Two weeks out from the legislative session, state policymakers will hear about the issues Latinos want addressed this year.
“The idea is to create a space or a forum, where politicians or elected officials can come together with community leaders, and people from the community to discuss ideas and hopefully influence potential legislation,” Puerto Rican Studies Initiative Director Charles Venator-Santiago said.
UConn professors, in collaboration with the Connecticut General Assembly’s Latino and Puerto Rican division of the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, are hosting the first ever "2024 Building a Better Future: The Latino and Puerto Rican Policy Agenda Summit."
“Really what I am there to do, which I hope many of our leaders are there to do, is to be learners. We are going to be hearing lived experiences, experts talk about what Latinos are experiencing across the state of Connecticut,” CWCSEO Executive Director Steven Hernandez said.
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Since the fall, Venator-Santiago and UConn professor Lisa Werkmeister Rozas, have visited Hartford, Waterbury, New Haven and New London to hear about concerns regarding the quality of life for Latinos.
“Housing, mainly, housing has to do with high rent, living conditions that are not really healthy or suitable, there is education, in terms of the disparities in education, as well as language issues in education,” Rozas said.
In addition, the team gathered data on health disparities, linguistic justice and the Latino vote.
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“We have a lot of power in the state of Connecticut and we have to mobilize that power. Puerto Rican and Latinos account for a fifth of the population, but they are not participating in politics,” Venator-Santiago said.
On Saturday, the data will be presented to state leaders with the goal of improving legislation surrounding the issues and encouraging civic engagement and political power among Latinos.
“That is what we are trying to do, we are really, really trying to make sure these folks understand hey you have power through voting,” Rozas said.
