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Shortly after the death of George Floyd, Hartford-based non-profit Health Equity Solutions launched a campaign to "dismantle racism in Connecticut".

With broad support from Democrats and activists, the campaign was successful, and racism was officially declared a public health crisis in the 2021 legislative session through Public Act No. 21-35 ("PA 21-35").

PA 21-35 established the "Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health" which is housed in the Legislative Department and includes representation from:

• Non-profits with a racial equity and DEI slant (e.g., Health Equity Solutions; Connecticut Health Foundation; Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, Partnership for Strong Communities, Open Communities Alliance);
• DEI policy makers (e.g., Connecticut Bar Association);
• State commissioners (e.g., Public Health, DCF, Early Childhood, Social Services, Economic & Community Development, Education, Housing);
• Black and Puerto Rican Caucus members; and
• Others (e.g., a violence intervention program representative, a UConn representative with experience in DEI policies, the CEO of the Connecticut Health Exchange).

The main provisions in the Act included:

• Crafting a strategy to address alleged racism: A strategic plan to “eliminate health disparities and inequities,” and recommend policy changes with respect to "air and water quality, natural resources and agricultural land, affordable housing, infrastructure systems, public health, access to quality health care, social services, sustainable communities and the impact of climate change."
• Setting explicit racial disparity reduction targets: “At least a 70% reduction” in racial disparities in education outcomes, health care access/outcomes, criminal justice involvement, and economic indicators (e.g., poverty, income, housing).
• Evaluating and eliminating “structural racism” in state agencies: Defines racism as “a system that structures opportunity and value disproportionately impacting Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian people or other people of color”, and mandates options to root out alleged racism.
• Mandating implicit bias training: Hospitals staff training on care to pregnant/postpartum women on “implicit bias” (defined as unconscious attitudes/stereotypes contributing to unequal treatment based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.).
• Requiring racial equity data collection: Recommendations for increasing “people of color” in health care; expanded disaggregated race/ethnicity data collection for equity analysis; racial equity assessments in environmental health programs; see Connecticut's "Health Equity Dashboard".
• Implementing other equity mechanisms: Racial/ethnic impact statements in legislative processes, diverse membership on review committees, and "cultural humility education" for health care professionals.

Connecticut's "Path to Equity" and "Anti Racist Structures" received backing from more than 50 organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the YWCA, Make the Road Connecticut, and Connecticut Citizen Action Group. ("CCAG").

It's worth adding that "eliminating barriers to voting" was also considered an aspect of "health equity."

As a result the "Path to Health Equity" includes support for expanded automatic voter registration beyond the DMV, the right to vote for convicted felons, no-excuse absentee ballots and early voting.

After the passage of PA 21-35, Health Equity Solutions laid out a vision to "further anti-racist policymaking in CT" that included, for instance, creating racial and ethnic impact assessments and disseminating anti racism training -- the very services that Health Equity Solutions itself offers.

PA 21-35 basically created the exact type of permanent equity commission, disparity-reduction goals, implicit bias mandates, structural racism assessments, and race-conscious recruitment/data systems that the Trump Administration has worked hard to eliminate or defund at the federal level.

But this the "sovereign state of Connecticut."

That means State Rep. Matt Lesser and the Health Equity Week crew are continuing to "do the work" of equity, full steam ahead.

Lesser kicked off "Health Equity Week" on Monday by asserting that health care is a right, not a privilege, and complaining about the Trump Administration in a press conference.

"The Trump Administration took a wrecking ball to America's social safety net," claimed Lesser. "They raided a trillion dollars from the Medicaid system, and then allowed tax credits to make private health insurance affordable expire, and they did that to enrich some of the wealthiest people in the world."

He praised his "great friends" at Health Equity Solutions, an organization that has previously engaged in business with Connecticut's Office of Health Strategy in 2018 for $3,317, and in 2019 for a $35,612, and stands to financially benefit from PA 21-35.

Connecticut's Comptroller, Sean Scanlon, was also on hand on Monday.

"Health care access and equity has never been more threatened," said Scanlon. "Donald Trump is making our health care system worse every single day, but we have to admit that our health care system was broken before Donald Trump took office."

Health care justice activists had an opportunity to speak as well, including representatives from Health Equity Solutions, Make the Road CT (which advocates for issues like health care for illegals, abolishing ICE and taxing the rich) and Connecticut Citizen Action Group (which is dedicated to "engaging the residents of Connecticut to alter the relations of power in order to build a more just society").

Then Lesser was presented the "Q Award" for being such a terrific social justice warrior, just like late State Rep. Quentin "Q" Williams.

The press conference wrapped up without a single reporter asking about the fact that DEI's popularity is waning, with only one-third of Americans believing DEI programs make businesses better, and many seeing white males as victims of DEI-based discrimination.

You can watch the full press conference here:

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