Yes I support any measure that encourages voter participation provided it first, protects individual voter privacy and secondly, the sanctity of each vote is protected. Unfortunately there is quite a bit of voter apathy in Connecticut and throughout the United States. No matter who voters elect, many feel as though nothing changes. Entrenched interests up in Hartford make it very difficult to effectuate any changes even if the opposing party gets elected. We must make it easier to vote so that everyone can have their voices heard.

1. Improve Connecticut's tax burden and business climate by tackling the unfunded pension crisis, imposing true spending caps that can not be undone by Hartford politicians, eliminating the estate and gift tax, lower the income tax for all brackets,
2. Modernize our infrastructure so that we have high speed (30 min) train service from Stamford to New York and prioritizing investing in highways and bridges in lower Fairfield County which generates a majority of the tax revenues for the state.
3. Investing in our public education, vocational schools and community colleges. If you go outside the tri-state you realize many communities simply do not invest in education to their detriment. We need to partner with businesses to make sure we are training the workers they need.

I support the Special Transportation Fund lockbox initiative that is on the ballot. While it is a step in the right direction, it speaks volumes of the career politicians and special interest up in Hartford. Basically they are telling you they can't control themselves and need you to lock funds away so that proper maintenance and improvements can be made to our infrastructure. What a sad commentary. Incredibly, this lockbox has already been tamped with by the majority party which has weakened the language to restricts access to the funds. You will remember that the same was done with the state spending cap that was approved by 80% of the public when the state income tax was introduced.

Connecticut has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. We must rein in over borrowing and prioritize only essential items . Borrowing has always been high but has increased dramatically in the last 8 years. Between the high borrowing and with interest rates rising, debt service will further crowd out important spending in areas such as education, transportation and the environment.

Secondly, we must require every agency and division head to cut out 5-10% in their operating budget. Knowledgeable administrators can do this without sacrificing services. Connecticut is a high cost provider. There is no reason why our road construction should cost $497,659 a mile, $99,417 per mile just in administrative cost. We must consolidate departments and agencies where possible and outsource services that can be more efficiently provided by the private sector. Even the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth recommended a billion dollar cut from the state budget.

Finally, we must have enforceable spending caps that can not be tampered with. These spending caps must include provisions which prevent long term employee contracts that binds the hands of future legislators. Connecticut is one of only four states which allow retirement benefits to be collectively bargained. We must address this issue to stem potentially explosive retirement costs. Finally, elected officials should not be receiving pensions. At a minimum they should be not be allowed to pad their pensions with mileage reimbursements.