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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| <- |
2009-01-01 |
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| Name | Marie López Kirkley-Bey |
| Address | 39 Ashley St.
Hartford, Connecticut , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
September 18, 1941
(82 years)
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| Contributor | Joshua L. |
| Last Modifed | David
Apr 30, 2022 08:55pm |
| Tags |
Black - Widowed - Latter Day Saints (Mormon) -
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| Info | Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey is the State Representative from the 5th Assembly District in Hartford.
The six-term democrat serves on the Finance, Revenue & Bonding, Human Services, and the Legislative Management Committees, and she is the first woman of color to hold the position of Deputy Majority Leader. Marie is also a member of the Human Services Committee of the national Conference of State legislatures and the National Black Caucus of State Legislatures. She is a present officer of the Connecticut Legislature?s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. During her six terms in the General Assembly she has been the spokesperson for the City of Hartford?s Legislative Delegation. The Hartford Delegation consists of eleven (11) members ? nine (9) in the House and two (2) in the Senate. As spokesperson for the Hartford Delegation she is the liaison with the Governor?s Office.
Marie served four years on the Hartford Court of Common Council, where she chaired the council?s Housing Committee. Marie also worked for the Democratic National Committee as the Connecticut and Rhode Island coordinator for President Clinton?s National Health Care Initiative. Marie was elected State Director by the Women?s Legislative Lobby (WILL) and continues to serve in this capacity.
Marie, a life-long resident of Connecticut, was born in New Britain and has lived in Hartford for the past 37 years. She has three children, seven grandchildren and a great grandson. Her 87-year-old mother lives with Marie. Marie, a former welfare recipient who lived in public housing, worked at Aetna Life & Casualty for 22-1/2 years, where she began at an entry-level job and worked her way into management. She then did consulting work before taking a position prior to returning to the public sector. She is currently employed by Evis Medical Equipment Inc., where she serves in the capacity of Business Manager.
Quality of life issues, especially for those who are neediest, are most important to Marie. She also works extremely long hours on issues affecting children and seniors. This session she is devoting strongly in education as a way out of property. "The better educated people are, the better chance they have to become self-sufficient and never return to the welfare rolls." She truly believes "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
She was very proud to have played a major role in crafting Connecticut?s Temporary Assistance to Needy families (TANF) legislation. The bill provides a safety net for families on assistance and includes legislation dealing with immigrants. Her negotiation skills were truly tested during the negotiations for Adrian?s Landing, The Six (6) Pillars legislation, and acquiring additional monies to close the budget deficient of the Hartford School System.
Marie is extremely proud of getting the contract compliance piece inserted/adopted in the Adrian?s landing Bill, which is a $670,000,000 project to rejuvenate Hartford. The main purpose of the contract compliance legislation was to ensure Hartford based minority contractors and laborers were employed during the entire life of the project. To ensure the minority contractors weren?t excluded Marie played a key role in the negotiations of the Project Labor Agreement (PLA). After many meetings with representatives of the Capitol City Economic development (CCEDA), Trade Union Representatives, Minority Contractors, and the Hunt/Gilbane General Contractor, a precedent setting document/agreement was produced that set aside $10,000,000 for the non-union minority contractors. Minority Union Contractors can bid on or enter into joint ventures for any portion of the remaining allocation.
To ensure Hartford residents were properly trained, the Construction Jobs Funnel was created to provide classroom and on-the-job training for all qualified candidates. Skill assessments are provided for every applicant. The program also offers remedial training, counseling for job addiction problems, and other types of assistance are provided if warranted. If the candidate has any of said barriers they can agree to adhere to the stipulations of the evaluation and are encouraged to reapply for the training. To date, more than 300 individuals have graduated and are working on construction projects throughout the State.
Marie has traveled to several locations for the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) as a panel member due to her expertise with regard to Welfare Reform. As a member of the Human Service Committees for the State of Connecticut National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) and NCSL, a great deal of her time is spent attempting to have individuals understand the true plight of Welfare Mom?s. Having lived the life herself she can truly relate to the stigma attributed to women who find themselves down on their luck at some point in their life. I will never forget what it felt like to be judged by the source of my income and not the quality of my character. During that time of my life I was a negative statistic. Today I am called the Honorable. The value system of the woman never changed ? just the source of her income. Thousands of former welfare recipients have gone on a tremendously successful careers. As you work through the reauthorization of TANF be realistic in what you enact as legislation for the women in the system don?t make the children pay for unrealistic expectations of what can be accomplished in the course of a day. The permanently way out of poverty is getting education.
Awards:
Charter Oak Family Clinic ? Star Award ? ?03
Charter Oak Family Clinic ? Community Service Award - '02
United Negro College Fund - Political Service Award - '91 and '96
Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center, Inc. - '98
Greater Hartford Regional YWCA - Women in Leadership - '92
Mi Casa - Community Service Award - '94 and '99
Asylum Hill Organizing Project - Award of Excellence - '96 and '98
Hogar Crea International of Connecticut, Inc. (drug rehabilitation program) - Community Support - '94
AIDS Greater Hartford - '98
Marie has received additional awards for her community and advocacy endeavors.
Achievements:
Corporater ? Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center
Board Member ? Asylum Hill Boys and Girls Club
Former member National League of Cities - Economic Development Committee
Executive Board - Center for Community Change - Washington, DC
Past Executive Committee Member and co-chair of the Allocations Committee - Private Industry Council
National Conference of State Legislators - Human Services Committee '97 and '99
State Director - Women's Legislative Lobby
Former member Hartford Downtown Council - Economic Development Committee
Board of Directors - Gray Lodge/Shelter for Women - President
Mayor's Task Force on Literacy
Board of Directors - Community Partners in Action
Board of Directors - Hartford Job Corps
Former Chairperson - Hartford Legislative Delegation
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