Connecticut is facing a civil rights emergency. We cannot afford to stand on the sidelines.
Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has escalated attacks on the most basic tenets of American democracy —targeting women, civil servants, immigrants, and anyone unwilling to surrender hard-won rights and freedoms.
Now, Connecticut is in the crosshairs, with Trump weaponizing federal funding against states that protect reproductive rights, immigrants, and LGBTQIA+ communities. He has already threatened to cut federal funds unless we abandon these many of these protections.
Connecticut must have budget flexibility to step in when these protections are threatened.
Trump’s administration has made clear its intent to punish states like Connecticut for standing up for its people. He has already threatened to withhold education funding if Connecticut refuses to distort history and undermine lessons on slavery. He has threatened to withhold transportation funds if Connecticut resists his anti-immigrant agenda, essentially setting up a scenario where the state can only get the funds to repave our roads if it agrees to help round up hard-working immigrants who may end up in Guantanamo Bay, underscoring the urgent need for budget flexibility to reject these harmful conditions.
Over the past two months, the ACLU of Connecticut has been in communities across the state —conducting Know Your Rights trainings, hosting town halls, and working in coalition with advocacy organizations to help people navigate this moment. We have been in the Capitol and in direct conversations with thousands of residents, hearing your concerns and sharing strategies for action.
We know that people in Connecticut are ready to fight for their rights.
Our elected leaders must be similarly strong.
Gov. Ned Lamont and state legislators must declare a civil rights emergency and take immediate action to ensure Connecticut does not accept federal funding conditions that betray our values and violate our laws, rejecting the false choice between federal dollars and fundamental freedoms.
Current budget restrictions, such as the spending and volatility caps, lock away billions, making it nearly impossible to respond swiftly when federal funding is pulled from critical programs like legal aid, healthcare, education, and voting rights protections.
Connecticut must have the power to act quickly when these federal threats materialize.
Connecticut’s $4.1 billion surplus exists for moments like this. The state’s rainy-day fund was created for crises —and a federal government attacking civil rights is a true crisis. The governor and legislature must ensure these funds can be deployed when Connecticut residents are under attack. These guardrails were designed to stabilize the budget, not to tie the state’s hands when democracy and civil rights are at risk.
Now’s not the time for tinkering on the margins when our freedoms are at stake.
The constitutional crisis at the federal level is real, and if we do not act, Connecticut will face one of its own.
Now is the time for the governor and legislature to stand strong, prioritize civil rights over fiscal rigidity, and craft a budget with real flexibility to reject federal funding tied to harmful conditions that force us to betray our values and laws.
A budget that can’t protect your rights is a broken budget.
David McGuire is Executive Director of ACLU of Connecticut.