Talk To Me – I’m listening

I recently sent out a survey to more than 13,000 residents living in our district. It was entitled Talk to Me. Well, overwhelmingly you put pen to paper and responded. My office has taken the results and analyzed them and this is what we found.

Question number one: Do you believe Connecticut is headed in the right direction?

Answer: Of the nearly 100 responses only four people said yes. 96 people said no.

This speaks volumes to me. Connecticut residents have persevered and worked hard to support their families and run their businesses under difficult economic times. Our unemployment remains above the national average and the tax burden in Connecticut is heavy.

We need to change course and do more to alleviate the pain residents are feeling. During the next few months in Hartford, I will be working to reduce that burden and will push for property tax relief and sales tax relief. I also have my eye on labor issues. We need to get people back to work. I will support efforts to hire veterans who are out of work and also work towards a common sense solution to keep Bristol Hospital, a key employer, strong during this evolution in the health care industry.

Question number two: What is your number one concern or issue that you believe Hartford should be addressing?

Answer: Overwhelmingly the top concern was taxes. Many commented that Connecticut’s taxes are too high and there are too many of them. I couldn’t agree more. Governor Malloy raised taxes across the board when he entered into office and as a result we still have a budget that is not balanced. The outlook for the budget in 2015 and 2016 is bad, and includes an estimated $2 Billion deficit.

State government should be reducing the size of government and the gold plated benefits while putting the brakes on spending. That will go a long way in balancing our budget honestly.

Question number three: What other steps do you think Hartford should take to improve our quality of life and make Connecticut a better place to live and work?

Answer: A number of different steps were suggested to make quality of life better in Connecticut. The ideas included the following:

• encourage business and manufacturers to set up shop so citizens and college graduates can find jobs
• find more affordable housing for seniors living on a fixed income
• add toll booths so there is revenue to fix roads
• stop funding the New Britain to Hartford busway and instead use the money to fix bridges
• establish more severe penalties for corrupt government officials
• change state employee pensions to 401k plans

Question number four: Do you have an issue you would like to talk directly with me about?
Answer: Several topics were mentioned by a number of people including: repeal of the new gun law, common core education concerns, relief from the high cost of college tuition.

Many people were kind enough to say thank you for asking for their opinion and for listening to the people who live in our district. It is I who should be thanking you for sharing your thoughts, concerns and great ideas on how to make our state the best it can be.