HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut lawmakers voted unanimously late Wednesday to scrub the word “minority” from all state economic development laws, a concession forced by the Trump administration’s opposition to race-based government programs that drew sharp condemnation and warnings from the state’s most prominent Black legislators — even as they ultimately voted yes.
The bill, Senate Bill 307, sped through the Senate and House on the final night of the 2026 session. It replaces references to “minority” and “minority business” with terms such as “historically underserved communities” and creates a new “Connecticut opportunity fund” in place of a long-standing minority business revolving loan program.
Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, and Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, both Black, delivered some of the most pointed speeches of the night.
“I don’t like the fact that we even have this bill,” Winfield said. “I don’t like the fact that minoritized populations are disappearing out of our statutes. They are disappearing off our websites. They still exist.”
McCrory, raising his voice, said he was “sick and tired of always having to compromise, to make other people happy. I’m sick of it. It’s what’s been happening in this country since people have been brought to these shores. We’ve been compromising, compromising to make others happy.” He shouted and punched the air as he spoke.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, was making a glad-handing stroll through the Capitol when he approached the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, intercepted him with a curt message: “Not a good time.” Lamont left without entering the chamber.
In the House, Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, who chairs the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, struck a more conciliatory tone. He thanked the Department of Economic and Community Development and the Commerce Committee for adding language that preserved a commitment to diversity while removing the word the administration had targeted.
“We are removing that word and making sure these programs are not based on race or gender, but they do recognize the diversity in our communities,” Felipe said.
Rep. Stephen Meskers, D-Greenwich, co-chair of the Commerce Committee, said the unanimous votes showed “the good-faith effort to come together and achieve the best result.”
But Winfield, who participated in negotiations that whittled down the language, maintained that the result was still a loss for minority-owned businesses. “It fundamentally is a different thing,” he said.
Under the old law, the Department of Economic and Community Development was directed to provide loans to eligible small businesses owned by one or more members of a minority group. Now, the Connecticut opportunity fund will rely on census tract metrics and other data to determine eligibility, a shift that Winfield warned would miss the goal of directly addressing racial wealth gaps.
The vote came after months of federal pressure. Agencies under President Donald Trump have moved aggressively to strip race- and gender-conscious provisions from government operations, affecting museum exhibits, historical markers, and federal grant language. Connecticut’s bill was a direct effort to shield state programs from legal challenges and funding cuts.
The vote in each chamber was unanimous.