I support early voting within reason. The current system of using absentee ballots appears to work very well and is primarily secure. Elections can change in very short order, so the two weeks before Election Day that the absentee ballot system allows is the right amount of time. If citizens were allowed to vote much more in advance of this, they may have voter’s remorse for missing crucial information about a candidate shortly before an election takes place.

Low voter turnout is an issue that needs to be addressed. Democracy simply does not work if people do not exercise their right to vote. Since it is nearly impossible to make it easier to register and to vote on Election Day, the challenge is reaching out to those who wouldn’t ordinarily vote, getting them registered and encouraging them to go to the polls through advertising campaigns and phone banking. Additionally, there are software applications that can help designate a less crowded time to go to the polls that should be marketed more aggressively. Strongly encouraging citizens to exercise their right will lead to a more representative government.

First, I am very concerned about the state’s failing fiscal foundation. Connecticut has fallen from one of the highest ranked states in the nation to the bottom of the rankings in all important fiscal and economic categories. In particular, our business environment ranks very poorly due to an uncompetitive tax structure, overzealous regulation enforcement and high costs of doing business. Additionally, our balance sheet is in terrible shape and needs to be improved quickly. The majority party and Governor have allowed our bonded indebtedness to rise from $18 billion in 2011 to over $25 billion presently. As Co-Chair of both the Finance Committee and Commerce Committee, I am in a great position to further our work in improving each of these areas if reelected.

Secondly, I am very concerned about the opioid abuse epidemic and would devote a great deal of time to writing legislation that would address the problem. Overdose deaths nationally have increased exponentially. Here’s how we address this: Criminalize those who distribute these deadly substances, educate everyone to the dangers of trying them and continue to pressure the medical profession to limit or eliminate the use of opioids.

Thirdly, I would be very aggressive in pursuing a dozen Blockchain bills that we are currently writing in a working group. Blockchain represents one of the biggest opportunities in a decade, and my goal after passing a bill enabling us to move forward on the initiative is to make Connecticut the most friendly Blockchain state in the country.

The Special Transportation Fund ballot initiative is a step in the right direction towards assuring that all transportation related revenues go towards transportation projects. If this desired policy were to have been followed in the past, the Special Transportation Fund would not have become nearly depleted, and many large scale projects would not have been cancelled. Although everyone should vote in favor of this initiative, people should also know that the majority party in the Government, Administration and Elections Committee weakened the language on the ballot to allow for transportation revenues to be diverted before going into the Special Transportation Fund, which reduces its effectiveness.

I propose immediately halting all borrowing temporarily to reassess the major damage that has been done to the state’s balance sheet as a result of over-borrowing and to prioritize only essential borrowing going forward. With the major increases in borrowing in the last 8 years to well over $25 billion presently and interest rates rising, debt service will become massive and further crowd out other important spending in areas such as social services, education, mental health and the environment. We simply can’t afford the kind of extravagant borrowing we have seen in the past.

Additionally, I would order every agency and division head to immediately identify and implement a 10% reduction in their operating budget. Good administrators can do this without sacrificing quality of service, especially since the State of Connecticut is a high cost provider of services and goods to the people of this state. I would also look at the possibility of outsourcing certain government functions such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and specific social service functions to the private sector.

Lastly, the state has to make much more intelligent decisions regarding large scale transportation projects. For example, instead of ripping up light rail tracks to make way for a $570 million 9 mile busway from New Britain to Hartford, they should have saved 90% of that by improving the condition of the existing tracks and buying some new light rail cars.