TABLE OF CONTENTS CREATING JOBS, GROWING THE ECONOMY 1 A PROPERTY TAX CUT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS 11 PROVIDING QUALITY AFFORDIBLE HEALTHCARE 15 INVESTING IN EDUCATION 24 STANDING UP FOR CONNECTICUT’S SENIORS 30 EMPOWERING WOMAN AND GIRLS 32 SOLVING CONNECTICUT’S HOUSING CRISIS 38 FIXING THE DMV 42 BUILDING A FAIR ECONOMY 45 CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM 47 ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXPANDING RENEWABLE ENERGY 49 FIGHTING FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY 53 GROWING CONNECTICUT’S AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY 58 PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT 60 SUPPORTING VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES 63 COMBATTING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC 65 PREVENTING GUN VIOLENCE 67 INVESTING IN ARTS AND CULTURE 69 NED'S JOBS PLAN: CREATING JOBS, GROWING THE ECONOMY Turning Connecticut around and fixing our budget problems requires creating jobs and spurring economic growth. While much of the country has recovered from the Great Recession, Connecticut has not — thanks to decades of bad decisions from career politicians on both sides of the aisle. My proposed property tax relief will save families across Connecticut up to $1500 annually and the average beneficiary $700 each year. But we need to do much more to grow our economy so that working families are able to build economic opportunity and financial security. I spent my career creating jobs and I know what businesses and employees need. I built a business from scratch, grew it here in Connecticut, took on big industry giants, and beat them at their own game. I know firsthand how state government can help businesses start up and succeed – and how it can get in the way. Whether entrepreneurs have the next big idea or a family wants to open a new neighborhood restaurant, our state government too often litters the path to success with needless fees, an endless maze of paperwork, and burdensome regulations that don’t protect public health and safety. Connecticut can build a world-class economy by retaining and attracting talented entrepreneurs who will launch and expand new businesses in our state. New businesses – from high-growth startups to small mom-and-pop stores on main street – account for nearly all the net new jobs created. I will create an environment where startups and small businesses can thrive. I’ve done it myself and I know what it takes. There’s no good reason for Connecticut’s startup rate to lag below the national average. We have top-notch universities, incredibly talented workers, proximity to Boston and New York, and leading industry clusters in insurance, biotech, financial technology, and defense. We can unleash the next wave of innovation right here in Connecticut with the right leadership and the right choices in Hartford. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 1 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT My jobs plan begins by upending business as usual in the capital, cutting business taxes that inhibit growth, eliminating needless and outdated regulations, streamlining permitting, and investing in our strength: our people. I’ll turn our cities back into the economic growth engines they once were, making Connecticut a destination for jobs, investment, and entrepreneurs. We’ll let businesses thrive by getting out of their way. We’ll create good jobs with good wages that keep up with costs faced by the middle class. We’ll level the playing field so women and minorities have the same opportunities at economic success as everyone else. And we’ll train students and workers to ensure they have the skills they need to compete for the jobs of today and tomorrow. A revitalized business climate will ensure Connecticut has the resources necessary to support our priorities as a state: investing in excellent public schools, caring for our most vulnerable communities, and sharing broadly in economic prosperity. That’s why I’ve created a five-part plan to reinvigorate our economy and grow jobs across Connecticut. My plan includes: 1. Cutting Taxes and Reducing Regulations 2. Increasing Job Training & Workforce Development 3. Ensuring a Fair Economy For All 4. Investing in Connecticut’s Strengths 5. Sparking an Urban Renaissance LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 2 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT CUTTING TAXES AND REDUCING REGULATIONS Small business owners need relief so they can put their hard-earned dollars back into growing their companies and contributing to a prosperous economy. As governor, I’ll make it easier to start up or grow a business in Connecticut by cutting taxes that make it harder to run a business and reducing regulations on small companies. I know how hard it is to get a new venture off the ground because I’ve done it. I’ll launch a one-stop shop in state government so that small businesses can get licensing and permitting handled quickly and easily without getting a run-around from different agencies. And I will work to ensure Connecticut has access to global markets in ways that benefit our workers. I know what businesses need to thrive: access to skilled labor, affordable capital, and regulatory certainty. I will create a fair and honest state budget balanced without gimmicks, launch a top-tobottom regulatory review that eliminates burdensome mandates, and invest in training and infrastructure. That’s the kind of certainty and sustainable long-term planning that business leaders need to be able to rely on. I will: • Eliminate the business entity tax that serves as a big “EXIT” sign for small businesses and startups here in Connecticut. • Exempt businesses with less than $10,000 in taxable personal property from the business personal property tax — freeing nearly half of Connecticut businesses from an onerous filing requirements that generate very little revenue. • Cut Connecticut’s highest-in-the-nation capital stock tax, making Connecticut businesses more competitive with regional and national competitors. • Provide incentives for firms that will build or strengthen industry clusters, that are linked to the hiring or training of new workers, and that invest in research and development or in physical capital. • Hold companies that receive public support accountable, order a top-to-bottom review of all current tax and business incentives, audit both the agency that administers them and the performance of companies that receive them, and eliminate giveaways that amount to corporate welfare. • Champion the 5,700 Connecticut companies that depend on access to overseas markets to export their products, despite the Trump Administration’s work to seal our economy off from the world. Well-designed tax and business incentives will attract jobs to our state, but they need to be closely scrutinized and linked to measurable outcomes so that we can avoid the corporate welfare that has proliferated in recent years. Connecticut’s tax dollars must be spent wisely, so I will collect data on the impact of all tax incentives and work closely with the Office of the Comptroller and others to analyze the data and adjust our programs in real time. Smart business incentives need to be a part of our economic development strategy, but the best thing we can do to revitalize Connecticut’s business climate is to simplify the regulatory, licensing, permitting, zoning, and tax collection processes. We shouldn’t work hard to attract firms to Connecticut only to drown them in paperwork and red tape. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 3 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT I will also: • Launch a one-stop shop for businesses that will simplify and streamline their interactions with state and local government. Finally, we need a governor who knows how to leverage all of our assets and try every day to bring new companies to Connecticut. The best day I’ve had in Connecticut in years was when we brought Infosys, a global IT leader, to Hartford. It didn’t happen by chance — it happened because I convened a group of business leaders including leaders from Travelers, Aetna, Hartford HealthCare, and Stanley Black and Decker, to show the range of Connecticut’s economic ecosystem and to convince Infosys to build their new training and innovation hub right here in Hartford. Infosys leaders were blown away by this show of solidarity and support, and realized Connecticut’s vast potential. Our business leaders got together for our shared prosperity. Now it’s time for state government to recognize that potential, and multiply it. That's why, as governor I will: • Create a Business Recruitment Board led by the governor and business leaders from a range of Connecticut industries — along with leaders in the state's higher education, arts and culture, and real estate sectors — to aggressively pursue bringing businesses and jobs to Connecticut. Together, we’ll demonstrate that Connecticut is the right place to do business, with a thriving and connected business community and a state government ready to help. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 4 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT INCREASING JOB TRAINING & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT During my time in the private sector, I collaborated with the Yale School of Management to produce the CT Workforce Assessment, a study about the strengths and weaknesses of Connecticut's workforce. As part of the assessment, we met with Connecticut’s largest employers from the state’s key industries: manufacturing, insurance and finance, healthcare and bioscience, green technology, tourism and digital media. In our interviews with thought leaders – academics, labor leaders, and CEOs – we asked about future skill needs in their industries, strategies to address current and future gaps, and the role of the government, business, and labor in moving our state forward. It’s clear that retaining employers and creating jobs in today’s technological revolution requires job training and workforce development programs designed around the present and future needs of Connecticut’s growth industries. Connecticut must give its students curriculums designed to prepare them for a modern economy — and the state must give its employers access to the best-educated and best-trained workforce in the world. My plan invests in the entire talent pipeline. That pipeline begins in our public schools, where I will work with towns as a champion of integrating STEAM education into every grade’s curriculum. It continues as students move through our excellent state college and university system — and as students and adults preparing for a new career pursue still more nimble alternatives to that system, like apprenticeships, coding bootcamps, or a program at New Haven’s new Holberton School of Software Engineering. I will: • Outfit school buses with wifi so students facing long rides can reclaim hours of lost study time. • Equip our schools with modern hardware and software – from block-based coding platforms for young children through advanced Microsoft and Adobe product suites for our high schools and community colleges – and our teachers with the training they need to make meaningful use of that technology. Connecticut lags behind the nation in the percentage of 8th graders who use computers to augment their studies. • Invest in and expand the Connecticut Technical High School System. • Engage the private sector in curriculum design so that our schools teach professional skills relevant to the modern economy, as we currently do with Pratt & Whitney and Goodwin College and with IBM and Norwalk’s P-TECH high school. • Direct UConn and our state colleges and universities to implement reforms, like those surveyed in a recent report by McKinsey and Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures, that promote women and minority students’ participation in computing programs and the sciences. • Allow existing state financial aid programs to benefit students who pursue public and non-profit private training programs that have proven results but have not yet been officially accredited, and encourage our public institutions to accept those alternative learning programs as graduation credit or as qualifying their alumni for admission to graduate and professional programs. • Increase the number of apprenticeable trades and break down silos between the education, labor, and business communities to dramatically expand apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs beyond the manufacturing sector. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 5 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT • Evaluate the quality of training programs based on longitudinal data available from the income tax and unemployment insurance records, steer students to enroll in successful programs, and close down programs that underperform. • Introduce a global entrepreneur-in-residence program that makes it easier for talented immigrants graduating from our colleges and universities to stay in Connecticut and contribute to our economy. • Study the possibility of a new STEAM university in Connecticut, as suggested by the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth. New York City has done it. Connecticut can do it too. OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL When Annie and I made the decision to start our family, Connecticut was where everyone wanted to be. It had the right mix of cities and suburbs, was close to Boston and New York, had great schools and vibrant neighborhoods — but most importantly, Connecticut was full of opportunity. But too many people don’t see Connecticut as a land of opportunity these days. As governor, I’ll make sure that everyone has a chance to contribute their talents in Connecticut, and that no one is left our or left behind. Revitalizing Connecticut’s economy can and must be done in a way that makes prosperity and opportunity available to all. As a business leader, I know that supporting workers is a crucial part of creating an innovative, successful workplace – and it’s also the right thing to do. A fair economy with opportunity for all is one that pays a living wage, supports women and people of color in the workplace, and provides everyone with a second chance. Connecticut won’t be at its strongest until everyone in our state is able to reach their full potential. Between rapidly changing technology and a federal government that has gutted workplace protections, Connecticut has the responsibility to stand up for working people and the opportunity to attract young workers from across America to our state. With bold, progressive leadership, we can create economic growth that empowers all people. I will: • Raise the minimum wage to $15 to bring working families out of poverty and stimulate economic growth. • Establish a meaningful and responsibly financed paid family and medical leave system that also protects caregivers’ right to return to work. That system will look to bipartisan models that are already working in other states, so that no one in Connecticut has to choose between paying their bills and spending the first days their child or the last days with their parent. • Prioritize state contracts with and access to credit for minority and women-owned businesses, and set disaggregated targets for a range of diverse business owners to ensure everyone in Connecticut is able to get ahead. • Enforce legislation and encourage company policies that close the wage gap between men and women, which is costing women and our economy $15 billion. Neither women nor minorities should be paid less for equal work. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 6 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT • Support labor’s push for a fair wage, safe and dignified working conditions, and a path to a secure retirement — things that all American workers have a right to. I will also protect workers from the effects of the Supreme Court’s radical Janus decision by permitting unions to refuse to represent non-members in certain grievance cases and by guaranteeing unions an opportunity to explain the benefits of membership to new hires. • Ensure residents who have earned their second chance are able to get the job they need to support themselves by partnering with labor unions and our colleges and universities, strengthening Connecticut’s “Ban the Box” legislation by preventing many employers from asking job applicants about their criminal histories before extending a conditional offer, and providing prospective employees with a private right of action against companies that violate their rights. • Ensure employees receive meaningful training on workplace sexual misconduct, prohibit retaliation against people who bring complaints, and extend Connecticut's statutes of limitations and reporting deadlines for sexual assaults. • Support strengthened enforcement and penalties against wage theft. While most employers make commitments in good faith, I will target business owners who consistently violate labor standards. That is especially important in the gig economy where employers purposely misclassify employees as “contractors” to avoid paying higher wages and benefits. • Reinstate protections that ensure working people get paid what they are owed for overtime despite the Trump Administration and Republican efforts to strip those rights away from working families. • Oppose contractual restrictions that inhibit a person’s freedom to obtain safe, well-paid jobs through unreasonable use of job-lock and arbitration clauses. Workers have the right to seek improved conditions and career opportunities. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 7 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT INVESTING IN CONNECTICUT’S STRENGTHS It’s no secret that our state lacks a coherent strategy for creating new economic opportunity. It’s time to stop providing tactical incentives to individual companies. Instead, we need to start making strategic investments in the sectors that will power Connecticut’s future. By striking a middle ground between one-off corporate giveaways and one-size-fits-all policies, we can build an ecosystem to support each region’s traditional and growing strengths. One of those strengths is tech companies, an ever-expanding sector of the American economy. Information technology and software engineering powers everything from insurance and biotech to advanced manufacturing and finance. The internet industries’ contribution to America’s GDP has doubled in the last six years and continues to grow five times faster than the national average while creating millions of jobs. With smart investments, Connecticut can become a home for many of those jobs and the next Research Triangle or Route 128 corridor. I will: • Reform non-compete agreements to protect proprietary data and investments while freeing talent to join other companies or start their own. • Convene investors, non-profits, CEOs, and innovators to ensure we are doing everything possible to further the advantages in our state’s unique regions. • Work with companies, universities, and local governments to expand the number of accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces, and tech bootcamps across Connecticut. • Incentivize startup firms to locate in regional hubs, particularly where jobs have been lost. Specifically, firms will receive tax credits when they locate in repurposed land or buildings that are currently empty and in opportunity zones. • Continue support for Connecticut Innovations, the state’s successful VC fund, so that talented entrepreneurs with big ideas can access capital and stay in the state. I will also encourage Connecticut Innovations and the private-sector partners it mobilizes to pay particular attention to scaleup companies that have a proven business model and are looking to grow. Another of our growing strengths is the green economy. Our transition to a sustainable future will create thousands of new jobs in clean energy and efficiency. We know this because across our country, the states with the least carbon-intensive economies, like Washington state and Massachusetts, have had some of the highest economic growth rates. We have already seen good-paying jobs created in the fuel cell, solar installation, and home weatherization industries. Smart investment and smart, consistent policies in the green energy sector will not only create jobs but also provide a sustainable future for Connecticut. I will: • Commit Connecticut to a carbon-neutral future by 2050 • Strengthen the renewable portfolio standard to include more Class I clean energy sources, and invest in the modern grid and other infrastructure projects required to efficiently deliver that energy to consumers • Send a clear signal that renewable energy industries like wind and solar should invest in Con- LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 8 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT necticut by streamlining permitting processes, setting long-term renewable energy policy, and pledging to veto budgets that raid Connecticut’s clean energy funds. Connecticut also needs a governor who recognizes tourism and the arts is an economic engine that drives job growth and provides a critical source of revenue. Raising Connecticut’s profile and ensuring its wonderful destinations are vibrant for future generations is critical to expanding a sector that supports one in every 19 jobs in the state. A big part of that is the arts, which are invaluable not only to the state’s growth but also to who we are as a society. Connecticut is home to world-class museums, theaters, and concert halls that support the education of our children and draw tens of thousands of out-of-state visitors and we need to view them as profit drivers, not cost centers. I will: • Market Connecticut as a destination to our neighbors. • Connect attractions to our public transit system and publicize those connections so that Connecticut residents without cars, as well as millions of tourists from our neighboring states, can enjoy our parks and other destinations. • Protect Long Island Sound and preserve Connecticut’s historic treasures through initiatives like the Historic Structures Rehabilitation, the Historic Homes Tax Credit Programs, and the Community Investment Act. • Create a Cultural Facilities Fund that supports construction projects at cultural facilities and is highly effective at leveraging private dollars. Across the border in Massachusetts, CFF projects have hired 25,513 architects, designers, engineers and construction workers, attracted 101 million tourists since 2007, and created 2,168 new full-time permanent jobs. • Make our arts and cultural institutions more accessible by expanding the Blue Star Museums program and reducing entry fees for families on SNAP. