Issues
I’m a practical Democrat, focused on solutions, not sticking with partisan or ideological positions. We absolutely have to bring down the cost of living in Connecticut. There are many components to the cost of living, but for virtually all families, housing is the biggest cost - and dealing with that is my top priority. It is the root of the problem that is inflicting so much damage on pillars of our community such as our businesses, our schools, our healthcare facilities, and our volunteer fire and ambulance squads. Of course there are many other issues our district faces, and to all of these I will bring a balanced approach, focused on solutions.
Our children should be able to aspire to be teachers or furniture makers and see a clear path to independence and starting a family here. For that to be the case, we have a lot of work to do.
First and foremost, we need to tackle our housing crisis, focusing not just on creating dedicated affordable housing, but also attainable housing. Non-profit housing organizations such as the one I lead are of course going to be a key part of addressing our crisis, but so too are private developers. Connecticut would bankrupt itself trying to subsidize itself out of the housing crisis. I don’t think we have to threaten local control to create the housing we need. In fact, additional pathways to 8-30g relief will be part of what I’ll be proposing.
In an op-ed published in the Danbury News-Times, the Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, the New Haven Register, the Stamford Advocate, the Middletown Press and the Norwalk Hour, I make the case for providing funding to homeowners who want to build an affordable accessory dwelling unit (ADU), and small landlords who want to rehabilitate existing units. This approach would allow Connecticut to create more housing - without touching open space, and working with existing local zoning. Units built under the program I propose would count towards 8-30g exemption, incentivizing towns to support the building of new ADUs, and the rehabilitation of existing units.
Regulators and utilities have to do a much better job at maintaining utility cost stability. The current system of having a reckoning every six months simply is not working. When the utilities hike up their rates, the food bank I work at sees a surge in visitors. The dramatic rate hikes that we periodically see are impossible for families to budget for.
Maintaining fiscal discipline is a priority. The various measures referred to as the “fiscal guardrails,” are a tremendous achievement that was enacted with bipartisan support - and have been maintained under strong Democratic control. The general principle - constraining spending - and not budgeting with windfall income, but rather using it pay down debt and/or put into savings - is one many of us aspire to in our own family budgets. This fiscal discipline allowed Connecticut to institute the largest tax cut in state history for 2024. While many Democrats are strong supporters for maintaining the fiscal restraint, there have been some calls to weaken them. You can rest assured that I will be a strong voice for fiscal discipline. Great strides have been made, but we still have $37 billion in debt to pay down.
We need to continue to work on lowering taxes for working and middle class families, who pay a much higher effective tax rate than higher income earners. The best way we can help struggling families is by letting them keep more money in their pockets. The Democratic legislature and the Democratic governor passed the largest tax cut in state history in 2023 - thanks to the fiscal discipline of the Democrats. That discipline needs to be maintained, and we need to look at ways to lower other taxes, such as the gas tax. We also need to work with municipalities to help find ways to keep their costs, and taxes, down.
We need to stay vigilant about public safety. Connecticut ranks as one of the top 10 states for public safety, but that is not something we should take for granted, and there is always room for improvement.
Ensuring access to high-quality healthcare facilities within a reasonable distance is essential. Our largely rural region has unique healthcare needs, and challenges. In 2018, we had an emergency with our daughter and rushed her to Sharon Hospital. Although they were able to stabilize her, they quickly told us that we had to go to Danbury Hospital to get the additional treatment she needed. Healthcare facilities are essential to our community, and the fight to save the Sharon Hospital maternity ward shows that we will have to work hard to make sure our district has the healthcare facilities we need. Seniors shouldn’t have to make multiple trips per a week to Danbury for care. We need to do better.
Keeping healthcare insurance affordable and available is going to be a never-ending battle. When I started my own business in the era before the Affordable Care Act, I felt like I had “made it” when I could afford to buy my own healthcare insurance. Over a few short years, I watched the rate ratchet up until it was more than twice what I had started off paying - and I was in my 20s, never had an issue, and never even bothered going for an annual physical! The ACA has made a difference, but we need to continue to focus on affordability.
Supporting clean energy, not to be confused with renewable energy. We’re in an urgent and existential fight against climate change, and what matters are reductions in carbon emissions, not whether or not an energy source is “renewable.” Wind and solar are renewable, albeit intermittent, clean energy sources, and should be a key energy source. However, the fact that the burning of trash and trees is supported by the state Renewable Portfolio Standard, but nuclear energy and many forms of hydropower are not, illustrates how misguided the focus is on whether or not an energy source is renewable. We should consider a new standard, focused on clean, carbon free-energy - especially ones that are stable.
Keeping our public schools strong. I’m a product of the public schools, and our son, who has some learning challenges, has received extraordinary support in our local public school. Many of our public schools are struggling with declining enrollments and are being forced to make difficult choices. We need to continue to provide strong support for our public schools, while making it possible for young families to get a start in our communities so our schools have the students they need to function.
Affordable childcare is essential. Having gone through the discussion of whether or not to have children in the not-too-distant past, the cost of having children was central to our discussion - as it is for every couple thinking about starting a family. We thought we had factored everything in, but Claire and I were shocked at how expensive childcare was when we had our first child. As parents of a child born in September, who is repeating kindergarten, we certainly understand why the legislature raised the age to 5, but the failure to account for the childcare implications illustrates that childcare could use greater focus in the legislature.
We must support agriculture so that the farms that remain in our area can continue to operate and thrive. Agriculture has always been an essential part of our area, and the story of agriculture is one of change. When my grandfather started his dairy farm in Washington, there were something like 30 dairy farms in town. When our farm shut down in the late 2000s, it was one of the last.
Large tracts of open space are part of what makes the district as special as it is. We need to continue to protect open space of high conservation value, such as core forest blocks. I don’t see any real conflict in continuing to preserve open space - and addressing our region’s housing needs.
Making things easier for our small businesses in particular, and all of our businesses and economy in general. As someone who has started and operated a small business, I know all too well that politicians often like to celebrate small businesses, while implementing “one-size-fits-all” policies that can make it exceedingly difficult for small businesses to operate.
Protecting reproductive freedom, even here in Connecticut, has to be a priority. We took Roe v. Wade for granted for far too long. It seems that even IVF treatments are vulnerable. We can’t take reproductive rights for granted, even here in Connecticut. While reproductive rights are protected by Connecticut statute, I’d be very supportive of codifying them in the state constitution.
Connecticut has been a leader in promoting gun safety by passing common sense restrictions, but I think a great deal can be done on the implementation side so Connecticut can be cited as an example for how gun safety measures can be implemented with minimal hassle for gun owners. I’m a gun owner and passionate supporter of gun safety measures, but when I went through the process of getting my Long Gun Certification, the process struck me as needlessly onerous and complex. For example, I couldn’t even download the application - I had to mail a form, and received a hard copy of the actual application through the mail. And that was just the start.
It is past time for Connecticut to implement a bear season, while continuing to promote non-lethal ways to reduce conflicts. It is great to have bears here, but the population needs to be responsibly managed. As the bear population has increased, so too have the conflicts. It stands to reason that if the bear population decreases, there would be a reduction in conflicts. Data released by DEEP in 2024 shows that Connecticut has about 3 times as many home entries and other conflicts as Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, all of which have a bear season. Connecticut’s failure to implement a season at this point - after a child was dragged into the woods in Morris - is starting to look reckless and irresponsible.
More issue and policy perspectives will be coming soon.
