(a)It is hereby declared that there exists concentrated poverty in the state that exacts a critical toll on poor and nonpoor residents of communities that house areas of concentrated poverty, which create lifelong and persistent disadvantages across generations by lowering the quality of educational and employment opportunities, limiting health care access and diminishing health outcomes, increasing exposure to crime, reducing available choices for affordable and properly maintained housing and imposing obstacles to wealth-building and economic mobility. It is further declared that the development and implementation of the ten-year plan under this section to eradicate concentrated poverty in the state are necessary and for the public benefit, as a matter of legislative determination.
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(a) It is hereby declared that there exists concentrated poverty in the state that exacts a critical toll on poor and nonpoor residents of communities that house areas of concentrated poverty, which create lifelong and persistent disadvantages across generations by lowering the quality of educational and employment opportunities, limiting health care access and diminishing health outcomes, increasing exposure to crime, reducing available choices for affordable and properly maintained housing and imposing obstacles to wealth-building and economic mobility. It is further declared that the development and implementation of the ten-year plan under this section to eradicate concentrated poverty in the state are necessary and for the public benefit, as a matter of legislative determination. (b) There is established an Office of Neighborhood Investment and Community Engagement within the Department of Economic and Community Development. Said office shall carry out the provisions of this section, overseeing the implementation of the ten-year plan developed pursuant to this subsection, monitoring the state's progress in reducing concentrated poverty in the state and serving as the facilitator to coordinate communication between the various parties and disseminate information in a timely and efficient manner. (c) (1) There is established a pilot program to implement the provisions of the ten-year plan developed pursuant to this section for participating concentrated poverty census tracts. Any concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts (A) that is located in any of the four municipalities with the greatest number of concentrated poverty census tracts, and (B) for which community members have established a community development corporation pursuant to the provisions of section 32-7s to assist the municipality in which such census tract or group of tracts is located in carrying out the municipality's responsibilities under this section and the ten-year plan developed for such census tract or group of tracts, shall be eligible to apply to participate in the program. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, any municipality in which a concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts is located and for which a community development corporation has been established as described under subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, or any such community development corporation, may apply to participate in the program. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall issue a request for proposals for participation in the pilot program and select the applicant with the highest score. As used in this section, “concentrated poverty census tract” means a census tract identified as a high poverty-low opportunity census tract, as of January 1, 2024, by the Office of Policy and Management pursuant to section 32-7x of the 2024 supplement to the general statutes. (2) (A) The Office of Neighborhood Investment and Community Engagement shall develop a plan for the pilot participating concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts, as applicable, to eradicate, over ten years, the levels of concentrated poverty in the service area of the community development corporation, evidenced by a reduction, to twenty per cent or lower, in the percentage of households who reside in such concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts and have incomes below the federal poverty level, as well as sustained improvements in community infrastructure and other underlying conditions that serve to prolong concentrated poverty and economic inertia in such census tract or group of tracts. In developing such plan, said office shall consult with the Office of Community Economic Development Assistance established under section 32-7s , the Office of Workforce Strategy established under section 4-124w , the Office of Early Childhood, the Department of Education, the Office of Policy and Management, the applicable community development corporations serving the participating concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts and the applicable municipal chief elected officials and any other public or private entity the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development deems relevant or necessary to achieving the purposes of this subsection. (B) The ten-year plan shall include, but need not be limited to, (i) measurable steps to be taken for its implementation, the target date by which each such step is to be completed and the state or municipal official or state or municipal agency, department or division responsible for each such step, (ii) minimum state-wide averages for educational metrics, including, but not limited to, kindergarten-readiness, grade level reading and mathematics and college-readiness or career-readiness, to be used as benchmarks for improvements in such concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts, as applicable, and (iii) the list of possible projects determined pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection. (C) On or before June 1, 2025, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall inform the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding, in writing, of the progress made to date in the development of the ten-year plan. Not later than January 1, 2026, said commissioner shall submit such plan to the General Assembly, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a , and the Office of Neighborhood Investment and Community Engagement shall immediately commence overseeing the implementation of such plan. (3) The Office of Neighborhood Investment and Community Engagement shall, jointly with the chief elected official of each applicable municipality and the community development corporation established to assist such municipality, develop a list of possible projects that will be included in the ten-year plan for the participating concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts, as applicable, located in such municipality. Said office, official and corporation shall (A) determine the types of projects they deem to be the most appropriate and effective for such census tract or group of tracts to eradicate concentrated poverty within such census tract or group of tracts, including, but not limited to, capital projects, workforce development programs, housing development, community and neighborhood improvements and education initiatives to assist and support residents in meeting and surpassing the educational metrics described in subparagraph (B)(ii) of subdivision (2) of this subsection, and (B) take into account the criteria for projects eligible for grants under sections 32-7s , 32-7x and 32-285a . (4) Not later than February 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall submit a report to the General Assembly, the Office of Workforce Strategy, the Office of Early Childhood and the Office of Policy and Management, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a , that summarizes the progress being made by the Office of Neighborhood Investment and Community Engagement in implementing the ten-year plan, the status of any projects pending or undertaken for the participating concentrated poverty census tract or group of tracts and any other information the commissioner or the Office of Neighborhood Investment and Community Engagement deems relevant or necessary. (5) (A) Commencing with the calendar year 2027, not later than March first of said year and annually thereafter for the next two years, the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding shall hold an informational forum for the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development to present the contents of the submitted report and for other state officials, municipal officials, representatives of community development corporations serving participating concentrated poverty census tracts or groups of tracts and other interested parties to provide oral and written comments on the submitted report and the pilot program. (B) Commencing with the calendar year 2030, said committee shall hold such informational forum every two years. (d) On and after the date the ten-year plan is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to subparagraph (C) of subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of this section, each state agency shall give priority to projects included in such ten-year plan with respect to any grants or funding programs such agency awards or administers and for which such projects may be eligible. (e) Not later than January 1, 2029, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall submit a recommendation to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding of (1) whether the pilot program should be expanded to all concentrated poverty census tracts or groups of tracts in the state for which a community development corporation has been established as described under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section, and (2) any additional or alternative criteria to be considered for expansion of the pilot program to other economically disadvantaged census tracts that do not fall within the definition of a concentrated poverty census tract. If the commissioner recommends expansion under subdivision (1) of this subsection, the commissioner and the Office of Neighborhood Investment and Community Engagement shall immediately undertake such expansion. (f) On and after July 1, 2027, if any state or municipal official responsible for carrying out a requirement or responsibility under the provisions of this section or a ten-year plan fails to do so in a timely manner, any community development corporation established as described under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section that was (1) selected pursuant to the request for proposals under subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section, (2) can demonstrate good faith efforts to effectuate the ten-year plan, and (3) is aggrieved by such failure may bring an action against such official in the superior court for the judicial district in which such census tract or group of tracts is located for a writ of mandamus to compel such official to carry out such requirement or responsibility.