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 9 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT SPARKING AN URBAN RENAISSANCE The key to Connecticut’s economic growth is supporting dynamic cities that attract new residents and businesses to the state. Our state is home to vibrant and affordable urban centers with a multitude of businesses and academic institutions. Those centers were once industrial towns and are now redefining themselves into knowledge hubs. But for decades, their potential was ignored — with little promotion or state investment in infrastructure. That ends now. One of the most critical parts of turning around the financial and economic fortunes of our state will be to rejuvenate our cities and make them more attractive, accessible, competitive, and resilient. Today’s college graduates are the most urban generation in the history of our country, and many of our children leave our state because they can’t find neighborhoods where they want to live or work. Further, in the 21st-century knowledge economy, strong vibrant urban centers are vital to attracting and keeping businesses. GE didn’t leave Connecticut for an offshore tax haven or a Sun Belt state with minimal public services. They left for Boston, a growing city in a relatively high-tax state that has benefited from decades of purposeful public investment in transportation infrastructure and economic development. Describing the reasons for that move, GE’s CFO said that the “financial stuff was the second priority" — the company left Connecticut because it “wanted to be in a place that was vibrant and entrepreneurial.” As governor, revitalizing Connecticut’s cities will be the centerpiece of my economic development agenda. Connecticut’s urban centers used to be hubs of global innovation, sending Connecticut-made products around the world. Today, they have tens of thousands fewer people than a few decades ago. Decades of underinvestment and a lack of an economic development strategy have left our cities behind while other post-industrial urban areas around the country have reinvented themselves for the 21st century economy and reaped the benefits. We can do the same here in Connecticut with the right strategy and commitment. I will: • Expand public transportation networks connecting housing to growing urban downtowns, downtowns to green and coastal spaces in neighboring communities, and everyone in Connecticut to airports and to regional hubs in our neighboring states. • Deliver targeted property tax relief so that long-time city residents can afford to stay in their homes and neighborhoods. • Bolster development in Connecticut’s 72 newly designated Opportunity Zones and provide smart incentives for Connecticut capital to invest in Connecticut jobs in our cities. • Support the expansion of UConn’s city campuses and encourage the development of innovation clusters in proximity to those campuses to encourage students’ access to jobs and the growth of business development related to academic research. • Ensure all of our urban centers benefit from a regional development agency, similar to the Capital Regional Development Agency in Hartford. The CRDA serves as a last-dollar lender to developers who make important improvements to the city’s urban fabric. • Encourage state support for projects that improve livability. We will seek to ensure all projects preserve iconic neighborhoods, support the local culture, and expand parks so all children have access to clean and green recreational opportunities. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 10 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT A PROPERTY TAX CUT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS From Middlebury to Middletown and Norwalk to Norwich, people in Connecticut feel squeezed. Our state has become one of the most expensive places to raise a family or start a business. And in the face of stagnant wages and weak job growth, Hartford politicians have hit middle class families with tax increase after tax increase. Even worse, there’s barely anything to show for it: after three decades of mismanagement by governors of both parties, our budget hole remains deep and Connecticut’s working families are being asked to pick up more of the tab. It’s unfair, it’s unproductive, and it needs to change. Connecticut’s middle class needs and deserves a break. Businesses won’t come to a state where their employees can’t afford to live. Young people won’t consider building a future in a state where they can’t afford to own a home. And long-time residents won’t retire where they can’t afford to remain. That’s why I’m proposing a plan to give Connecticut families a property tax cut. Decades of fiscal mismanagement mean we can’t afford pie-in-the-sky promises, so I’m proposing a smart, achievable commitment to responsibly give middle class families the tax relief they deserve. It’s not only the right thing to do for working families; property tax relief is key to making Connecticut a better place to start or grow a business and create jobs. Connecticut’s property tax system is broken. We rely far too much on taxing people’s homes and cars to fund essential local services. And towns and cities with the greatest local needs also have the greatest difficulty raising local revenues, with less local wealth to draw on and much of their local property exempt from taxation. Municipalities must become more efficient and reduce costs – but our state must also provide immediate relief to hard-pressed middle class families. High-need towns and cities have schools to fund, roads to repair, and police and firefighters to keep on the job. With flat or declining local wealth, they are backed into ever-higher property tax rates 11 – making it harder to attract residents and businesses and keep long-time locals in their homes. Development is distorted, too, creating incentives for towns to limit access to families with schoolaged children and making it less attractive to develop affordable housing in our cities. Worse still, the burden of high property taxes is unfairly distributed: lower- and middle-income families and seniors are hit the hardest. And this is a problem that isn’t unique to homeowners: 20% or more of the cost of rent in Connecticut is due to local property taxes. Reforming this broken system is imperative, but it will take time to turn around – and working families in Connecticut can’t afford to wait. Recently, the middle class lost one of the last breaks it got. Governor Malloy rolled back the property tax credit, effectively raising taxes on the middle class. In my first biennial budget as governor, I will restore and expand the property tax credit for working families. Starting in the second year of my first budget, I will reverse Malloy's tax hike by raising the property tax credit for existing beneficiaries by 50%. And I'll expand eligibility, allowing any taxpayer with property tax liability to participate and growing the number of Connecticut residents who can get a break. If your household earns up to $160,500 a year, you’ll qualify for relief from property taxes paid on your home or your car. 900,000 taxpayers in homes with more than 2 million Connecticut residents would see a benefit. About half of these residents will be getting much-needed property tax relief for the first time in four years. That is meaningful relief, and it’s delivered responsibly at a cost of around just 1% of the most recent annual state budget. Looking ahead, we need to do more. It’s no secret that Connecticut’s budget is as broken as our property tax system. Decades of fiscal mismanagement by Hartford politicians in both parties have put real limits on how much of a tax break we can reasonably afford – constraints that the Republicans willfully ignore in the hopes that no one will call them out on their fantasy math. Impossible promises won’t ever put money back in the pockets of working families in Connecticut, but responsible planning will. That’s why in my second biennial budget, I’ll propose additional property tax relief targeted at the low- and middle-income taxpayers who are hit the hardest by this broken system. We’ll use the first two years to begin to get our state’s finances back on track, so that we can afford critical tax relief aimed at the families struggling hardest in Connecticut to make ends meet. For a relatively modest cost, we can provide up to a $1,200 credit to working families owning or renting a home and paying more than 6.5% of their income in property taxes. There are nearly 350,000 taxpayers in Connecticut, in homes with 915,000 people, who would stand to benefit. And the average beneficiary will receive a nearly $700 tax cut. In the longer term, we need fundamental structural reform of Connecticut’s broken property tax system. That means having every stakeholder at the table – from municipal and nonprofit leaders who must do more with less, to teachers and first responders who make our communities run, to homeowners and renters who have to be able to afford a place to live. Structural reform starts with identifying inefficiencies within our fragmented system of 169 towns and cities, but it also means critically reexamining whether regional services make more sense than leaving every locality to fend for itself. These are tough choices, and only one candidate is telling the truth about them. I won’t be afraid to lead on structural reform – and to stand up right away for working families and the middle class who need a break and cannot wait. 12 A MIDDLE CLASS PROPERTY TAX CUT STARTING IN THE FIRST BIENNIAL BUDGET I N T H E FI R ST B IEN N IA L B U DG ET • In the second year, reversing Malloy’s tax hike by increasing the property tax credit by 50% and expanding access to more middle-class taxpayers. Singles earning up to $116,500, heads of households earning up to $138,500, and joint filers earning up to $160,500, will get relief of up to $300 from property taxes paid on a residence or car. • That’s $165 million in new property tax relief for 900,000 taxpayers in households with more than 2 million Connecticut residents. • Roughly half of those 900,000 taxpayers will see property tax relief for the first time since 2015. I N T H E S E C O N D B IEN N IAL B U DGE T • After beginning to stabilize Connecticut’s finances in our first biennial budget, we’ll deliver targeted relief for the hardest-hit working families in our second biennial budget. • There are nearly 350,000 taxpayers across the state who pay an enormous percentage of their household income in property taxes and who would qualify for much-needed targeted relief. More than 900,000 people and their families in Connecticut who spend at least 6.5% of their income on property taxes – and many who spend as much as 12% – would benefit. • That’s $185 million in long-overdue relief to working families who pay a disproportionate percentage of their household income on property taxes, providing them with up to a $1,200 credit. • To shore up property tax relief for Connecticut’s seniors, we’ll also restore state funding cut during the Malloy administration for the municipal property tax credit program – and add new funding to cover 25,000 senior renters under the same program. Vernon Harord East Harord New Britain Windham Waterbury Norwich Danbury Hamden Ansonia Derby New Haven West Haven New London Straord Bridgeport Stamford TARGETED TAX RELIEF 3 FOR THE TYPICAL HOMEOWNER FINDING SAVINGS FOR THE TAX PLAN Republicans want you to believe they can eliminate the income tax and punch a $20 billion hole in the biennial budget without offering a single way to pay for it. That isn’t a serious plan. My proposal is different. It relies on practical and responsible ways to pay for the targeted relief that so many Connecticut families desperately need. Here are some of the cost-saving measures over the next four years that will make a meaningful and responsible middle-class tax cut possible: • Reducing costs at the Department of Correction. We currently spend over $1.3 billion a year on prisons and corrections – more than two and a half times what the state budget allocates to higher education. Thanks in large part to smart and sensible criminal justice reforms, Connecticut’s prison population continues to fall – as does the state’s crime rate. Keeping pace on these reforms will drive down these costs by $125 million a year. • Improving tax enforcement and leveling the playing field for Connecticut businesses. By using technology, modern analytics, and rapid response, the Department of Revenue Services can improve tax collections, audit, and enforcement and close the “tax gap” (the amount of taxes that are owed but not collected). These reforms will generate savings and additional revenues from $150 million to $200 million. • People have long participated in under-the-table sports gambling; a recent Supreme Court decision makes it possible for Connecticut to regulate this activity, after negotiation with our tribes, and draw between $30 million and $50 million in annual revenues from it for the first time. These cost savings range from $305 million to $375 million and will responsibly fund meaningful property tax relief for the middle class. 4 PROVIDING QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE Health care is a human right. No one should die or go bankrupt simply because she has the misfortune to get sick when she can’t afford to seek treatment — especially not in Connecticut, where we have some of the finest doctors and hospitals in the world. Providing quality, affordable care is core to Connecticut’s values and critical to economic growth. As an entrepreneur, one of the keys to my company’s success was providing my employees the health care they and their families needed to thrive. Health insurance was a significant expense for my business, but providing it attracted talented colleagues, kept them and their loved ones healthy — and was just the right thing to do. That’s the same vision I have for Connecticut: create the conditions for families and businesses to succeed by increasing access to quality health care that families and small businesses can afford. Expanding access to affordable, quality care requires addressing both the rising cost of health care and the difficulty of navigating America’s health care system. By moving Connecticut away from a fee-for-service model and toward a system of value-based care that fairly rewards doctors and nurses for keeping people healthy, we can reduce costs and put our economy on a more sustainable trajectory. Doubling down on payment and delivery system reforms will improve care while reducing burdens on families and businesses. The struggle to expand Medicaid in other states demonstrates the stark consequences that governors’ choices have on people’s health and finances. The Affordable Care Act, although by no means perfect, offers important benefits to Connecticut. It protects 1.5 million residents with a preexisting condition. It prohibits discrimination against 1.4 million adults over 50 and 1.8 million women. It provides free preventive care like cancer screenings and contraceptives to more than 1.9 million Connecticut residents with employer-sponsored insurance and bans the annual and lifetime coverage limits that drove even many families with insurance into bankruptcy. It expands Medicaid to more than 200,000 newly-eligible residents, including older Americans, veterans, and the disabled. 15 It reduces costs for 591,000 Medicare patients, funds millions of dollars of innovation grants to Connecticut health care organizations, and saves providers more than half a billion dollars by reducing uncompensated care. It cut the number of uninsured people nearly in half. Despite that progress, Bob Stefanowski opposes the ACA. He claims it has not benefited a single Connecticut resident. He gave President Trump an A grade — even though the President has worked overtime to repeal and sabotage the ACA and to attack it in court. His lieutenant governor candidate — who would break any tie votes in the state senate — provided one of only two votes in that senate against guaranteeing ACA protections in Connecticut law. As governor, I will stand up for the working family that got insurance for the first time, the cancer patient who is no longer bankrupted by his pre-existing condition, the doctor who works overtime to care for her patients, and the entrepreneur who purchases a plan through Access Health CT. Our state deserves a leader who supports national progress toward universal health care and who is focused on delivering tangible results from day one. I have a package of achievable reforms to ensure that affordable health care becomes a fundamental right for all Connecticut residents, not a privilege for a select few. Turning Connecticut around also requires understanding that health care isn’t just a line item for families and the state budget — it’s also a critical driver of Connecticut’s economy. With a growing number of world-class medical and public health schools, a billion-dollar medical device startup in Guilford, and a vibrant insurance cluster in Hartford, Connecticut is poised to be an influential global innovator in health care, biotechnology, and insurtech. Resolving the budget crisis, reducing taxes, and redoubling job growth will make Connecticut a more attractive place for the nurses, doctors, and other health care providers who keep all of us healthy. 