- Bonding bill approved by Connecticut General Assembly includes $3,200 “baby bonds” for children enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program
- Funds can be used for purchasing a home, higher education, or starting a business when child reaches age 18
- Bonds to be funded through $50 million set aside each year for 12 years
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
Starting this summer, children born into poverty in Connecticut will receive a down payment on their future. A bonding bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly includes a set-aside for “baby bonds” which can be used for approved purposes once the recipient reaches adulthood.
The legislation creates the CT Baby Bonds program, a trust funded through the State General Obligation funds. A total of $50 million will be set aside each year for the next 12 years to provide $3,200 to every child born after July 1 who is enrolled in CT Husky A, the state’s Medicaid program.
The bonds are expected to appreciate to a sum of about $11,000 once the child reaches age 18. At that point, they can be used for purchasing a home, pursuing higher education, or starting a business.
The program is designed in part to address the wealth gap in Connecticut, and Black and Latino residents are expected to be the primary beneficiaries. Connecticut State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden, a key advocate of the baby bonds program, described it as “an anti-generational poverty and racial equity program that will directly address long-standing wealth disparities in Connecticut, while also generating long-term economic growth.”
Other similar proposals before the legislature, including one establishing $5,000 baby bonds for children born to families enrolled in Connecticut’s HUSKY Health program and another setting up a baby bonds program for all children born in Connecticut, did not come up for a vote.
