FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2021
CONTACT Edwin Stubbs Edwin@narrative-project.com 973.223.0525
Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education and Advocacy Groups Issue Letter Demanding General Assembly Members Strengthen Equity Provisions in The Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P)
WATERBURY, CT - Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (R.A.C.C.E.), along with statewide community advocates, are set to issue a joint letter urging Connecticut’s General Assembly members to strengthen legislative language authorizing the State to implement the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) in order to achieve additional progress on equity and environmental justice.
As of Monday, August 30, 2021, 28 organizations have signed on in agreement to the letter. The letter is expected on Legislators’ desks by Wednesday morning, September 1, 2021.
In the letter, advocates assert that now is the time for Connecticut to lead the region in its commitment to building a just and equitable transportation system. In addition to dedicating a minimum of 50% of TCI-P proceeds to transportation projects in overburdened and underserved communities, they strongly urge legislators to establish an Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Board with robust decision-making power, clear accountability mechanisms including expanded air quality monitoring and pollution reduction targets, and fair labor standards.
“Our groups support stronger equity provisions to ensure this policy prioritizes communities that are exposed to the worst air quality and/or lack access to quality transit options,” the letter states. “A failure to include strong equity provisions in the TCI-P bill risks deepening disparities regarding access to clean air, affordable transit, and high-quality jobs. Now is the time for Connecticut to lead the region in its commitment to building a just and equitable transportation system.”
Signed-on organizations include:
Robbie Goodrich, Executive Director, R.A.C.C.E.; Aziz Dehkan, Executive Director, Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs; Thomas Regan-Lefebvre, Coordinator, Transport Hartford Academy, Center for Latino Progress; Nicole Wong, Campaign Manager, Dream Corps Green For All; Greater Bridgeport Branch NAACP; Tenaya Taylor, Executive Director, Nonprofit Accountability Group; Stefan Keller, Make the Road Connecticut; Shannon Laun, Staff Attorney, Conservation Law Foundation; Anne Hulick, Connecticut Director, Clean Water Action; Maisa L. Tisdale, President/CEO, The Mary and Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community ; Lori Brown, Executive Director, Connecticut League of Conservation Voters; Brenda Watson, Executive Director, Operation Fuel; John Carlson, Manager, State Policy, Ceres; Amy McLean, Senior Policy Advocate and Connecticut Director, Acadia Center; Leticia Colon de Mejias, President, Green Eco Warriors; Mustafa S. Salahuddin, President - Business Agent, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1336; Daniel W. McInerney, Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 488; Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment; Susan Iseman, Climate & Transportation Specialist, League of Women Voters of Connecticut; Drew Stilson, Senior Analyst, U.S. Climate Policy, Environmental Defense Fund, Paulina Muratore, Transportation Campaign Manager Union of Concerned Scientists, Joseph P. Toner, Executive Director, Connecticut State Building Trades Council, Bill Finch, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Electrical Contractors Association, Sean Daly, Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 90, Bruce Donald, Southern New England Manager, East Coast Greenway Alliance, Kai Addae, Coordinator, The Safe Streets Coalition of New Haven, Mark Mitchell, Associate Professor, Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Health Equity, George Mason University, Dwayne David Paul and Rachel Lea Scott, Director and Associate Director, Collaborative Center For Justice
See sign-on letter here
To learn more about TCI-P, get involved or make your voice heard, visit
https://tinyurl.com/RACCE-TCI-P--FactSheet
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About Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (R.A.C.C.E.) Our mission is to challenge systems of oppression by advocating for culturally competent educational practices. Therefore, we believe the most effective way to triumph over systemic forms of oppression is to have an educational system that serves the historically underserved and underrepresented. This can only be accomplished if we advocate for an educational system that is positioned to provide culturally competent school professionals and curriculum, human services, and disciplinary policies, which combat: generational poverty, achievement gaps, implicit and explicit biases towards race, ethnicity and gender.
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