2 My plan will: • Protect patients’ rights and finances by defending essential Affordable Care Act protections, prohibiting unreasonable and hidden fees, and improving patients’ access to their own records. • Lower the price of prescription drugs through increasing transparency, rationalizing utilization, negotiating lower prices, driving innovative payment reforms, and blocking price hikes. • Expand access and reduce premiums on Access Health CT — the state’s individual insurance marketplace — by broadening the risk pool and implementing a reinsurance program. • Deliver value and improve care in HUSKY and the state employee health care systems by continuing Connecticut’s Medicaid expansion, reorienting employee health care around value-based care, and driving preventive and primary-care innovations. • Invest in public health by focusing on its social determinants, providing equal access to mental health care, and addressing public emergencies from the opioid crisis to childhood obesity. Together, those measures will improve health, save families and businesses billions of dollars, and substantially reduce the budget deficit. For instance, bringing the cost and use of prescription drugs in line with just the national average will save patients more than $1.3 billion and the state employee health plan at least $81 million. Implementing a reinsurance program will reduce premiums on the individual marketplace by more than $130 million, or over $1000 a year for each insured. And providing older adults and people with disabilities more services at home and in their communities will enhance the quality and dignity of their lives while saving taxpayers $60 million a year. 17 PROTECTING PATIENTS' RIGHTS AND FINANCES Connecticut residents struggling to keep themselves and their families healthy should not also be required to accept gender discrimination, an age tax, or surprise bills after a trip to the emergency room. Anyone who has attempted to navigate our health care system knows that, high costs aside, the experience can be endlessly complicated. Paper-only records, opaque prices, and obscure rules about which doctors and hospitals you can visit for which procedures — all of these needlessly conspire to make the patient experience as frustrating as it is expensive. It doesn’t have to be that way. We can protect patients’ rights and finances by doing away with the unfair and outdated practices that plague our health care system. My plan will: • Defend essential Affordable Care Act protections like coverage for pre-existing conditions, emergency room visits, contraceptives, mental health services, preventive medicine, and pediatric and maternity care. • Prevent health insurers from charging women and certain workers higher premiums, from discriminating against preexisting conditions, and from unduly increasing premiums on older adults. Connecticut added those protections to our state law in 2015, but made them contingent on the ACA’s continued existence. Connecticut’s next governor must sign a bill ensuring community rating will survive even if the Act is repealed by Congress or struck down by an increasingly radical Supreme Court. • Set a reasonable cap on facility fees, end surprise billing by facilities, and require providers to publish simple, plain-language disclosures of otherwise unexpected costs. More than half of Americans have been hit with surprise bills from an emergency room visit, specialist, hospital stay, or outpatient service they thought would be covered by insurance. Here in Connecticut, hospital networks have charged patients more than $1.2 billion dollars in facility fees -- a cover charge just for walking in the door -- since reporting requirements began in 2015. • Require medical records be fully, costlessly, and digitally portable, and finally open the statewide health information exchange. Physical records trap patients at particular practices and lead to excess paperwork, duplicative tests, and medical errors. It’s time to replace hard copies and fax machines with a 21st-century electronic health record system that allows patients to access their own health information, obtain remote consults without needing to travel, seamlessly transition from one doctor to another, and encourage more price competition by providers. • Lower prices by harnessing competition and market forces. As hospitals and providers become increasingly consolidated, it is vital that we change state law to improve competition. That means full digital portability, increased price transparency, reduced cost-sharing at high-quality, high-value providers, and changes to insurance networks that will cause prices to fall. LOWERING THE PRICE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS For too long, Connecticut residents have gotten a raw deal on drugs. We pay more for prescriptions than residents of every other state but Delaware, and our prices go up faster here than anywhere else. That means billions of dollars in unaffordable and unsustainable costs for working families, older people, and taxpayers alike. Those costs are not inevitable. States around the country, often 18 joined or led by large private-sector employers, are making creative efforts to reduce the cost of drugs. Bringing Connecticut’s per capita pharmaceutical expenditures in line with national trends would save patients more than $1.3 billion and reduce the annual deficit by more than $81 million. My plan will: • Strengthen Connecticut’s leading drug-price transparency law so that pharmaceutical companies are required to report and justify significant price increases, and stringently investigate potential abuses. Mylan’s hiking up of EpiPen prices was a notorious example of the industry’s power to price gouge, but it was not an isolated event. Drug companies that want to increase prices by more than 10% a year should have a compelling reason for doing so — and, as a last resort, the state should meet unconscionable price hikes with legal action on behalf of its residents. • Lower the state’s drug costs by harnessing our purchasing power to negotiate lower prices and implement utilization management measures. As governor, I’ll explore a model similar to New York’s Medicaid Drug Spending Cap. If the state’s drug costs continue to escalate, we will determine the drugs that drive those increases, seek to negotiate more reasonable rates, and authorize utilization management measures if the pharmaceutical companies won’t agree to more sensible prices. • Tackle overly expensive drugs by exploring a subscription payment plan. Certain drugs are many times more expensive than any other on the market, and disproportionately drive cost increases. Louisiana has recently enacted a plan, in conjunction with the pharmaceutical industry, to have the state pay a flat fee for access to these drugs, instead of the more expensive status quo of paying per patient. I will also look into a value-based pricing model that pays drug companies when a medication works and not when it doesn’t. 5 REDUCING COSTS AND EXPANDING ACCESS IN THE INDIVIDUAL MARKET More than 150,000 Connecticut residents receive health insurance through Access Health CT and other individual plans. That exchange is a critical part of our health care infrastructure responsible for ensuring residents who would otherwise not be able to access quality, affordable care. It’s also a critical part of making Connecticut friendly to entrepreneurs and small business owners who cannot get coverage through a large employer. Unfortunately, chaos in Washington is denying people access to health care and driving premiums in the individual market through the roof. Commonsense measures to stabilize Access Health CT will expand access and reduce costs for vulnerable residents, job creators, and small business employees alike. Massachusetts is an example of how forward-thinking, bipartisan policies can transform health insurance markets -- and of how quickly change is possible. In 2014, its typical monthly premium was near the national average. Today, its typical premium is the second-lowest in the nation. In Connecticut, which has the 13th-highest typical premium, residents pay $229 more per month for the same care. It’s time to bring that Massachusetts miracle to Connecticut. My plan will: • Protect residents against the short-term, high-deductible junk plans peddled by the Trump Administration. The American Cancer Society, AARP, and other groups focused on patient protection agree those junk plans will devastate the health and financial security of millions of Americans, especially women, children, and the chronically ill. Although our Insurance Commissioner has interpreted Connecticut law as imposing certain limitations on the sale of junk plans, the statutes must be updated to explicitly codify that interpretation and to require that policies lasting less than six months provide coverage for preexisting conditions. 6 • Establish a reinsurance program modeled on a successful Obama-era federal policy and on bipartisan efforts in other states. Similar programs to reduce insurers’ exposure to extraordinary medical expenses have succeeded in reducing premiums by 15% in New Jersey, 20% in Minnesota, and 43% in Maryland. In Maryland, prices will actually decrease next year, saving residents more than $400 million. Without such a program in Connecticut, monthly premiums increased by over 25% from last year. If we could even just replicate New Jersey’s more modest reductions, we could reduce Access Health CT’s premiums by more than $130 million. As governor, I will introduce legislation authorizing the state to secure the federal innovation waiver necessary to pursue these savings. • Expand the open enrollment period for Access Health CT and help patients navigate their health insurance options. The Trump administration shortened the window during which Connecticut residents could choose an individual health care plan from three months to barely six weeks, and squandered the budget President Obama had established to advertise the exchanges and to assist interested consumers. Connecticut can reduce the number of uninsured residents by following the lead of other states, like California, that have provided their residents additional time to enroll. DELIVERING VALUE IN MEDICAID AND THE STATE EMPLOYEE HEALTH PLAN HUSKY, Connecticut’s Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, is an enormous achievement that provides access to health care for more than 800,000 people in our state — including more than one in three children. These programs reflect a core value: nobody in Connecticut will go without health care because they are too young, too disabled, or too poor. Connecticut also provides health insurance to 200,000 current and retired public employees and their families, who were promised access to affordable, high-quality insurance as part of their jobs. It’s because I value these programs so much — including the taxpayers who fund them, and the providers who deliver their care — that I’ll demand we spend our Medicaid and state employee health care dollars as efficiently and effectively as possible. Reducing costs and improving outcomes aren’t at odds with each other — in fact, they are complementary. My plan will: • Continue Connecticut’s Medicaid expansion. I’m proud that Connecticut was the first state to expand Medicaid under President Obama. More than 200,000 people in Connecticut got meaningful access to health care — many for the first time in their lives, improving their health while saving the state money in the long run. My Republican opponent won’t stand up for the Medicaid expansion — he says the Affordable Care Act hasn’t done anything good for Connecticut. The contrast here couldn’t be clearer. I’ll fight to protect the Medicaid expansion from cutbacks in Hartford and from threats from Republicans in Washington. • Rationalize utilization by delivering more appropriate care that also saves costs. Right now, much of our state health care spending goes to practices and procedures that are neither best for patients nor cost effective for taxpayers. Rationalizing utilization of public health care spending would deliver more appropriate care at lower cost. Just one example: providing long-term care in patients’ homes and communities instead of in institutional settings. Nationally, about 70% of long-term care is provided at home or in the community — but in Connecticut, it’s only around 60%. We know that older adults and people with disabilities prefer care in their own home and community; shifting our Medicaid spending further away from institutional care will 21 save costs and improve people’s lives. C-sections are another example: at 35%, Connecticut’s C-section rate is one of the highest in the country. Medicaid covers about 40% of births in Connecticut; natural births are not only $8,000 less expensive, they are often safer. Moving our C-section rate closer to or under the national average could save millions while advancing women’s and neonatal health. • Reorient Connecticut’s state employee health care system around value-based care. The state spends around $1.3 billion a year to provide health insurance for current and former employees. As a self-insurer, the state contracts with insurance companies and pharmacy benefits managers to administer claims. As governor, I will demand accountability and transparency from the state’s health care vendors — requiring that they meaningfully disclose prices and ensuring that the state is getting as much value as possible from its health care expenditures. I will direct the Governor’s office to actively participate in the Comptroller’s efforts to monitor and reevaluate these vendor relationships, and to drive value-based innovations in our state employee health system. • Drive preventive and primary care innovations for Medicaid and state employees. Health care costs are enormously concentrated: nearly two in three dollars in costs come from just about one in ten patients. These costs often come from expensive treatments for chronic diseases that could be prevented or better managed with earlier detection and intervention. As governor, I’ll encourage our Medicaid and state employee health plans to search out innovations in preventive and primary care. An organization called CareMore has a pilot program under way in New Haven and West Hartford that is lowering the barriers to in-home, multidisciplinary primary care for patients that would otherwise rack up expensive hospital bills. It’s a model that I’ll look to for lessons learned. I will also look to the private sector, where large companies often self-insure just like the state does, for ideas — like on-site preventative and primary care clinics that improve employee health, reduce absenteeism, and increase public employee productivity. 22 INVESTING IN PUBLIC HEALTH Health care policy does not begin or end in the doctor’s office or the emergency room. A comprehensive Connecticut health care solution requires recognizing the social determinants of health, providing equal access to mental health care, and addressing public health care emergencies from the opioid crisis to childhood obesity. My plan will: • Focus on the social determinants of health so that Connecticut health care policy broadens its scope to incorporate interventions in housing, education, poverty, and the environment. • Redouble Connecticut’s efforts to address the opioid epidemic by appointing a cabinet-level opioid czar to coordinate the state’s multi-agency response, increase access to naloxone, encourage medication-assisted treatment, and continue the work of the Connecticut Opioid Response Initiative. • Fortify the continuum of mental health care options for those suffering from mental health conditions and substance use disorders and protect and defend mental health parity laws. • Support strong, common sense measures on public health to reduce smoking, improve vaccination rates, reduce childhood obesity, and reduce infant and maternal mortality – particularly in our communities of color. *** Connecticut has reduced its uninsured rate and expanded access to care for hundreds of thousands of people in recent years. That is progress that I will protect and that we cannot afford to reverse. But there is much more work to do. Despite these advances, health care in Connecticut remains unaffordable for too many families and businesses, and its growing cost is a major contributor to the state’s fiscal crisis. At the same time that many can’t afford their insurance, others still lack access to care — and the increasing price tag of state employee health care is crowding out public investment in education, infrastructure, and economic development. That’s both a moral and economic emergency. My plan tackles it head on, by aiming straight at the biggest growing costs and aiming high at the most promising areas for innovation. It’s a plan that enlists Connecticut’s world-class doctors, hospitals, and insurers — and it will improve the health care that people in Connecticut deserve while putting us on a sustainable course out of the fiscal crisis. 9 INVESTING IN EDUCATION I believe that access to high-quality public education must be a right for all, not just the privileged few. I have visited educational institutions all over the state hearing from driven students and passionate educators, and I am proud of the hard work that Connecticut has done to improve our educational system over the past few decades. Our teachers and educators are incredibly hard-working and I thank them for their dedication to the well-being of our children and adultlearners alike. Critically, some of the ideas below represent tangible solutions that have little or no additional cost to the state, such as encouraging partnerships similar to the one between Goodwin College, Pratt and Whitney and local technology companies to grow our students’ skillsets. A strong and vibrant education system designed for the needs of individuals of all ages and aligned with employers’ needs will help drive our state’s economic recovery, as employers will be able to hire Connecticut residents for Connecticut jobs, and be confident in growing in Connecticut. That’s why I will strengthen our education system by focusing on: LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 24 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT Child Care and Early Education Studies show that investing in early education is a good investment for the economic future of Connecticut. At All Our Kin, a non-profit supporter of sustainable family child care programs, I learned that every dollar they spent returned $15 or more to the regional economy. Given this fact, and increasingly strong research on brain development, we can no longer afford to view child care as a convenience, but an educational and economic necessity, especially for lowincome families. In additional to the developmental and educational benefits for children and increased income for child care providers, having quality and consistent child care means parents can reenter the workforce or better retain their jobs. As governor, I will prioritize: Expanding nurse-family partnerships, child care, and early education programs. Nobel Prize-winning social science research has shown that each dollar invested in early childhood education results in $15 of future benefits. • Protecting and fully funding the Care4Kids program, which helps low to moderate income families in Connecticut pay for child care costs. • K-12 Education & Vo-Tech In the past 20 years, the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula has been fully funded only twice and legislators in Hartford continually tweak the formula to gain political favor instead of thinking about the needs of our children, the needs of our schools or the needs of our state. Education is the best investment we can make in our future, and funding it should not be a political question. For example, in fiscal year 2019, Waterbury’s Education Cost Sharing Grant will be underfunded by more than $60 million, according to the Connecticut School Finance Project. During fiscal year 2019, Waterbury is slated to receive $136.6 million in Education Cost Sharing funding – $22.5 million is in the form of an Alliance Grant. Waterbury is not alone: many rural, suburban and urban communities now have different student populations and different needs than they did in decades past, but state funding has not been adjusted to support these communities, and the lack of transparency with how funding is dispersed further impedes fair distribution of funding. By implementing the education funding formula as it was written – based on need – we can begin to address the disparities that are present in our educational system. The education achievement gaps between our districts are heartbreaking, because it means that some of our children are being left behind. The increasing segregation of our classrooms is distressing. And we must do more to make sure that we don’t slip further behind Massachusetts or other states in K-12 education quality. As we continue to address the education achievement gap that is present across the state, we need to look at what public school systems like Macdonough Elementary School in Middletown are doing to foster a better teaching and learning environment. