State Republicans say a package of proposed legislation they have filed since the start of the legislative session would help women improve their economic position.
Leading Republicans have introduced bills that would establish privately-funded scholarships within the Board of Regents of Higher Education for women pursuing STEM degrees; create a workforce reentry program for women within the Department of Labor; and offer tax credits to employers who offer childcare services to their workers.
Legislative committees held hearings on those three bills last month.
Labor Department Commissioner Sharon Palmer testified that her department’s American Jobs Centers already offer workforce reentry support, while the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women lauded the intent of the childcare legislation, but said it preferred a broader state policy.
Republicans are also supporting a Judiciary Committee bill that would beef up technology and staffing within the Department of Social Services for child-support payment enforcement.
The GOP says the state’s unpaid child support balance is approximately $1.6 billion.
DSS has raised some alarms about the proposal, saying that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget contains no provisions for $8.4 million in funding for 15 to 20 new enforcement officers and new computer systems, servers and software subscriptions to track those who owe money.
The Office of the Public Defender is also concerned that the legislation would mean it would have to pay for more attorneys to represent indigent contemnors.
But the Judicial Branch and the GOP both said that the federal government would reimburse two-thirds of the $8.4 million.
Republicans have also filed bills that would require 25 percent of the state’s angel investor tax credits to go to women-owned businesses and to provide funding for round-the-clock security at the state’s domestic violence shelters.
Neither bill has received a public hearing.
