Minnie Gonzalez (born August 4, 1950) is an American politician serving as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives since 1997, the 3rd district, comprising parts of Hartford. A member of the Democratic Party, She serves on the Appropriations, Public Safety, Legislative Management and Housing Committees, and is the president of Connecticut's Puerto Rican and Latino Caucus.
Personal life Gonzalez was born in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, where she graduated from Adjuntas High School. She moved to Hartford, Connecticut in 1981, where she worked as a special deputy sheriff for Hartford County, and as an Assistant Registrar of Voters. She has three children, and currently lives in Hartford, Connecticut with her husband, Ramon L. Arroyo.
Political career In 1986, Gonzalez was elected to the Hartford Democratic town committee. In 1996, she ran for State Representative in the 3rd district, which is composed of the Parkville, Frog Hollow and Behind the Rocks neighborhoods in Hartford. She faced incumbent Democrat Ilia Castro in the Democratic primary, whom she defeated with 57% of the vote. In the general election, she easily defeated Republican Kevin Sheridan and petitioning candidate Harry Suarez.
She has served in many positions of leadership in the Connecticut House of Representatives, including as the Deputy Majority Leader from 2017 to 2021, and the Deputy Speaker from 2021 to 2025.
In 2007, she unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Hartford.
Policy positions Family court reform Gonzalez, who raised her children as a single mother, is an outspoken advocate for family court reform.Mark Pazniokas, CT’s contentious custody cases: Symptoms of flawed family courts, or outliers?, The CT Mirror, April 1, 2014.Mark Pazniokas, One legislator’s solitary campaign against family court judges, CT Mirror, January 13, 2017. She sponsored legislation to create a rebuttable legal presumption that shared parenting is in the best interest of children with divorced parents, with exceptions for child abuse and neglect,Legiscan, Connecticut House Bill 6638, 2017. and has sponsored legislation defining parental alienation as a form of child abuse, and to help children reconnected with their alienated mother or father.Legiscan, Connecticut House Bill 6401, 2019.
In 2014, Gonzalez worked to reform the use of guardian ad litems, forcing transparency in their billing practices, and allowing parents to file motions to remove a guardian ad litem or attorney for their minor children.Christine Stuart, Family Court Reforms Headed To Governor’s Desk, CT News Junkie, April 26, 2014.Connecticut General Assembly, An act concerning guardians ad litem and attorneys for minor children in family relations matters, 2014. In 2019, she sponsored a bill to limit their use outside of severe cases identified by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.Legiscan, Connecticut House Bill 5877, 2019.
Gonzalez was a key legislator in preventing the re-appointment of controversial family court Judge Jane B. Emons, who had originally been appointed by governor Jodi Rell and proposed for reappointment in 2018 by governor Dannel Malloy.Bhumika Choudhary, Members of Black and Puerto Rican Caucus Seek to Derail Judicial Re-Confirmation, CT News Junkie, April 9, 2018.Jack Kramer, Calendar Helps Kill Controversial Judicial Nomination, CT News Junkie, May 7, 2018. She, along with Republican Prasad Srinivasan and Democrat Ed Gomes, were the only three members of the Judiciary Committee to vote against her re-nomination, which eventually died in the House despite the positive committee vote.Mark Pazniokas, Legislators use calendar to kill a judge’s career, CT Mirror, May 4, 2018.
Housing Together with Representative Jason Rojas, Gonzalez sponsored a 2015 housing bill that would have required at least 75 percent of all new affordable housing projects to be built in affluent neighborhoods, in order to reverse the pattern of only building federally subsidized low-income housing in the poorest neighborhoods. The bill died without a vote.Thomas B. Edsall, Where Should a Poor Family Live?, New York Times, August 5, 2015.
Economic Issues When governor Dannel Malloy proposed to cut Medicaid for single people in 2012, Gonzalez objected, asking: We want to fix our budget on the backs of poor people?.Keith M. Phaneuf, Budget challenges put Malloy, urban Democrats at odds, The CT Mirror, August 1, 2012.
Representative Gonzalez supports an increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour.State Representative Minnie González, [www.housedems.ct.gov/Gonzalez/pubs/Gonzalez_Update18.pdf Legislative Update], 2018. In 2019, she sponsored legislation that would increase the minimum wage from $10.10 to $11 in 2019 and then by another dollar each year until it reaches $15 in 2023.State of Connecticut General Assembly, An act raisin the minimum wage in Connecticut, House Bill #5639, 2019.
Social Issues Gonzalez has supported the use of police body cameras, to protect both police officers and citizens by providing objective truths about police engagements.Hugh McQuaid, New Haven Officials Back Police Camera Bill, CT News Junkie, February 17, 2015.
In 2019 Gonzalez has sponsored legislation to permit the sale and taxation of marijuana to adults over the age of 21, with some of the new tax proceeds earmarked to curb the opioids epidemic.Connecticut General Assembly, Connecticut House Bill 5595, 2019.
References