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 25 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT During the 2017-18 academic year, Macdonough Elementary School faced the possibility of closure to offset a cut in state and municipal aid. As one of 33 Alliance Districts in the state, the Middletown public school system has taken critical steps to close its achievement gap by focusing on improving test scores, increasing instructional time and creating a more diverse staff that is reflective of the student body. Macdonough has also worked to prepare our students for a 21st-century economy by teaching them problem-solving skills and how to think critically through the school’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program. Macdonough’s STEM program targets students in grades four and five with a hands-on, inquiry-based approach to learning. STEM-related careers are among the fastest-growing jobs in Connecticut. We need to encourage all students – regardless of their race or gender – to pursue a STEM education so we can create a more diverse talent pool. As governor, I will work tirelessly on my first day and every day to improve educational access, equity and outcomes in the state. I am proud to support a comprehensive education reform platform to expand access to childcare and early childhood education; to improve K-12 education; to expand workforce development programs; and to make college accessible to all. That’s why as governor I will prioritize: Fixing and fully-funding the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula so that our school districts have the resources to educate our children. • Boosting academic achievement of all students by encouraging more diversity among our teachers. Research shows that teachers of color significantly improve the learning of all students, especially for students of color. Hiring and retaining qualified teachers is so important to closing our achievement gap. • Promoting STEAM education in our K-12 schools. Specifically, I strongly support incorporating computer science and statistics into our K-12 curriculum, similarly to what our neighbors have done in Rhode Island. • Reducing class sizes and student-to-counselor ratios, and incorporating more social workers in our schools. • Promoting restorative justice and social and emotional learning in schools, and making our schools trauma-sensitive. • Continuing to improve reading, math, and executive function skills in our early grades. One step is to continue to reduce chronic absenteeism in our schools. • Promoting high school-private sector engagements to teach fundamental professional skills. • Creating incentives in state funding that promote cost-efficiencies through regional collaboration on everything from back room functions, to curriculum development, to administrative personnel, and even to school districts themselves facing declining enrollments. • LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 26 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT Affordable Higher Education I’m lucky to have experienced first hand how incredible, inspired students become driven members of society during my time lecturing at Central Connecticut State University, and during this campaign I’ve heard from students, educators and administrators about how our state has one of the best public and private higher education systems in the country. But to make sure graduates are competitive for jobs, we’ve got to make sure our wonderful institutions are aligned with the needs of employers, and students are not weighed down by mountains of debt, putting them at a significant disadvantage when they graduate and begin working. It’s no secret that Connecticut faces serious fiscal constraints, but a lack of money shouldn’t keep driven, qualified students from going to college. Studies show the incredible benefits that students gain by earning a college degree. From higher competitiveness for jobs to better lifelong earning potential, the benefits of a degree cannot be overstated. We know too that benefits extend beyond better financial prospects: Those with postsecondary degrees are healthier, and have lower unemployment rates and lower poverty rates than those without college degrees. That said, I am committed to also supporting programs that are the best fit for Connecticut residents, including apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, career schools and twoyear community colleges. In the middle of a fiscal crisis, we need to be creative about financing those investments. We can't fulfill a commitment to tuition-free community college by shifting $100 million in community college receipts onto the General Fund. However, there are an extraordinary number of unfilled, good-paying jobs in Connecticut that require more than a high school diploma but less than a 4-year degree. Business leaders here want skilled applicants, and Connecticut community college students want more job opportunities. I will work with the private sector to create scholarships and a fund that helps students realize their full potential. All of this adds up to a better educated, diversely skilled, and more competitive workforce that will attract and retain employers to Connecticut. That’s why as governor, I will prioritize: • Expanding access to higher education – including to older individuals – by making Connecticut community colleges tuition-free to in-state students who commit to living and working in Connecticut for a period of time after they graduate. • Working to improve the partnership between our world class community colleges, state universities and private colleges to ensure students have the resources they need to continue their education. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 27 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT • Prioritizing expansion of public-private partnerships between our major employers and our community colleges. The partnership between Pratt and Whitney and Goodwin College to support their manufacturing classes is a model that can be replicated across the state. The IBM P-Tech school in Norwalk is another good example of a public private partnership. Vo-Tech, Job Training & Workforce Development I collaborated with the Yale School of Management and brought people together to produce the CT Workforce Assessment, a study about the strengths and weaknesses of Connecticut's workforce. As part of the assessment, we met with Connecticut’s largest employers from the state’s key industries: manufacturing, insurance and finance, healthcare and bioscience, green technology, tourism and digital media. We also included the state’s core economic and industry boards and research organizations. In our interviews with thought leaders -- academics, labor leaders & CEOs -- we asked about future skill needs of their industries, strategies to address current and future gaps, and the role of the government, business and labor in moving our state forward. On the campaign trail, I’ve seen many examples of educational programs aligning to meet future skill needs of Connecticut industries, ensuring their graduates get good Connecticut jobs, but we must do more and need a coherent strategy. Six years ago, the city of Waterbury built the Waterbury Career Academy to meet the needs of the community. The vocational technical high school focuses on the health, human services and manufacturing fields, preparing students to go on to pursue a higher education at top-tier colleges and universities, apprenticeship programs or launch their careers. This year, the VoTech high school is graduating its second class and has a 98.5 percent graduation rate. Like I saw in Waterbury and like I did with the CT Workforce Assessment, I’ll keep bringing our employers together with our educational institutions to make sure we understand what employers want, and in turn understand how to keep Connecticut residents competitive for well-paying Connecticut jobs. That means creating an environment where our people can succeed. That means empowering people with the skills they need to be competitive for the jobs of today and tomorrow. And that’s one reason that I was proud to convene the group of business leaders from Travelers, the head of Aetna, the head of Hartford HealthCare, the head of Stanley Black and Decker, and together we helped convince Infosys to build their new training and innovation hub right here in Hartford. That was the best day I’ve had in Connecticut in a long time because it means we’re investing in our people. I plan to continue this type of partnership as governor, and I will: Open coding academies and training bootcamps in the state so that our workers can learn in-demand skills in short, high-intensity, high-quality programs. • Bring our education and business communities together to dramatically expand apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. I look to South Carolina, Colorado, • LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 28 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT Tennessee, and Maryland as models, and I believe that the apprenticeship model can work well in a variety of industries as well as in the building trades. State government will take the lead by developing apprenticeship programs for our own state workforce. Keep encouraging regular discussion among our business community, educational institutions of all levels and organized labor to make sure we understand the needs of the 21st century workforce, and Connecticut residents are competitive for Connecticut jobs. • Investing in and expanding our vocational and agricultural technology high school systems. We should build on the success of places like Massachusetts, where Vo-Tech schools are integrated into the local economy, are in high demand by students, and have high academic outcomes with high college attendance rates. • Promoting private sector engagements in our schools and training programs to teach fundamental professional skills relevant to current job markets. • LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 29 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT STANDING UP FOR CONNECTICUT'S SENIORS Seniors are the anchors of our communities. They have worked here, created memories here, and raised their families here. It’s important that they stay here. That’s why our next governor needs to make sure he implements policies that will lessen the financial burden on older adults and help them stay in their homes. As governor, I am committed to working together to ensure Connecticut remains a place where our seniors can afford to live and their families are sure to thrive. I believe we can make life better for everyone in Connecticut by creating jobs, cutting property taxes, and reducing health care costs. Jumpstarting our economy will make life easier for seniors and will encourage their children and grandchildren to stay in Connecticut to raise new generations of their families. I also recognize we need policies tailored to the unique challenges our seniors are facing. In contrast, my Republican opponent’s only plan to benefit retirees is to end the estate tax and provide a tax break for our very wealthiest residents. That tax break would eliminate state aid to our towns, forcing those towns to dramatically increase property taxes on already-strapped residents. My opponent also opposes the Affordable Care Act, which saved more than half a million Connecticut seniors significant sums of money by closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap, or donut hole. The choice couldn’t be clearer. As governor, I will: • Reduce the property tax burden on Connecticut’s seniors and municipalities. Property taxes in Connecticut are far too high, and Gov. Malloy made that problem worse by eliminating funding for municipal circuit-breaker program that helps 50,000 senior homeowners. I will reverse that hike by restoring $25 million in funding to our towns – and will extend similar relief to tens of thousands of senior renters for the very first time. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 30 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT • Lower the price of prescription drugs. Connecticut residents pay more for prescriptions than people in all but one other state, and our prices go up faster here than anywhere else. Bringing Connecticut’s per capita pharmaceutical expenditures in line with national trends would save patients more than $1.3 billion a year. I will reduce health care costs for seniors by increasing pricing transparency, negotiating lower prices, driving innovative payment reforms, and blocking abusive price hikes. • Help seniors age in place by expanding home- and community-based services. Home-based care not only is more comfortable than institutional care, but also improves health outcomes and reduces costs to seniors, their families, and the taxpayers. Connecticut sends many more seniors in need of long-term services and support to institutions than most states do. Paying for in-home primary care, home visits, and home improvements like pull bars and ramps will prevent falls and allow older residents to live at home in safety and with dignity. • Guarantee the Affordable Care Act’s protections in Connecticut law. We must keep adults over fifty safe from the discriminatory age tax that leads to sharp increases in their health care premiums, even if the ACA is repealed by Congressional Republicans or struck down by an increasingly radical Supreme Court. • Support independent living by promoting public transit and transit-oriented development. • Make it easier for relatives to care for aging family members by establishing a responsibly financed paid family and medical leave system modeled on bipartisan successes in other states. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 31 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS When women and girls succeed, Connecticut succeeds. When more women have access to work, economies grow. If quality childcare is affordable, families thrive. Increasing the number of women who complete college stimulates the economy tenfold. That’s why the experiences of women and girls must figure into every policy and program decision we make. Building a more fair and equal Connecticut economy is central to my plans to attracting new residents and getting our state back on track. I know that the key to vibrant communities starts with policies that elevate families and it begins with women. Issues of concern to women and girls should be of concern to men – they certainly are to me. My wife Annie and I have built our lives and our family together. Annie and I have been true partners, supporting each other in our careers from day one. I am proud to say that we have raised our two daughters to be successful, independent women and our son to understand that women’s rights are human rights. I have traveled the state to hear from diverse women about their successes, as well as their challenges. I am keenly focused on the issues that matter to women and girls in our state, on the multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination they face, and – together with women – I have developed plans for what I will do as Governor to advance women’s interests and address their concerns. LEADERSHIP We’ve waited a long time to create real equality for women, and we are not making progress fast enough. Nationally, less than 5% of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women. Women hold only 23% of the seats in the U.S. Senate and only 19% in the House of Representatives. Only 1 in 4 of Donald Trump’s cabinet officials are women.Women hold only 28% of the seats in the Connecticut General Assembly and only a fifth of the seats on Connecticut’s Fortune 1000 company boards. That is not acceptable, and it doesn’t reflect the facts. More than 100,000 women-owned business32 es in the state employ thousands of people and contribute $16.4 billion to Connecticut’s GDP. We know that women can and will play a pivotal role in turning our economy around. Whether in the private sector, the nonprofit sector, or in government, I respect the important role of women in leadership. I am committed to lifting up women’s voices and making sure that they can bring their ideas, talent, and energy to the table. To do that, we need to make sure that women are equitably represented in all sectors, starting with state government. As Governor, I will: • Appoint a cabinet of Commissioners that reflects the composition of our population, and ensure this same equity with regard to other executive branch appointments. I’ll encourage the legislature to do the same. And I will issue an annual report to ensure transparency and accountability – in all branches of government – on this issue. • Urge the state’s largest employers to take the Paradigm for Parity Pledge to achieve full gender parity by 2030 – some major firms, including Frontier, Synchrony Financial and United Technologies Corporation, have already done so, leading the way. • Direct CT Innovations to invest in women-owned businesses and convene private investors around the same opportunity. Women founders receive less than 3% of venture funding. 2 HEALTH AND SAFETY Reproductive rights are essential to achieving gender equality. Reproductive freedom means having affordable access to health care, including birth control. I am committed to ensuring that women have access to health options. In the face of growing challenges at the national level led by the Trump Administration, we can’t afford to lose ground with regard to defending a woman’s right to choose as a fundamental freedom. I will defend and protect a woman’s right to make decisions for herself and her body. Women have the right to feel and to be safe in their homes, in their workplaces, and in any and all public spaces. We need to better promote the safety of women in Connecticut, and I will. Most sexual assault survivors don’t report right away, especially if the perpetrator is someone they know – which applies in four out of every five cases. Connecticut’s statute of limitations for felony sex crimes, currently set at five years, is one of the shortest in the nation. 26 states have eliminated their statutes of limitations for rape. And we have to ensure that we track and quickly process sexual assault evidence collection kits, which are often critically important in sexual assault investigations. Connecticut can do better. Over the past year, the world has been shocked by horrific stories, some decades-old, told by brave survivors. In our state, we believe them. This is an important matter of justice and public safety. We stand up for them. We have a basic, moral obligation to do everything possible to make it easier for survivors to come forward. As Governor, I will: • Protect the essential benefits of the Affordable Care Act in state law including preventive health services for women, like birth control, with no-copay or cost sharing and expanded prescription coverage up to 12 months for contraceptives. • Preserve funding for vital health care services, including the Medicaid (Husky) program, which provides healthcare coverage for more than 413,000 women (54% of the population covered by Medicaid in CT) and more than 1/3 of the children in our state. • Crack down on crisis pregnancy centers using deceptive advertising practices. • Develop and implement government-wide office policies preventing and effectively responding to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking by providing flexible leave policies, holding perpetrators accountable, and addressing complex situations with co-workers. Having modeled the change we need in state agency offices, I will also help private and municipal employers implement similar policies. • Create a task force to bring together business leaders, advocates, human resources professionals, and survivors to review best practices and create a stronger culture of education and prevention to stop workplace sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination. Champion the work of advocacy agencies to educate and encourage men and boys to participate in active prevention of domestic violence and sexual violence. • Work with our towns to introduce sex ed programs in public schools that highlight the importance of affirmative consent. • Extend Connecticut’s statute of limitation on sexual assault crimes to provide the opportunity for victims to come forward when they are ready to do so and have the hearing they deserve. 