVINGS

CONECT led the fight back in 2011 to force the state Department of Insurance to hold public hearings whenever insurance companies asked for major rate increases, expecting the public scrutiny would be a damper on rate increases.  Our Healthcare Team won a deal in 2011 for up to four hearings per year on rate increase requests of 15% or greater.  After using this deal for the first time in 2014, our team improved upon it by getting the Department of Insurance to agreed to hold hearings on rate increase requests of 10% or greater.  In total, after hearings in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018, which resulted on lowering the rates approved, CONECT’s pressure and scrutiny have saved CT consumers $150 million in total!

MAYORAL & FEDERAL ACTION ON GUN VIOLENCE

CONECT has played a key role in the Do Not Stand Idly By campaign, which we developed in collaboration with sister organizations in the Metro IAF network.  Rev. Anthony L. Bennett has represented CONECT in the national leadership of this campaign.  To date, 123 cities, counties, and states around the country have signed on to the effort to press gun manufacturers to prevent illegal gun sales and to invest in developing safer, smarter guns.  In Nov 2016, after a year’s worth of pressure and work, the Obama Administration issued the first-ever specifications for “smart guns,” creating standards for purchasing to further move the industry to respond to their public-sector customers (local, state & federal law enforcement & military).

IMMIGRANTS

• IN STATE TUITION:

  First, in 2011, CONECT led the successful campaign to allow undocumented young people to access state universities and colleges at in state rates.  This change made college accessible for the first time to many immigrant youth, and hundreds, if not thousands, have enrolled and graduated since this law was passed.

• DRIVER’S LICENSES:

  Then, in 2013, CONECT led the successful Safer Driving Campaign to allow undocumented immigrants in CT to get a Driver’s License.  This law took effect in 2015 and since that time 80,000 have gotten licenses, allowing them to register their cars, buy insurance, and drive legally and safely.

• EAST HAVEN POLICE DEPARTMENT:

  CONECT supported and organized with St. Rose of Lima and others to dismantle the racist East Haven Police Department, which was profiling and abusing Latinos and immigrants.  Ultimately, four officers were criminally convicted and a Justice Department Civil Rights Division investigation led to a 54-page consent decree to improve their practices and training.  This consent decree became a model used by the Obama Administration’s Commission on 21st Century Policing.

• ON-GOING SOLIDARITY WORK:

  During this last year, CONECT has worked to support immigrant, Muslim, and other vulnerable communities, organizing two solidarity assemblies, a prayer vigil, letter writing drives, legal consultation sessions, and more.  These efforts have been aimed at both resisting anti-immigrant policies, but also at supporting immigrant families and communities as they weather these threats.

LIMITING RESTRAINT & SECLUSION IN CT SCHOOLS

Alarmed by studies documenting the use of restraint and seclusion more than 30,000 times in CT schools, disproportionately with autistic and minority children, in early 2015 CONECT's Education Team began investigating and taking action on this issue. Working with the state's Child Advocate, CONECT leaders lobbied for Senate Bill 927, which limits the use of these tactics, requires training of teachers and administrators, and mandates parental notification within 24 hours. The bill was signed into law in June 2015.

PREDATORY LENDING / FORECLOSURES

In 2010-12, CONECT worked to support individuals and families fighting to save their homes and to gain easier access to banks and mortgage companies to make this happen.  Bank of America opened a servicing center in CT for the first time, due to our pressure, and dozens of people saved their homes.