On the Issues
State Budget
The number #1 issue affecting our state is the state budget. Connecticut’s taxpayers have suffered under the two largest tax increases in state history under Malloy and Mushinsky. The state continues to borrow money at an alarming rate. Our state spending is out of control. We need to reduce spending, reform long-term debt obligations and look at zero-based budgeting. In 1981 our state budget was around $7 Billion and now we are close to $25 Billion with a deficit close to $5 Billion.
Economy
Small businesses are the backbone of Connecticut’s economy. Connecticut should encourage the creation and growth of small businesses. Instead, Hartford red-tape creates obstacles - costing us jobs. Small businesses - not just large corporations - are leaving Connecticut and closing their doors because the cost of doing business is too much. We have seen this too often in Wallingford. I have owned small businesses and I know that government does not create jobs, but can build an environment that allows businesses to grow by lessening the tax burden and making it easier to start and grow a business.
Education
Connecticut spends $2 Billion per year on education, but state funding punishes well-managed towns like Wallingford and rewards local failures with more dollars. That must change. I will fight for Wallingford’s fair share of state funding so that your children and my children receive the highest quality we can provide.
I support our teachers, including my wife Simone, a Wallingford public school teacher. Teachers should not have to worry about workplace violence. Gov. Malloy vetoed a Classroom Safety and Disruptive Behavior (SB453). I will continue the fight to make our schools safe for our children and teachers to thrive.
Public Safety
I support local law enforcement’s efforts in the fight against opioid abuse and crime - and especially the break-ins that have become all too familiar in Wallingford. This past session, my opponent and her colleagues blocked a bill (HB 5559) that imposed stricter punishment to help deter crime and also help repeat juvenile offenders get the help they need within the corrections system. I will continue the fight to strengthen our court system by having ‘repeat’ juvenile offenders referred to criminal court as adults.
Transportation
Tolls are just another tax. Wallingford residents and businesses simply cannot afford to pay more. Promises to limit tolls to trucks will only open the door for more tolls on all of us. This will raise our cost of living and the cost of doing business in Connecticut. I will fight to provide relief to Connecticut families and businesses by reducing the state gas taxes and exercise fiscal discipline to fund the roads and bridges we need rather than spend millions on expensive and unnecessary projects like the Hartford to New Britain Busway to nowhere.
Environment
Our parks and water should be clean and vibrant for future generations’ use. The state should not create unfunded mandates that create unfair financial demands on Wallingford taxpayers and businesses. Projects should have a resident-first focus to determine if they are necessary. The two phases of the Wallingford sewer plant upgrades will cost our residents close to $87 million and the state grant is only $17 million. Spending $400,000 on a fish ladder when the state is broke doesn’t sound like a good financial decision either.
The number #1 issue affecting our state is the state budget. Connecticut’s taxpayers have suffered under the two largest tax increases in state history under Malloy and Mushinsky. The state continues to borrow money at an alarming rate. Our state spending is out of control. We need to reduce spending, reform long-term debt obligations and look at zero-based budgeting. In 1981 our state budget was around $7 Billion and now we are close to $25 Billion with a deficit close to $5 Billion.
Economy
Small businesses are the backbone of Connecticut’s economy. Connecticut should encourage the creation and growth of small businesses. Instead, Hartford red-tape creates obstacles - costing us jobs. Small businesses - not just large corporations - are leaving Connecticut and closing their doors because the cost of doing business is too much. We have seen this too often in Wallingford. I have owned small businesses and I know that government does not create jobs, but can build an environment that allows businesses to grow by lessening the tax burden and making it easier to start and grow a business.
Education
Connecticut spends $2 Billion per year on education, but state funding punishes well-managed towns like Wallingford and rewards local failures with more dollars. That must change. I will fight for Wallingford’s fair share of state funding so that your children and my children receive the highest quality we can provide.
I support our teachers, including my wife Simone, a Wallingford public school teacher. Teachers should not have to worry about workplace violence. Gov. Malloy vetoed a Classroom Safety and Disruptive Behavior (SB453). I will continue the fight to make our schools safe for our children and teachers to thrive.
Public Safety
I support local law enforcement’s efforts in the fight against opioid abuse and crime - and especially the break-ins that have become all too familiar in Wallingford. This past session, my opponent and her colleagues blocked a bill (HB 5559) that imposed stricter punishment to help deter crime and also help repeat juvenile offenders get the help they need within the corrections system. I will continue the fight to strengthen our court system by having ‘repeat’ juvenile offenders referred to criminal court as adults.
Transportation
Tolls are just another tax. Wallingford residents and businesses simply cannot afford to pay more. Promises to limit tolls to trucks will only open the door for more tolls on all of us. This will raise our cost of living and the cost of doing business in Connecticut. I will fight to provide relief to Connecticut families and businesses by reducing the state gas taxes and exercise fiscal discipline to fund the roads and bridges we need rather than spend millions on expensive and unnecessary projects like the Hartford to New Britain Busway to nowhere.
Environment
Our parks and water should be clean and vibrant for future generations’ use. The state should not create unfunded mandates that create unfair financial demands on Wallingford taxpayers and businesses. Projects should have a resident-first focus to determine if they are necessary. The two phases of the Wallingford sewer plant upgrades will cost our residents close to $87 million and the state grant is only $17 million. Spending $400,000 on a fish ladder when the state is broke doesn’t sound like a good financial decision either.