34 • Support the work of advocates, law enforcement, and prosecutors to ensure that Connecticut quickly and effectively processes sexual assault evidence kits. • Preserve state funding for Sexual Assault Services and Domestic Violence Services. ECONOMY We have to revitalize Connecticut’s economy in a way that fosters prosperity and opportunity for all, including Connecticut’s 170,000 family households headed by women. Supporting women in the workforce is the right thing to do and offers enormous social and economic benefits. But Connecticut women make 82.4 cents or every dollar that men make. Our women of color make even less. That is unfair, and it is costing women and our economy $15 billion. Women should never be paid less for equal work. At the same time, women face pressures every day to balance their jobs and the needs of their families. No one in Connecticut should have to choose between paying their bills and spending the first days with a new baby or the last days with a parent. Paid leave is good for business too. In a study of California’s paid leave program, the vast majority (87%) of businesses reported that they experienced either a cost savings or no additional costs due to the program. Studies of paid leave programs in Rhode Island and New Jersey found similar results. Paid leave improves employee retention, which reduces expensive turnover costs: research indicates that the cost of replacing an employee is about one-fifth of that worker’s annual salary. Women in the workforce also need high-quality early childhood care that will help their children thrive and grow in safety while parents work to support their families. Families with young children often lack the childcare options they need to fit their employment schedules, and seldom have clear information on the available options to allow them to make choices between providers. Childcare is 4 critically important to working mothers, and we have to do better to support them. A fair economy pays a living wage, supports workforce readiness initiatives, and empowers women, including women of color. There is no question that women’s equality in the workplace is good for business and our economy. With bold, progressive leadership, we can create economic growth that empowers all people, including women in Connecticut. As Governor, I will: • Raise the minimum wage to $15 to bring working families – including those headed by women – out of poverty and stimulate economic growth. I will enforce existing legislation that will help close this gap, and encourage policies across companies in the private sector that do the same. • Establish a meaningful and responsibly financed paid family and medical leave system that also protects caregivers’ right to return to work with emphasis on bipartisan models that are already working in other states. • Prioritize state contracts with and access to credit for women- and minority-owned businesses to ensure everyone in Connecticut is able to get ahead. • Increase the availability of infant care, provide easy-to-understand childcare quality ratings so parents can make better informed choices regarding providers, and develop options for childcare available during non-traditional and weekend hours and accessible to families in the event of an emergency. • Reliably support the Care 4 Kids childcare assistance fund to ensure that childcare is available for low to moderate income families, especially single-female heads of household. EDUCATION Education is a widely recognized successful strategy to help women achieve their full potential. While the University of Connecticut led the nation with a 9% increase in women engineering graduates from 2010-2015, only 1 in 4 of UCONN’s engineering graduates were women. Part-time, firsttime female students in Connecticut are taking an average 6.4 years to complete an Associate’s Degree and 5.5 years to achieve a Bachelor’s degree. We need to address barriers to women’s and girls' educational achievement. One important barrier is the threat of sexual violence in schools and on college campuses. President Trump’s education secretary, Betsy Devos, is proposing to roll back President Obama’s protections against sexual violence and misconduct at schools. To combat that threat, more must be done to guarantee all Connecticut students safe and equal access to educational opportunities. As Governor, I will: • Broker public-private partnerships that fully open doors for all women and girls to complete college and to receive training and support to pursue careers in under-represented STEAM fields; address barriers which deter women from finishing their education. • Increase the number of women and girls who complete STEAM degrees at the state’s public colleges and universities programs and encourage private colleges to do the same. 36 • Codify in Connecticut law the Obama administration’s guidance clarifying that laws prohibiting sex discrimination in education prohibit sexual harassment and violence, require educational institutions to affirmatively prevent and remedy sexual harassment and violence onand off-campus, and mandate disciplinary proceedings that protect due process by providing complainants as well as respondents the right to an appeal. • Encourage robust enforcement of Connecticut’s protections by working with the Attorney General to audit compliance with the law and investigate reported violations, and by reforming Connecticut law to permit individuals to sue to vindicate their right to access educational opportunities in Connecticut free from sex-based or gender discrimination. • Review training practices and prevention/awareness education at schools, colleges, and universities to ensure that they measure up to the high standards set forth in the Obama administration’s guidance and rolled back by the Trump/DeVos proposed rules. • Ensure that schools, colleges, and universities provide complainants with meaningful access to resources and accommodations (e.g., counselors, medical professionals, tutoring, disability services, and no-contact orders). • Require colleges and universities to conduct climate surveys and to report disciplinary data disaggregated by race and other socioeconomically relevant characteristics in order to ensure equal protection of the law in the campus disciplinary process. 6 SOLVING CONNECTICUT'S HOUSING CRISIS Home is more than a roof over your head. It’s where you come to regroup after a long day of work, to enjoy time with family, to complete homework, to plan for your future. Home is the foundation of the middle class, and the cornerstone of physical, mental, and emotional health. Too many Connecticut families struggle to find a safe home they can afford. Our state is one of the ten least affordable housing markets in America, and housing costs are the single biggest expense in most family budgets. Spending too much money on housing leaves families with too little for life’s other necessities, prevents companies from growing their Connecticut workforce, and discourages people from staying in-state. That means millennials depart to raise families elsewhere. First-year teachers, first responders and certified nursing assistants struggle to live in the communities they serve. And seniors fight to stay in the homes where they built their lives. That’s why I’ve promised to raise wages and deliver meaningful property tax relief, whether you own or rent your home, to families across the state. It’s why I believe everyone should be alarmed by my Republican opponent’s scheme to provide tax cuts to the very wealthiest at the expense of raising property taxes on the middle class and small businesses and compromising our children’s schools. And it’s why, as Governor, I’m going to help Connecticut families by facing the housing challenge head on. Connecticut can be a vibrant, diverse state with a strong and growing knowledge economy – and that starts with making sure residents can afford a home here. BUILDING THE HOUSING WE NEED Every Connecticut resident deserves a safe home that doesn’t break the bank. If we can build the range of housing options our residents and employers need, they will stay in Connecticut, participate in the life of our communities, contribute to our tax base, and support local businesses and shops. We all win. 38 I will work with local and private sector leaders to ensure state government is a partner, not an obstacle, in that construction effort. Building homes will both help current and aspiring residents find a suitable place for their families to live, and drive our economy forward. Constructing 100 apartments typically creates 161 local jobs, $11.7 million in local income, and $2.2 million in taxes and other local government revenue in the first year alone. My plan will: • Get shovel-ready projects underway by reducing delays imposed by the state government such as long waits, sometimes more than a year, to close a financing arrangement. I will eliminate delays and bureaucratic red tape that drive up developers’ costs and keep them from breaking ground. I will also work with our towns to expand their capacity to work effectively with developers and to process permits efficiently. • Increase resources for housing construction by conducting a top-to-bottom review of Connecticut’s bonding priorities and leveraging outside investment. Last year, less than six percent of bonding went to housing. I will increase that amount. I will also do more to leverage philanthropic partnerships and the interest of social impact investors. Similar partnerships in Chicago have raised nearly $100 million dollars to provide low-interest funding for community development, and Philadelphia is well on the way to developing a $30-million fund for that purpose. Connecticut can do the same. • Convene our housing authorities to share best practices across town borders and create a greater positive impact in their communities. Those authorities can redevelop their existing housing portfolios, draw on existing federal funds, and attract new resources from the private sector to address blight, improve neighborhoods in need, and build much-needed housing. 2 • Equip and empower our towns to expand the range of housing options. Our communities need a variety of housing solutions, including the multifamily units that are more likely to provide affordable options and the transit-oriented developments that allow residents an easy and affordable commute while reducing traffic, pollution, and road damage. Yet less than a fifth of our towns have enough homes that our senior citizens and young and working families can afford. I will engage towns and councils of government to understand what they need. I will help them build housing that serves their residents by directing state agencies to provide technical assistance, bringing federal money into the state's designated Opportunity Zones, making full use of Tax Increment Financing, restoring grant programs supporting regional cooperation, and expanding transit-oriented development. PROTECTING RESIDENTS' PHYSICAL AND FINANCIAL SECURITY Owning a home is a critical part of the American Dream, and building value in the homes we own has always been part of America’s path to the middle class. In addition to ensuring an adequate supply of housing, we must protect the physical and financial security of new and existing homeowners. Crippling property taxes, regionally uncompetitive electricity rates, and a stagnant economy strain family resources and contribute to an unacceptable reality: many Connecticut residents are in danger of losing their homes, and seniors and people of color are particularly under threat. Other homes – contaminated with lead or poorly equipped for their aging residents – pose a safety risk to their inhabitants. The state can be part of a solution that makes Connecticut a safe, livable place for everyone. My plan will: • Reduce property taxes by reversing Malloy’s property tax hikes, targeting additional property tax relief for working families in high-tax towns, and encouraging towns to become more efficient. My targeted property tax relief plan will save the typical beneficiary $700 a year, provide relief to renters for the first time, and restore funding for the municipal property tax credit for elderly and disabled residents. • Keep Connecticut homeowners facing financial crises in their homes by restoring the Foreclosure Mediation Program, which is scheduled to wind down next year. Even as we focus on the future, we have to remember that many Connecticut residents are not yet past the damage of the recession, including the foreclosure crisis. Connecticut has the fifth-highest foreclosure rate in America, and we cannot allow a program that served as a model for other states, and saves the homes and savings of most participants, to lapse while our homeowners still need help. • Support homeowners and towns affected by the crumbling foundations crisis. Up to 35,000 homes in northern and eastern Connecticut were built with concrete laced with pyrrhotite, a mineral that causes cracking when exposed to groundwater, and may now be valueless — even uninhabitable. I will deliver the promised $100 million in state bonding, develop a cost-effective diagnostic so residents can feel secure in the integrity of their home or begin to remediate the issue, and work with local leaders, insurance companies, banks, and the federal government on a fair resolution to the crisis. • Allow seniors to live at home in safety and with dignity. Tens of thousands of seniors who would prefer to age in place are being either driven out of their homes into institutional care or left to live in homes that present an undue risk of preventable falls – undermining their indepen40 dence and costing their families and our state unsustainable amounts. I will expand home- and community-based services and replicate successful interventions, such as a Johns Hopkins pilot that reduced falls and improved independence by funding minor home improvements such as installing grab bars and stapling down loose carpets. • Protect children from lead poisoning by requiring health officials to notify local and state authorities whenever a child tests above four micrograms per deciliter and working with landlords, including public housing authorities, to abate lead paint in residential properties by 2025. Tens of thousands of families live in pre-1978 homes where lead paint places children at risk of severe mental and physical impairment. The Department of Public Health estimates that more than 60,000 children across the state, including in towns like Vernon and West Hartford, are exposed to lead and that more than 2,000 children suffer from lead poisoning. • Maintain momentum on efforts to end homelessness by continuing the “housing first” approach that has made Connecticut a national leader in helping those experiencing homelessness get back on their feet. Too many of our residents wake up each morning not knowing where they will be able to go sleep that night. Securing the housing people need while connecting them to other community resources is the right thing to do for people in need and the smart thing to do for towns that squander resources when homelessness persists on streets, at shelters, and in emergency rooms. By breaking down silos between service providers and increasing the impact of available resources, Connecticut has reduced veteran homelessness to zero and overall homelessness by more than a third. I will keep the needle moving until not a single Connecticut child or adult must spend a night without a home. 41 FIXING THE DMV Let’s be honest – nobody likes going to the DMV. Wait times regularly turn what should be a quick visit into a daylong ordeal. Residents who should be treated as well as customers at any private business are subjected to extended delays, confusing requirements, and poor service. Errands that require ten minutes in other states require a day off work in Connecticut. Even efforts to upgrade the system become mired in delay and disappointment. It doesn’t have to be that way. The DMV touches almost all Connecticut residents. It’s one of the most common interactions between Connecticut families and their government – and our DMV is stuck in the past. I will take it into the 21st century. Cloud-based technologies customers expect in other states and other sectors could transform the DMV. Like New Yorkers, our residents should be able to renew a license from the comfort of their homes. Like Californians, they should be able to schedule all DMV appointments over their phones. And like customers at other crowded businesses such as airline check-in counters and popular restaurants, those who visit DMV service centers should be greeted by modern and efficient technologies: kiosks that allow them to bypass long lines for simple services and the option of receiving a text message when a window is ready. Many of those transformative technologies can be rolled out from day one. Others require we finally get serious about updating and integrating the DMV’s three principal computer systems. Those systems -- a forty-year-old licensing mainframe, a distributed registration platform, and an online payment and scheduling tool for learners permits and road tests -- have different code bases, and don’t talk to each other well. For too long, the DMV has focused on patchwork solutions rather than on creating a unified architecture. If we don’t act now, we’ll continue to fall further and further behind. 42 We all watched as the DMV botched its initial effort to unify those computer systems. Residents grew frustrated. Wait times skyrocketed to as long as eight hours. The images of lines out the doors of the branches were startling. Connecticut watched as the DMV went back and forth with its vendor, and as the agency struggled to adapt to a new system. Even today, years after that partial roll-out, wait times at the DMV routinely exceed two hours. It has to change. I will implement a common-sense plan to make the DMV more efficient. By limiting how often people have to visit the DMV, reducing the amount of time each visit takes, and thinking strategically about how to move its computer systems into the future, I will bring efficiency and change to an agency that has frustrated people and defied politicians for decades – saving Connecticut money and saving our residents time. I have an eight-step plan to improve our system: LESS TIME AT THE DMV • Extend Licenses and Registrations The simplest and most cost-effective way to improve your interactions with the DMV is to reduce your interactions with the DMV. Although many states allow their residents to go eight years between new licenses, our legislature recently refused to extend Connecticut licenses beyond six years. I’ll extend the length of your license by a third. I’ll also extend the length of your registration by half, to three years – the length of most car leases – instead of two. Those changes will decrease visits and improve wait times for everyone. • Transform Customer-Facing Processes We’ve all been there – you wait in line for an hour only to be placed in a second one to fill out another form, and then another. You get in line, take a number, sit-down, only to stand back up, show your paperwork, and sit down again to wait for another window. There are simply too many steps in the process for customers – and the sheer number of steps within a branch to complete a single transaction results in a poor customer experience full of confusion and frustration. It’s driving up wait times. I will charge the commissioner with cutting out unnecessary bureaucratic steps, revamping processes so that they’re simple and straightforward, and making sure staff are trained to use any new software up front, rather than having to learn it on the fly. • Open New DMV Express Centers Connecticut residents shouldn’t have to go to a DMV location for simple services. Until recently, they didn’t have to: AAA offices across the state processed hundreds of thousands of annual renewals. Since the Fairfield and New Haven County offices severed ties with the DMV, wait times have spiked. One proven solution is making better use of an existing resource: our 169 town halls. By opening DMV Express Centers staffed by experienced DMV employees in twenty of those halls and by deploying kiosks to additional businesses, we’ll provide simple, effective services to residents across the state and reduce lines inside agency branches at a relatively low cost. • Create New Regional DMV Supercenters As we open local centers across the state, we also need to tear apart service-as-usual and completely reinvent, rethink, and revamp the way the DMV flagship branches do business. Right now, there are 8 hub offices, 5 limited service locations, three appointment-only offices, and one “other service” location. That means we have 17 locations with varying and limited degrees of service. Instead, we need to modernize our hub offices into new supercenters, well served 43 by public transportation, that are thoughtfully designed, equipped, and staffed to offer a bestin-class customer experience – during business hours convenient for those customers. That will streamline service provision and save money down the line. BRING THE DMV INTO THE 21ST CENTURY • Introduce Modern, Customer-Facing Technology Modern conveniences perfected in other states, and by banks and other private companies, need to be introduced across the Connecticut DMV. That begins with everyday expectations like remote renewals so that residents will rarely need to visit a branch in person. It includes more pioneering customer-centered technologies, like a recent Louisiana program that allows residents of that state to carry a validated digital copy of their license on their phones and tablets. And it ends with a better experience for every DMV customer in the state. We also need to publicize which services are currently available online, because one in every three DMV visitors is there to accomplish an errand that can already be done remotely. • Overhaul Software Platforms It’s not just our customer-facing software that’s fallen behind the times. DMV computers rely on a decades-old mainframe and a patchwork of other systems that cause glitches, create inefficiencies, and waste time. We need to modernize and integrate those systems to provide a seamless customer experience and 21st-century services to Connecticut residents. That’s why I will complete the long-standing project to overhaul the DMV’s software. ACCOUNTABILITY • Strengthen Outside Contracts The last time the DMV tried to modernize its systems, Connecticut residents spent $26 million on a lemon. 