Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that can. -- Margaret Mead

Gallo & Robinson, LLC has a strong reputation for playing a major role in successful lobbying campaigns around controversial and high-profile issues. We also have helped to secure millions of dollars in state funding for our clients. We work with clients whose mission we support and that belief in a cause has made us fierce advocates and successful, but has also built longstanding trust and respect with legislators because of our unique understanding of how the issues we represent will impact the entirety of the legislative process and the State of Connecticut.

Some of issues which Gallo & Robinson, LLC has played a major role include:

Civil Rights

• Prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and against people who are transgender.
• Allowed same-sex couples to adopt a child. (Connecticut is the only state to pass such legislation without a court intervention).
• Connecticut was the first state to adopt civil union legislation without court intervention.
• Adoption of a hate crimes law and expansion of such law to include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
• Passage of legislation implementing the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same sex marriages.
• Ended the use of conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ youth.
• Banned “Gay and Transgender Panic” as a defense in criminal court.
• Protected and expanded voting rights through passage of the strongest Voting Rights Act in the nation and achieved 14 days of early voting.

Improvements to the Criminal Legal System

• Abolition of the death penalty.
• Passage of the strongest anti-gun violence laws in the nation (state permit required to purchase firearms, assault weapon ban, safe storage of firearms in the home and vehicle, ban on extended magazines, bump stocks, and ghost guns).
• Strongest automatic erasure of criminal records legislation in the nation, including a provision to allow someone who is discriminated against based on an erased record to seek redress through the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. 
• First in the nation to collect prosecutor data, hold State’s Attorney’s responsible for prosecutorial outcomes, and monitor information collected by jailhouse witnesses.
• Increased police accountability by requiring use of force reporting and changes the way law enforcement and prosecutors release body camera information after a serious use-of-force incident and limiting the use of deceptive interrogation tactics.
• Elimination of the disparity between crack and powder cocaine and decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana and legalization of medical marijuana.
• Removed the arbitrary deadline for people to get a new trial based on new evidence.
• Banned solitary confinement for juvenile prisoners, while placing limits on the use of solitary for adults.
• Prohibited covered employers from inquiring about a prospective employee's criminal history on an initial employment application.
• Increased penalties for wage theft.
• Restoration of voting rights for people who have served their sentences.

Appropriations and Bonding

• $50 million for Mental Health Strategy Board to provide community services for people with psychiatric disabilities.
• Increased State funding for American School for the Deaf, Sheff Magnet Schools, Centers of Independent Living, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and public higher education.
• Passage of dedicated court fees and increased appropriations for legal services program in CT and expanded funding for right to counsel for both housing and domestic violence.
• Bonding for various clients including over $36 million for American School for the Deaf, $6.9 million for the Barnum Museum, $1.85 million for the Discovery Museum, $1.2 million for improvements to Sterling House Community Center, $10 million for Capitol Region Education Council for capital improvements for Sheff magnet schools, $5 million for Federally Qualified Health Centers, $3 million to improve access to water filling stations in Title I schools, and $700,000 for United Way of CT for an emergency generator to support their 24/7 services.
• Creation of a State-funded LGTBQ+ Health and Human Services Network.
• Creation of Connecticut's Paid Family Medical Leave Program.
• Restoration of cuts to State Medicaid Program.
• Established line-item funding for the Communications Advocacy Network to assist them in their mission to provide services to the deaf/blind community.
• Delivered an additional $40 million to 195,000 low to moderate-income families by increasing CT's Earned Income Tax Credit and supported families with childcare expenses through the creation of CT’s Child Tax Rebate program.
• Established a permanent state-wide Office of Gun Violence Prevention equipped with over $10 million in funding to support community-based organizations working to end street-level gun violence.
• Over $75 million in new funding to expand access to school meal programs.
• Provided support to the effort of striking healthcare workers for living wages and benefits by boosting state funding to the nursing and group home sectors.

Health Care Advocacy

• Creation of a Master of Social Work license and protection of the title of Social Worker.
• Licensing of health care professions including Nurse Midwives, Social Workers, Behavioral Analysts and Respiratory Therapists and certification of Community Health Workers.
• Prescription authority for Nurse Midwives.
• Third Party reimbursement for Occupational Therapists and Social Workers.
• Require insurance coverage for important health care needs including wigs for cancer patients, coverage of hearing aids for children.
• Increased coverage by Medicaid of working parents with income up to 150% of poverty.
• Increased access to NARCAN for opiate addiction.
• Required Connecticut insurance providers submit annual reports detailing their coverage of mental health and substance abuse services.
• Creation of the first ever state-run needle exchange program.
• Establishment and funding for CT AIDS Drug Assistance Program and CT Insurance Premium Assistance Program.
• Expanded the use of telehealth services for all programs covered under Medicaid.
• Increased the scope of practice for CT Athletic Trainers and Behavioral Health Analysts.
• Strengthened state laws for concussion and cardiac arrest treatment and protocol and placement of AED’s.
• Established a stroke system of care.

Youth Issues

• Improved parity with the Affordable Care Act by allowing children to remain on parents’ dental insurance until the age of 26.
• Improved safety for student athletes by mandating coach training in heat prostration detection and require schools to develop emergency action plans for serious sports related injuries that occur at school sporting events.
• Removed all non-medical exemptions from public school's immunization requirements.
• Raised the sales age of tobacco products to 21.
• Allow minors access to HIV prevention medication without parental consent.
• Mandated CPR training for all high school graduates.
• Codified one credit in the arts as a graduate requirement.

Senior Issues

• Improved safety in nursing homes by requiring the reporting and public display of staffing ratios.
• Increased transparency for nursing home residents and their families by requiring financial reporting of nursing home operators. 
• Require nursing homes to notify the Long-Term Care Ombudsman on involuntary discharge or transfer of residents. 

Protecting Reproductive Health

• Protected reproductive rights with the most comprehensive law in the nation.
• Increasing access to Abortion Care by expanding providers to include Physicians, Physician Assistants, Certified Nurse Midwives, and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses.
• Established legal protections for reproductive health providers.
• Enabled Pharmacists to prescribe birth control.
• Increased access to reproductive care by college students at public institutions of higher education.
• Protected the privacy of patient health data online.
• Permit “Plan B” to be accessed through vending machines.
• Established funding for low income and uninsured patients to access long-acting contraceptives.

Ending Homelessness and the Promotion of Fair and Affordable Housing

• More than $3 billion in public funding in Connecticut which has helped build homes and created programs to end chronic homelessness, which include, homeless services and shelters, continued support to the pipeline of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, $5 million for West Hartford Housing Authority, $3.5 million for a homeless shelter in New Haven, and thousands of units of Supportive Housing combined with supportive services to accompany new housing vouchers.
• Passage and protection of the State’s Foreclosure Mediation Program and state funding for a “right to counsel” program to ensure renters have legal representation in negotiations with landlords.
• Updated CT's zoning laws to promote affordable housing and mandate training for Planning & Zoning Commissioners on the benefits of affordable housing development.
• Permitted students experiencing homelessness to immediately enroll in a school.
• Waived fees for homeless youth to access identity documents including birth certificates and non-driver identification to ease access to housing and employment.
• Ability for Tenants in public housing to elect the Tenant Commissioner on the Housing Authority.
• Control and eliminate excessive rental charges on residential housing by requiring all municipalities with a population of 25,000 or more to adopt an ordinance creating a fair rent commission.
• Prevented mass-evictions during a public health emergency.
• Removal of eviction record proceedings from the Judicial Department’s website, giving formerly evicted persons another chance at housing.
• Established funding for year-round energy assistance for people who are low-income.