Where ' s your Happy Place ?
RI • MA • NH • CARDIS . COM
CityState : Reporter
difference in wealth between median white and Black households .
In the mid-2000s , Darrick Hamilton , an economics professor at the New School in New York , began pitching the idea of baby bonds at a Congressional Black Caucus hearing , following up with a 2010 paper suggesting that endowments were a way to bridge the persistent gulf in the fortunes of white and Black families . Politicians promoted the idea , including Hillary Clinton , who proposed a $ 5,000 at-birth baby bond in 2007 as part of her 2008 presidential bid . In 2020 , U . S . Senator Cory Booker ( D-New Jersey ) and U . S . Representative Ayanna Pressley ( D-Massachusetts ) submitted a federal baby bonds bill . Former Connecticut State Treasurer Shawn Wooden was the first to shepherd a state baby bonds bill to passage in 2021 .
Hamilton has watched the idea go from a “ fringe conversation ,” to a national debate , to a federal bill that legitimized it . At the same time , Americans , shaken by the economic catastrophes of the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic , became more receptive .
“ There are lessons learned from the past that we need to do things differently ,” he says . “ And I think you get a political movement , social interest and economic conditions that call for fresh ideas . Then you have this idea that ’ s been incubating for a decade , and now it ’ s starting to get a little more traction .”
A disagreement over funding Connecticut ’ s baby bond program stalled implementation for two years . Governor Ned Lamont balked at its reliance on borrowing $ 600 million dollars to fund the program ’ s first twelve years . Wooden ’ s successor , Erick Russell , pushed the program forward by abandoning bonding and tapping $ 400 million from a reserve fund created by the restructuring of teacher pension debt , saving $ 350 million in financing and interest . He put an equal amount of work into building support among legislators on both sides of the aisle as well as mayors , educators and the business community .
“ A lot of the conversation with these different constituencies was about folks understanding that this is a program designed to address poverty , and poverty does not look like people think it does ,” Russell says . “ Connecticut is one of the wealthiest states in the country , but we have one of the largest wealth gaps that has continued to widen over time — and not just in urban communities . The majority of people who are going to benefit from this program are not people of color . It ’ s about addressing the underlying issue .”
Urban Institute Senior Policy Associate Madeline Brown says Connecticut ’ s progress has contributed to the spread of baby bond proposals elsewhere .
“ The fact that the state treasurers have been partners has also led to some of the uptake , because they have a longer-term policymaking horizon ,” she says . “ Once Connecticut was able to write and introduce a bill that articulated how to pull this off , now you ’ ve got legislation another state can look at , tweak and think about how to serve your population .”
In rural Vermont , State Treasurer Mike Pieciak sees his proposal — which would invest $ 3,200 for every child born on Medicaid to be used for training and education , home ownership , business entrepreneurship or retirement — as serving “ three primary policy objectives : [ alleviating ] intergenerational poverty , supporting rural economic development and supporting the retention of young people in Vermont .
“ In the Northeast Kingdom , over 50 percent of children born are on Medicaid versus Chittenden County , where Burlington is , which only had about 28 percent ,” he says . “ So , we saw that as having a disproportionate beneficial impact on our more rural communities that have been underinvested in for decades .”
In Rhode Island , Diossa ’ s interest is personal . The son of immigrant textile workers , Diossa grew up in Central Falls , where , according to the 2023 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook , 35 percent of children lived in poverty from 2017 to 2021 ; and 77 percent were born into a family on public health insurance in 2023 . Diossa ’ s Colombian parents earned enough to provide a stable life and become homeowners .
“ But I saw my friends who didn ’ t have that , who were moving constantly from city to city because they wanted to find lower rent , or because of different job opportunities ,” he says . “ Always living in poverty .” 🆁
Ellen Liberman is an award-winning journalist who has commented on politics and reported on government affairs for more than two decades .
38 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2024