3M, the company hired to do the job, didn’t live up to its end of the bargain. As a result, wait times spiked, registrations were cancelled, and confusion ensued. We need stronger clawback standards on the books and in our contracts so that taxpayers know their money is being well-spent on quality services – and that their money will be returned if companies don’t follow through on their promises. In the middle of a fiscal crisis, we cannot let vendors get away with doing a poor job or find ourselves in prolonged legal battles over shoddy service. Instead, we need to be clear that if you want to do business with the State of Connecticut, we expect best-in-class service – and our money back if we don’t get it. We also need to ensure we have full and instant access to the code written by the vendors we hire. • A Top-To-Bottom Review Aimed At Cutting Fees and Saving Dollars The DMV should not make Connecticut residents stand in line all day, and then make them pay some of the country’s highest fees for driver’s licenses, road testing, and other services. I commit to a thorough review of the fees at the DMV and to making sure that fees for non-commercial services like driver’s licenses are no more than the regional average. Non-driver photo IDs, which are required to unlock so many public and private services, should be free to all our residents. And we should incentivize improved performance by allowing anyone forced to wait an undue amount of time for a straightforward service to get what they came for without paying a dime. Fixing the DMV is about more than respecting our residents’ time. It’s about restoring their confidence in government. I will do both – and then I will take the lessons we learn streamlining the DMV and roll them out to other state service providers that also subject residents to undue delays. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 44 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT BUILDING A FAIR ECONOMY When Annie and I made the decision to start our family, Connecticut was where everyone wanted to be. The right mix of cities, close to Boston and New York, good schools, great neighborhoods, but most importantly Connecticut was full of opportunity. That’s what a strong and vibrant economy is: opportunity. Today, a strong economy is a fair economy. An economy that pays a living wage, supports women and people of color in the workplace, and provides everyone with a second chance. Why I support equal pay for equal work I have spent most of my career starting up and running small businesses. I know that paying workers fairly is important to the culture of a company. When someone is treated unfairly that impacts morale across the workplace and reduces productivity. Equal pay for equal work can contribute to ending Connecticut’s fiscal woes. Annually, women who are employed full time in Connecticut lose a combined total of $15 billion to the wage gap. This is why I support passing legislation that will prevent employers from salary questions, including the legislation currently raised before the Connecticut legislature. Why I support Paid Family and Medical Leave I know how important it is to a workplace that you do not lose a great member of the team because they are faced with a personal crisis. Her leaving the workplace is bad for her, and it's bad for business. Paid family and medical leave is the right thing to do, and the smart thing to do. Workers in Connecticut should not have to choose between spending the first days with their child, the last days with their parent, or paying their mortgage. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 45 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT We need to increase the number of workers in our state who will have access to paid family and medical leave. This will make us a more attractive state to modern workers. According to a study done by the Connecticut Campaign for Paid Family Leave “more than 38% of millennial workers said that they would not only move state’s but move to another country for better parental benefits.” We need to protect against harassment in the workplace Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “It may true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless.” The power of the #MeToo movement and the courage of women everywhere who have stood up and spoken out about sexual harassment has begun to change hearts, it is our responsibility to make sure that we restrain the heartless. A second chance Connecticut is leading the Nation on Criminal Justice reform. I am so proud to live in a state that is working to fight back against the impacts of institutionalized racism. Making sure that all of our returning citizens have access to a second chance and a good career is an essential part of the fair economy. Expanding partnerships with Labor and with our community colleges and four year universities, like the ones that I have seen at Asnuntuck and Goodwin College, will be a priority for my administration. A strong labor movement The Republicans here in Connecticut and Nationally are working to dismantle the key protections that labor movement helped our country put in place to build the middle class. Pushing for a fair wage, advocating for safe and dignified working conditions, and building a path to a secure retirement are things that all American workers have a right to. That’s what labor fights for, and that’s why I will fight for labor. The outcome of Janus vs. AFSCME will have profound impacts on labor and working families across the nation. As Governor I will protect workers rights and keep labor at the table. Why I support a $15 minimum wage Creating a $15 minimum wage is an important step in improving the quality of life for working families across Connecticut, and I believe it will boost wages across the board. In this modern economy, workers have never been more productive, yet wages are stagnant. As cost of living rises and our economy continues to transition, I believe a $15 minimum wage will ensure that working families can thrive in our state. Building up our middle class is good for our families and good for our economy. Increasing the minimum wage to $15 is also a tool that will help close the wage gap between men and women in our state. More than 60% of minimum wage workers in Connecticut are women, and a significant population of those women are women of color. In our state Latinas and black women make 47¢ and 58¢ respectively for every $1.00 paid to white, non-Hispanic men. This disparity is even more troubling when coupled with the reminder that more than 170,000 households in Connecticut are headed by women. Median annual income for single female-headed households in Connecticut with children under eighteen is $30,795, while the same for single male-headed households with children under eighteen is $45,986. That’s a difference that puts single mothers behind single fathers in their ability to pay for child care, cover tuition fees, put food on the table, pay the mortgage or cover their rent. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 46 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT LEADING ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM I’m proud that Connecticut leads the nation in criminal justice reform. Compared to ten years ago, there are fewer people in prison, and more people at home in their communities. Overhauling the bail system has brought us one step closer to fulfilling the promise of equal justice under law for all. Reforms inside our prisons are bringing them closer in line with their correctional mission and reducing recidivism. And all of that was accomplished while driving crime rates down to historic lows and saving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. We have made important reforms to pre-trial practices and prison conditions, but have not done nearly enough to prevent people from becoming involved in the justice system in the first place or to successfully reintegrate residents into their communities after they have served their time. While we make progress on our vision of a second chance society, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that everyone in Connecticut has a first chance at success. That means fighting for equal access to good jobs, housing, excellent public education, and affordable healthcare. It also means being vigilant against laws that, no matter their intentions, negatively impact communities of color. The contrast in this election couldn’t be clearer. Bob Stefanowski believes that our model policies are “out of control” – I understand that we need to move forward, not backward, on reform. As governor, I will: • Appoint smart-on-crime prosecutors dedicated to ending mass incarceration. Connecticut’s prosecutors are chosen by a Criminal Justice Commission whose members are appointed by the governor. My appointees to that Commission will share my commitment to ending mass incarceration, reflect the diversity of our state and the communities most impacted by mass incarceration, and include a formerly incarcerated person who can ensure affected communities have a voice in the informed, even-handed administration of justice. • Legalize marijuana and remedy the harms caused by discriminatory criminalization. The war on drugs has been a failure, and its costs have fallen particularly hard on Connecticut’s people of color. In my first year in office, I will not only follow neighboring states in responsibly 47 regulating marijuana – I will also right historical wrongs by expunging non-violent marijuana convictions and ensuring communities victimized by criminalization receive their fair share of legalization’s benefits, like new tax revenue and distributor licenses. • Continue the Risk Reduction Earned Credit program. I reject politicians’ scare tactics about criminal justice reform. We know our risk reduction program works, because we have lower crime rates and declining incarceration rates since its inception. Providing incentives for incarcerated people to earn their way to release improves prison staff safety and advances our criminal justice system’s rehabilitative mission. • Prepare people in prison for life after incarceration. I will expand innovative programs in our prisons, like the TRUE program, that empower those with experience in the criminal justice system to mentor young people and lay the groundwork for successful reentry into their communities. And I’ll build on those successes by ensuring we have have hired enough teachers and adequately partnered with colleges and universities to enable all incarcerated people to finish their secondary education and pursue vocational opportunities or higher degrees. • Welcome formerly incarcerated people into society. Equipping people recently released from prison with the tools they need to succeed is a necessary part of our criminal justice system’s rehabilitative purpose. It’s also the smart thing to do for our communities. That means closing the health care coverage gaps that plague people on reentry, connecting people with educational opportunities, partnering with the business community to hire people into good-paying jobs, and ensuring a transition into accessible and affordable housing. • Sign Clean Slate legislation. People who have earned a second chance should not be subjected to a lifetime of discrimination in housing, employment, voting, and their finances. I will support and sign a bill, modeled on recent bipartisan legislation in Pennsylvania, to automatically seal the criminal records of rehabilitated offenders. I will also strengthen Connecticut’s “Ban the Box” legislation to prevent most employers from asking job applicants about their criminal records until a conditional job offer has been extended. 2 ADRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE & EXPANDING RENEWABLE ENERGY RENEW The facts are clear and the evidence incontrovertible: our earth is getting warmer, ice caps and glaciers are melting, the sea level is rising, and an array of other related events are underway from storm surges to droughts. I strongly believe that human-induced climate change is an urgent threat that must be tackled immediately, and as governor I will rebuild the political conversation on climate change and what we must do to prepare for a new future. I applaud the steps that Connecticut has already taken to transition to a sustainable energy future and counter the adverse effects of climate change. Our state has committed to the Paris Agreement even as the Trump administration has pulled out, and Connecticut along with 175 other governments has pledged to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050. However, I know that we can and must do more, which is why I will commit Connecticut to a further reduction in carbon emissions from current levels of 35 percent by 2030, 70 percent by 2040, and carbon neutral by 2050. These targets are tougher than required under the Paris Agreement but are achievable, measurable goals that will guide our state’s energy and environmental policy. Further, our transition to a sustainable energy future will create thousands of new jobs in the green economy – not destroy jobs as the Trump administration alleges. We know this because across our country the states with the least carbon-intensive economies, like Washington state and Massachusetts, have had some of the highest economic growth rates. We have already seen good-paying jobs created in the fuel cell, solar installation, and home weatherization industries, and I am proud that New London will become a new manufacturing and assembling base for offshore wind turbines. As the sustainable energy transition continues, I believe our state’s growth in jobs in fuel cells, solar power, and resiliency construction will pave the way for even greater growth in this area. I will make sure that many more green jobs are created. This will require bringing multiple stakeholders to the table, including industry, labor, and our fine academic institutions, and promoting innovative solutions such as the state’s recent long-term contracting in order to promote the offshore wind project out of New London. I have spoken to many families throughout this campaign and have heard so much about how difficult it is for families to afford their energy needs, particularly during the winter. I will work diligently to bring energy costs down through a variety of steps, including investments in energy efficiency, peak shaving, more competitive bidding, and smart metering. I am a strong proponent of shifting homes away from home heating oil to much cleaner alternatives like natural gas, even better such advanced technologies efficient electric heat pumps and thermal loops. And as more renewable energy comes online in our state, we will reduce our dependence on the spot-price of natural gas which so often drives up our cost of electricity. Lastly, I pledge to seek out and be sure that science, facts, and transparency are inherent in our decision-making. I will have the state work in closer partnership with all our cities and towns to ensure sea-level rise and resiliency are more deeply imbedded in our planning and zoning processes. I myself will be, and will have all state agencies remain, open to new ideas, and be more receptive to how best to conceptualize and implement new policies and regulations with respect to climate change. I will never support a budget that diverts money from our Energy Efficiency Fund, the Green Bank, and other dedicated funding sources. These programs are funded by ratepayers and make important investments in energy efficiency, conservation, and the development of new renewable energy markets. It is simply short-sighted to shortchange these programs since they are crucial to our state’s response to climate change, and to our development of a renewable energy platform essential for the energy independence of our citizens. In order to continue Connecticut’s transition toward sustainable energy sources, to increase employment in the green economy, and to lower energy costs, I will: Resiliency Against Rising Sea Level I will have the state work in closer partnership with all our cities and towns to ensure sea-level rise and resiliency are more deeply embedded in our planning and zoning processes. I will be, and will have all state agencies remain, open to new ideas, and be more receptive to how best to conceptualize and implement new policies and regulations with respect to climate change. Our coastline is one of our most important drivers of economic growth, particularly because several of our key cities are located along our shore. Furthermore, our beautiful shoreline is one of many reasons people are attracted to live and work in Connecticut. Protecting our coastline by hardening our communities against the impacts of climate change like sea-level rise will be an important component of my resiliency strategy. Invest in Sustainable Transportation Forty percent of our state’s emissions are from transportation. We cannot achieve our clean air goals and emission goals without reducing vehicle emissions. I support tolls on large tractor trailers to reduce highway congestion and to reduce dirty diesel emissions. I support the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, zero emission vehicles, and stronger emission standards in the state, and I will protect the CHEAPR tax credits for electric vehicles. I will not allow the Trump administration to weaken our vehicular emissions laws, and I strongly oppose the recent loosening of regulations on dirty glider trucks. I will put Connecticut at the forefront of the electric car revolution by working closely with manufacturers and utilities to build out the nation’s leading electric car charging infrastructure. Connecticut’s participation in the regional Transportation and Climate Initiative is important to helping meet our clean air goals and emission goals regarding transportation. Pursue Energy Conservation Over the past 10 years, the New England states have dramatically increased investments in energy efficiency resources. Massachusetts, for example, has increased energy efficiency spending by 150 percent between the years 2009 and 2012, and today ranks first among the 50 states in energy efficiency spending. While we will continue to seek to reduce our kilowatt costs, energy efficiency is an equally good way to reduce energy bills for everyone in the state. Energy conservation will reduce homeowners’ bills and spare us from having to fund large infrastructure projects like pipelines and transmission lines that crisscross the state. I support our state’s Energy Efficiency Fund and Green Bank and pledge to never support a budget that raids these programs. In 2016, the design, installation and manufacture of energy efficiency products and services in Connecticut accounted for nearly 34,000 jobs, with approximately 12,000 of those jobs generated directly from the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund. Further, the investments in energy efficiency made in 2016 will save Connecticut consumers approximately $961.8 million in lifetime bill savings, meaning every $1 invested in energy efficiency will save another $3.89 on utility bills. • I support continued investment in weatherization and peak shaving so that we can reduce demand for carbon-intensive energy, particularly in the early evenings when natural gas-based electricity is in high demand and when prices are highest. In particular, I support programs to help homeowners shift away from home heating oil to new, efficient alternatives like electric heat pumps and thermal loops. • I support continued improvements in energy efficiency standards for new homes and buildings, and I believe that all new homes and buildings should be zero carbon from 2035. • CT state government facilities account for 15 percent of the energy consumed by the state’s commercial and industrial sector, and energy costs the state $150-$200 million annually. But a potential 40 percent reduction in energy use could save $60 million to $80 million every year. I support legislation to expand and accelerate the existing Lead by Example program to foster in-state job creation and economic development while reducing the state’s substantial energy costs. • I also believe that our state and local governments can do more. I support legislation that requires the state and all local governments to participate in internal carbon pricing by 2021. Yale University successfully launched internal carbon pricing, which has proven to be effective at lowering emissions. Internal carbon pricing has no budgetary impact but promotes energy conservation and efficiency. This internal carbon pricing program will be opened to businesses on a voluntary basis. • Modernize our Grid As we move toward a more sustainable energy model, we will need to leverage new technologies and improve our current transmission and distribution systems. Such grid modernization will require the state to support a grid that integrates distributed generation, has storage capacity, and is capable of bringing in sustainable energy from distant locations. It will require substation upgrades that allow for distribution voltage optimization, enabling timevarying electricity rates and improved system operation and awareness. In addition, with rising sea-levels and increased intensity of storms we must make the grid more resilient to extreme weather, geomagnetic disturbances, and cyber-related threats. Expand Renewable Energy I support the recent toughening of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), yet I believe that we must go further in order to achieve our carbon reduction goals by 2050. The RPS sets standards for electricity production in Connecticut. I support strengthening the state’s RPS to at least 35 percent Class I renewable energy sources by 2025; at least 50 percent by 2030; at least 80 percent by 2040; and 100 percent by 2050. • I will support growth of distributed generation. Distributed generation resources, such as solar photovoltaic and wind generation, can provide economic, environmental, and energy security benefits to electricity customers. • I will review the recently-passed SB 9 to ensure that net metering fairly compensates homeowners who produce solar power and reflects the value of the carbon they are offsetting. However, I am opposed to any cost-shifting to other ratepayers. • I will streamline our state’s community solar permitting process and virtual net metering rules to speed construction of medium-to-large solar installations over brownfields, parking lots, and warehouses. My goal is to create standards that drive clean energy development to sites that lack other good uses while keeping the door open to owners of productive lands who want to integrate clean energy into their mix of uses. I would prefer to see more solar arrays on urban rooftops than over our farmlands. • Pursue Regional Solutions We must continue to update and strengthen existing state programs and work collaboratively with other state governments to pursue regional solutions. This collaboration will be modeled on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). • The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a multi-state initiative requiring power plants to purchase emission allowances at an auction, and the money is reinvested in energy efficiency programs and the Connecticut Green Bank. RGGI investments have saved the state millions in energy costs, saved lives, and created thousands of jobs. I strongly support RGGI and support reforms including instituting a minimum price for carbon. • The financing mechanism known as property-assessed clean energy (PACE) helps customers afford energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements located on private properties. PACE programs help finance the initial cost of improvements and are paid back over time by the property owners on their property tax bills. The C-PACE (for commercial properties) program has been updated and it is now very successful, but the R-PACE (for residential properties) statutes need to be revised to provide private homeowners in Connecticut access to such a program. • I support extension and improvement of Connecticut’s Zero Emissions Renewable Energy Credit (ZREC) program. The ZREC program is widely supported by the business community and is an important tool in promoting new renewable energy capacity. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 52 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT FIGHTING FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY Connecticut is a national leader when it comes to LGBTQ rights and inclusion. We were one of the first states to embrace marriage equality and legal protections against discrimination, and we recently moved to ban youth conversation therapy and require the Department of Corrections to treat transgender people according to their gender identities. But we still have immense work ahead of us. LGBTQ rights are under attack at the federal level, and Connecticut must keep moving forward to enshrine equality into law. I have championed the rights of the LGBTQ community for years. I was one of the first statewide candidates to support marriage equality when I ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006. Tolerance alone is insufficient. We must continue to build on the progress we have made by working tirelessly to ensure that Connecticut embraces and safeguards the same rights and protections for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, and recognizes LGBTQ individuals as community leaders. Members of the LGBTQ community — particularly those who are younger, older, or people of color — are especially vulnerable. LGBTQ individuals in our communities of color live at the intersection of multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination. Their experiences with homophobia and transphobia are compounded by opportunity gaps in education and employment, criminal injustice, immigration issues, and intolerable disparities in health outcomes, particularly with regard to HIV. LGBTQ teenagers and young adults are over-represented in the homeless population, more likely than their peers to face bullying and acts of aggression, and more likely to experience depression and to attempt suicide as a result. At the same time, Connecticut’s aging population includes a significant number of elderly LGBTQ people who faced a lifetime of discrimination and are aging without proper community supports, living in poor health, experiencing financial insecurity, and encountering aging providers ill-equipped to meet their needs. We can and must do better to provide safety and support for all members of the LBGTQ community. The Trump-Pence Administration’s assault on the rights of LGBTQ Americans is an important reminder of the danger posed by an executive branch that is not committed to human rights. Their efforts to allow discrimination against LGBTQ people under the guise of protecting religious LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 53 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT liberty is a grave threat to the equality of rights we owe to all Americans. Bob Stefanowski and his Family Institute of Connecticut-endorsed running mate Joe Markley are Connecticut’s Donald Trump and Mike Pence — and they’re proud of it. Unlike my Republican opponent, I will stand up for all of our residents against a hostile president and an increasingly radical Supreme Court. Rulings like Masterpiece Cakeshop, which allowed a baker to deny service to and openly discriminate against a gay couple, represent a real threat to equal rights. As Governor, I will promote and defend the rights and wellbeing of the LGBTQ community. I pledge to: • Counter any attempt by the Trump administration to roll back rights and protections for the LGBTQ community in health care, housing, education, or employment, including any proposal seeking to justify discrimination against the LGBTQ community on religious grounds. • Strengthen and expand legal protections for the LGBTQ community in both the classroom and workplace. • Expand LGBTQ representation in state government, especially in public safety agencies and on appointed boards, commissions, and panels, and encourage local leaders to do the same. • Embrace and defend equality in Connecticut’s foster care and adoption systems. • Ensure resources to address homelessness account for the specific needs of LGBTQ youth. • Work with schools to provide anti-bullying training that protects and empowers LGBTQ kids. • Develop policies that account for the unique needs of LGBTQ elders and guard against discrimination against them in accessing critical services like health care and housing. • Prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly among men of color, by establishing a PrEP Assistance Program modeled on successful efforts in other states and mandating insurance coverage of PrEP. • Improve healthcare options for transgender residents by requiring trans-centered physician training in continuing medical education and removing obstacles transgender patients face to securing insurance. 2 INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE A key to revitalizing Connecticut’s economy is to have a 21st-century transportation system that connects us to major markets and to one another. We need to be able to move people and goods as fast as in other states to attract jobs and improve our quality of life. From riding the Hartford Line between New Haven and our capital city on its opening weekend to discussing commutes with CT Transit riders and visiting Tweed Airport, I know we can overcome our infrastructure challenges and achieve faster, more reliable, better connected air, train and bus service and safer, less congested roads. Better connected cities and towns will create jobs and grow our economy because employers will be better able to hire and retain our talented workforce. But we can’t have a 21st century economy with a deficient 20th century transportation system: we must repair and modernize our infrastructure to improve and repair roads and services that employers and employees count on to get to work on time and move goods throughout the state. Moving Connecticut forward and growing our economy depends on strong cities and vibrant towns, and this cannot happen without sustainable investments in better infrastructure that reliably connect Connecticut’s communities to each other, the region and the world. The challenges before us are great. The situation today is that: Nearly 4 out of 5 miles on Connecticut’s major roads are in either poor or mediocre condition. • Connecticut motorists lose a total of $6.1 billion annually in the form of additional vehicle operating costs, congestion-related delays and traffic crashes by driving on deficient roads. • LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 55 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT Traffic congestion in the state’s largest urban areas is worsening, causing as much as 49 annual hours of delay for some motorists and costs Connecticut motorists a total of $2.4 billion each year in lost time and wasted fuel. • Every $1 of deferred maintenance on roads and bridges has been found to cost an additional $4 or $5 on future repairs, and the state just suspended projects worth $4.3 billion over the next five years because of inadequate funding. It’s time to take on these problems head on and we’ve got the solutions ready to make a difference. As Governor, I will focus on the areas below. • Proposing these changes gets us nowhere unless we have a reliable source of revenue to keep the Special Transportation Fund solvent, and dedicate the Special Transportation Fund (STF) to infrastructure repair and development alone. I will not accept any budget that takes from the STF to pay for non-infrastructure related projects, and I strongly support the transportation lockbox amendment. I have been disappointed by the many Republican candidates for governor in this race, who in their zeal to emulate Donald Trump at every turn have proposed a variety of pie-in-the-sky tax cuts but have been cryptically silent on how they would pay for infrastructure investments. I know that improvements to roads, bridges, trains, airports, public transit, and broadband will help catalyze our state’s economic growth, so I recognize that the people of our state cannot not afford to make these investments. That is why I support electronic tolling on heavy trucksthat are coming in from out of state, which useour roads tollfree and createsignificant wear-and-tear. So next time you hear a Republican candidate promise tax cuts and new infrastructure spending, make sure you ask: where’s the money? Creating a Strategic Plan to Promote TOD We must develop and implement a statewide strategic plan for a balanced transportation system, coordinated with a statewide plan for economic development and other statewide plans. For instance, we must identify where we are having success and build on the progress made by bodies like the Connecticut Port Authority, incorporating their vision for moving Connecticut forward into our overall strategic plan. Moreover, I strongly support transitoriented development and densification in our urban centers around transit. I will propose changes to zoning regulations, such as reducing or abolishing minimum parking ratios, to promote TOD. Investing in Universal Broadband Access I will invest in broadband infrastructure that puts Connecticut on a path to universal broadband access. We must also make sure that all families and businesses in Connecticut have access to high-quality, affordable broadband by investing in 5G small-cell networks that will help transform local economies. I will launch a program to expand broadband connectivity across the state and to bring gigabit internet to our major cities. Improving Air, Rail and Bus Service As governor, I will: • Expand service at Bradley, Tweed, and Sikorsky Airports. As we know, GE didn’t leave the state just because of taxes but in part because of poor infrastructure including limited air connectivity. I support extending Tweed New Haven’s main runway to accommodate larger passenger aircraft, and I will work to grow service at Connecticut’s main airports. Service to Washington, Atlanta, and Chicago from Tweed and Sikorsky will greatly improve the business climate in our two largest cities. Improve the New Haven line. The Metro North line connects the people of Connecticut to one another and to one of the great economic engines of the world. This line, which completes over 40 million passenger trips every year, supports significant economic development in our state and particularly in our largest cities, removes cars from I-95 thereby easing congestion and pollution, and is in ever-increasing demand. Given this history of success, it is a travesty that the line has been underinvested in. I am saddened that this line has seen loss of life, and I am angered that delayed repairs have caused trains to have to slow down, meaning that trains today run slower than 10 years ago. We must invest in a comprehensive overhaul of the New Haven line including accelerated installation of positive train control and repairs to bridges and tracks. We can bring travel time from New Haven to New York down to one hour and 15 minutes through improvements to our current line. I also support investment in high speed rail that will bring travel times to under one hour. • Build on the progress of the newly opened Hartford Line by exploring other rail options to connect our communities and encourage regional economic growth. Expansion in rail and dedicated bus rapid transit like CTfastrak will reduce congestion on highways while supporting development in our urban centers. I support an extension of the Waterbury line to Hartford, and I support new regional train service between Hartford and Providence that also services Storrs and brings development to northeastern Connecticut. • Improve CTTransit. I support regionalizing control of CTTransit so that routes can best reflect the needs of our regions. We must make common sense investments in technology such as smart traffic lights that turn green when buses approach (now that’s a benefit that commuters would pay for!). I envision CTTransit being a major part of our plans to improve economic growth while reducing congestion on our highways. • Funding Transportation Projects I will establish a state infrastructure bank and fully fund the Special Transportation Fund by introducing electronic tolling on heavy trucks. We’ve got to be honest about how we pay for rebuilding our infrastructure to get this state moving again. Electronic tolling on heavy trucks will capture much-needed revenue for investment in our roads and infrastructure. It will also ensure Connecticut remains competitive with our neighboring states, including New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where maintenance and repair are supported by tolling. Second, Connecticut is one of the few states not to have an infrastructure bank, and this will help lower borrowing costs for infrastructure projects and support public-private partnerships that will drive investment. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 57 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT GROWING CONNECTICUT'S AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY Connecticut’s farms and farmers are an important part of our future. Our greenhouses, nurseries, dairies, poultry and egg producers, tobacco fields, vineyards, shellfish beds, and fruit, grain, vegetable, and tree farms contribute $4 billion to the state’s economy, support tens of thousands of good jobs, preserve hundreds of thousands of acres as farmland and open space, and provide residents across the state both an important source of fresh food and a vital retreat from urban life. During this campaign, I’ve visited with farmers whose families have worked the land in Connecticut for generations. I’ve also heard from young and beginning growers committed to building a successful and diverse agricultural community. With the right partner in Hartford, those farmers will be able to triumph over challenges like depressed milk prices and seize new opportunities like hops and industrial hemp production. As governor, I will: • Protect an independent Department of Agriculture and provide its staff and programs the funding they need to protect and grow the agricultural economy. • Support programs funded by the Community Investment Act and protect Investment Act funds from last-minute legislative raids. • Drive down property taxes on agricultural land by encouraging towns to share appropriate services and seize opportunities for intermunicipal efficiencies. • Continue the Farmland Preservation Program and the bond funding required to ensure land remains available for agricultural use. • Promote Connecticut agricultural exports by standing up against harmful tariffs imposed by LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 57 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT Washington and exploring opportunities to expand trade for Connecticut farmers in overseas markets like Cuba and China. • Help farmers navigate FSMA requirements by continuing educational, outreach, and technical assistance programs, and emphasizing compliance assistance over punitive fines. • Bring industrial hemp to market by taking full advantage of provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill and enacting the regulatory architecture necessary for hemp to be successful in Connecticut. • Guarantee a robust market for Connecticut agriculture by providing funding for local school districts that increase purchases of Connecticut Grown farm products. • Fully incorporate agriculture into Connecticut’s economic development strategy by directing DECD to support farming-related startups and expansions. • Ensure the availability of appropriate crisis management services for farmers, including mental health, financial planning and transition planning services. • Help aspiring, young, and beginning farmers by providing educational programs, assisting with land acquisition, and streamlining permitting processes. • Grow business opportunities for farmers to produce and sell value-added agricultural products like tomato sauces, cheeses, and beers. • Market Connecticut agritourism as a destination to our neighbors. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 58 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT Protecting the Environment Our state is known for its quality of life and natural treasures, however not all Connecticut communities are able to invest in conservation. As governor, I would champion good environmental and conservation policy because it is good economic policy and the right thing to do for all our communities, both urban and rural. In order to preserve and protect the iconic ecological and historical treasures that symbolize Connecticut and reflect its long heritage, we will pursue a five-part strategy that includes: More firmly regulating clean air, water and soils. Reducing waste and increasing recycling. Supporting our rural economies, with their farming, forestry and special small town attributes; renewing our state’s commitment to protect the landscape; and encouraging and maintaining historic preservation efforts. • Reinvesting in innovation at the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) to oversee and execute these goals. • Improving resiliency against rising sea levels. • • • Invest in DEEP As governor, I will seek to invest in DEEP and help the organization partner with nonprofit and other private actors to help forward it’s mission. I will: • Invest in re-aligning agency with its broad mission, including development of skill sets in climate change, urban redevelopment, and partnerships. • Invest in modernizing and speeding permitting process. • Invest in enforcement and public land maintenance. • Invest in state parks and expand their accessibility. • Ensure funds for DEEP programs remain dedicated and sustainable, such as the Community Investment Act and the newly enacted Passport to Parks program. DEEP will partner with cities to create and refurbish more city parks. For example the Mill River Park and Greenway was a polluted waterway but is now a verdant, animated civic space that mends the ecological and social fabric of downtown Stamford. • Reduce Waste & Improve Plastics Recycling Plastic is also one of the most abundant pollutants on the planet. The health of our neighborhoods, highways, and public spaces demands we be vigilant and improve our waste management by more aggressively shifting into recycling and addressing the rampant use of single-use products and wasteful packaging. As governor, I will work to eliminate plastics from our waste stream and will begin by banning single-use plastics like straws, styrofoam cups and bags by 2021. We will do this by fixing and if necessary building additional support for recycling, especially implementing a successful single-stream recycling protocol across the state. We must also better support our current bottle recycling program. Support Rural Economies & Preserve Open Space In 1997, the Connecticut General Assembly set a goal of preserving 21 percent of the land in the state for natural resources conservation and public recreation by 2023. The state’s Green Plan in 2007 noted that of roughly 3.2 million acres in the state, 673,000 acres need to be preserved to achieve the goal. At present with only roughly 261,000 acres held by the state and federal government and 227,000 acres by private partners, we are well short of the goal. The state needs to add about 8,000 acres annually to achieve the goal on time. As governor, I will: Strongly support an amendment to the state constitution to “Protect Real Property Held or Controlled by the State.” This will be an important referendum at the ballot box this fall. The amendment will require that state-owned public lands must receive a public hearing and a twothirds vote before being given away, swapped, or sold by an act of the General Assembly. • Uphold the Community Investment Act (CIA) and protect its funds from being raided by the legislature. In 2005, the CIA established Connecticut’s primary source of dedicated funding to conserve open space, protect farmland, preserve historic properties and supplement affordable housing programs. The program has been an extraordinary success. To date, the CIA has reinvested over $152 million in over 1,400 projects across the state. Unfortunately, millions of dollars of CIA funds have been raided in 2015, 2016 and 2017, sometimes by over 50 percent, to fill Connecticut’s general revenue shortfalls. This is a matter of public trust, and I will seek to ensure these funds, raised from the community, will remain dedicated to our communities for projects ranging from open space to affordable housing. • Support the newly approved Passport for Parks program, which supports our state’s green spaces and public parks. For the past two years, however, funds have been raided to fill the state’s revenue shortfalls, and I will seek to preserve this funding. Public parks and the recreational opportunities they offer represent a key covenant in the relationship between our government and its citizens. I believe we must keep our parks open, well maintained, and provide within them the type and quality of service and recreational opportunities that all Connecticut residents expect and deserve. • Protect Long Island Sound. Long Island Sound has long been the entryway to our state both for job-creating commerce and recreation. While the Trump administration in Washington seeks to defund and destroy efforts to protect the Sound, as governor I will be a champion for our preservation efforts and a bulwark against attempts to roll back progress. There have been successful public-private partnerships between the EPA, New York, and Connecticut, and numerous other federal and state agencies, user groups, concerned organizations and • individuals who are dedicated to restoring and protecting the Sound, and I will make sure this partnership continues to help bring Long Island Sound back to health and abundance. Protect Clean Air, Water & Soil r & Soil Everyone who lives in Connecticut has a right to clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment. I pledge to ensure that the state relies on the best science possible to undertake the research and enforcement necessary to clean up our air, water and land. Despite our state’s record on environmental regulations, we must review our current regulations to ensure we are doing the best for our state. For example, I am deeply saddened that many of Connecticut’s communities suffer from high rates of childhood asthma, and I will improve our regulations to reduce the indoor and outdoor pollutants that contribute to this disease. As governor, I will: • Review our current regulations and compare them to other states, such as California, that have even stronger track records to learn and implement best practices. • Order DEEP to work with our attorney general to bring a suit regarding regulatory responsibilities against the federal government. As the Trump Administration’s EPA in Washington backs down from its responsibilities, Connecticut will not. • Protect our farmers and landowners by reviewing commercially available herbicides and pesticides used in the state and determine which ones are significantly harmful, and enacting changes if necessary. For instance, I will look to ban neonicotinoids and save our bees, which are critical to pollination of our crops, orchards and native vegetation across the state. Push forward with our state’s efforts to combat non-point source pollution, which lead to elevated levels of phosphorus and nitrogen in our waterways. We will focus on improved stormwater systems in our towns and cities, and continue to clean up our rivers, especially the various toxic hotspots in the Housatonic, Naugatuck and Still rivers, to improve fish populations and biodiversity overall. LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 61 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT SUPPORTING VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES Connecticut is home to more than 200,000 veterans and 30,000 veteran-owned businesses. We were the first state to establish a veterans’ home in 1864 — and I am enormously proud that we recently became the first state to effectively end chronic veteran homelessness, an accomplishment that must endure. We have a tradition in Connecticut of supporting men and women who have bravely served their country, and the families and loved ones who so often sacrifice alongside them. But we have much more work to do. It’s critical that we remove barriers veterans face to affordable housing, gainful employment, and pursuing higher education — and that we support the exciting efforts underway across Connecticut to encourage veterans’ entrepreneurship. We ought to be the most welcoming state in the country for our service members returning home from serving their country. While we have taken great strides in doing that, there is more work to do. I want our veterans to be appreciated: for their service; for who they are; and for the value they bring. I want our veterans to be secure: in their housing; in their pursuit of employment and education; in their health and welfare; and in their safety. And I want our veterans to be supported: by our laws and regulations; by our communities; and by our institutions and leaders at every level throughout their lives. As governor, I will: • Fulfill the promise of no-cost higher education for veterans by including fees in veterans’ Connecticut community college or public university tuition waiver. • Ensure that veterans and their spouses’ professional licenses can cross state lines by streamlining Connecticut’s military spousal licensing process. • Work with state agencies, businesses ,and our professional and trade associations to make it easier for veterans to apply theirskills, experiences and credentials to careers in our economy. 62 • Keep veteran homelessness at bay by promoting and encouraging “Housing First” policies so every veteran in Connecticut has access to safe, secure, and stable housing. • Fight back against the sham charities, predatory for-profit educators, fraudulent financial institutions, and payday lenders that prey on our state’s veterans. • Ensure veterans are properly treated in our housing, health care, and criminal justice systems, including when they present with service-related issues. • Strengthen advocacy for and assistance to Connecticut veterans, including by continuing to hire veterans at DVA offices around the state. Hiring veterans as advocates for their fellow service members ensures veterans can obtain the services and support they have earned and deserve. • Protect veterans’ health care by collaborating with the Newington and West Haven Federal VA hospitals to provide excellent service, supporting a long-term plan to sustainably finance the Connecticut Veterans Home and Hospital in Rocky Hill, and partnering with nonprofit and community services to provide access to a full range of veterans’ health care. • Reinvigorate programs that help returning veterans integrate into their communities and into our economy with good-paying jobs. We should have zero tolerance for veteran unemployment. • Support Connecticut’s 30,000 veteran-owned businesses by continuing to build partnerships between the state, our universities and community colleges, and veteran entrepreneurs. • Support full funding for veterans’ burial services and our state cemeteries. • Cut veterans’ property taxes by preserving veterans’ property tax relief measures and providing a meaningful property tax cut of up to $1,500 for everyone in Connecticut. 2 COMBATTING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC More people in our state die from drug overdoses than car accidents, homicides and suicides combined. Last year, Connecticut saw 1,038 drug overdose deaths, and drug overdose deaths have increased over the last five years. In 2012, Connecticut ranked 50th in the nation for opioid deaths, but by 2015 ranked number 12. New London has made addressing the opioid crisis a top priority. At a visit to New London’s Homeless Hospitality Center, I met with first responders, treatment providers, non-profit leaders involved with certifying and operating sober homes, “recovery navigators,” and people themselves in recovery from opioid use disorder. Everybody in that room was part of a group effort to help those suffering from opioid use disorder. This interdisciplinary “Opioid Action Team” brings together the diverse areas of expertise needed to combat the opioid crisis in a collaborative way. To address the opioid crisis that has touched all of our communities, we not only need a coordinated and collaborative approach involving families, first responders and health professionals, but we also need to increase funding for and expand access to treatment facilities. It’s crucial that the state adopt a comprehensive approach like New London’s that focuses on prevention, treatment and harm reduction. New London’s Opioid Action Team has developed one of the only action plans in Connecticut, working to increase best practice treatment services, reduce stigma and implement support services for families and communities. As governor, I would recognize that addiction is an illness and not a moral failing, and the only way to address the opioid epidemic is to treat it as what it is: a true public health emergency. In addition to studying and expanding on New London’s success, I will take the following steps to combat the opioid epidemic: Increasing access to and distribution of naloxone in our communities, particularly by requiring that insurers cover naloxone without out-of-pocket costs. • Expanding patient access to and insurance coverage for facilities that provide evidence-based addiction treatment like medication-assisted therapy (MAT). Further, we must significantly increase the number of practitioners across Connecticut who can prescribe buprenorphine. • Increasing funding for proven treatment and recovery facilities, like certified sober homes. • Working to improve insurance coverage for addiction treatment. • Treating inmates for addiction to prevent unnecessary deaths and further reduce our crime rates upon reentry, as has proven successful in Rhode Island. • Focusing on the homelessness, incarceration and poverty that prevent people from achieving a lifelong recovery. • Improving continuity of care, particularly when individuals are released from jails or when individuals are treated at emergency rooms and are referred to treatment. • Implementing diversion programs to make sure that those suffering from an addiction disorder receive treatment, not prison. • Working closely with the medical community to reduce the prescribing of opioids and to promote non-opioid alternatives for pain treatment. • Working with our attorney general to crack down on pharmaceutical manufacturers’ and distributors’ misleading opioid marketing practices. I strongly support lawsuits brought by many of Connecticut’s municipalities, including Wallingford, New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport, New London and New Britain, to hold pharmaceutical manufacturers liable for causing this crisis. • LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 66 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT PREVENTING GUN VIOLENCE It’s been six years since a gunman walked into Sandy Hook and killed twenty children and six educators, but the mass shootings across the United States continue from Las Vegas to Parkland, and gun violence in Connecticut towns and cities persists. We have learned first hand the cost of unregulated gun ownership. As Governor, and as a parent and educator, I will make sure that we continue to lead the nation in gun safety, and I won’t let Republicans and the NRA push us backwards. Connecticut is a leader on... • Requiring background checks for all firearm sales • Expanding the existing ban on assault weapons, prohibiting the possession of assault weapons including the AR-15 and Bushmaster assault rifle, which was used in the Sandy Hook shooting • Mandating registration of all existing assault rifles and high-capacity magazines • Reporting requirements of individuals prohibited from possessing firearms to the database used for firearm purchase background checks • Prohibiting the sale of higher-capacity magazines, those with more than 10 rounds • Prohibiting the purchase or possession of firearms for convicted abusers and those subject to domestic violence restraining/protective orders But, I will ensure we do more: Every other day someone dies as a result of gun violence in Connecticut. We must build strong partnerships between our police and first responders and our communities to be proactive in preventing the conditions that lead to violence before it occurs. As governor, I will tighten our existing gun laws and close existing loopholes. This includes mandating that guns always be stored safely and limiting the number of firearms that may be purchased at once. I also support banning “bump stocks” and tightening the loopholes that allow for weapons to be upgraded to rapid fire. As governor, I will expand gun buyback programs like the one that has had success in New Haven. In 2017, students in New Haven helped connect national nonprofit Gun by Gun with the New Haven police department and the Yale New Haven Hospital to organize a gun buyback exchange. It yielded 141 weapons this past December, and I plan on actively supporting any future buyback programs shown to reduce the number of weapons in our communities. As governor, I will preserve and seek to expand funding for efforts like Project Longevity, a program launched in 2012 operating in New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport that has helped reduce rates of gun violence by intervening before violence occurs. A formal impact evaluation in New Haven of the first 18 months Project Longevity, published by a researchers from Yale University, showed a 21% decrease in total shootings per month. The researchers found a decrease of 53% in gang or group-related shootings per month “directly attributable to” the project. As governor, I will review and support implementation of policies that have had success in Connecticut and neighboring states, including Trauma-Informed Community Response in which communities, mental and social services and other health services and law enforcement work together to help communities heal from gun violence and understand how to prevent future gun violence. Violence takes its toll on a community in so many ways, we need to focus on healing the whole community and providing the supports that prevent future violence. As governor, I will be a continuous and vocal advocate for smart, common sense legislation; work with our federal delegation, regional leaders and state-based advocates to be on the right side of history putting the safety of our communities first, and be a consistent, strong voice demanding national change such as ending the federal ban on gun violence research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. INVESTING IN ARTS AND CULTURE The arts are an invaluable part of who we are as a state and as a society. The arts are critical in supporting the high quality of life that we are so rightly proud of as a state. The arts serve as an important tool for economic development. And access to the arts – particularly in our schools – is critical for our children’s educational progress. As governor I will protect the current level of state funding to the arts, and I will fight to return funding levels to their prerecession levels. Further, I will champion the arts throughout my time in office and will work closely with major donors and foundations to increase charitable support for the arts and encourage private sector partnerships. I was horrified when Donald Trump proposed to cut all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities last year. Unlike the President, I have a profound respect for the foundational role of the arts in our state’s civil society. I will work closely with our state’s Congressional representation to block any further Republican attempts to defund the arts, and I will categorically prevent defunding here at the state level. Further, I will work closely with local and legislative leaders to protect and grow dedicated funding streams for arts and culture. Investing in our Children When I was in 9th grade I was the keyboardist (read: rock & roll pianist) for a band called Flower Pot (my mom’s idea). Though my band didn’t shoot me off to a lifetime of rock & roll stardom, it did give me the confidence that I needed at that age, and a chance to express myself. I still love music and will play the piano when I have the opportunity. I believe that all children in the state should have the opportunities to explore the arts – just as I did. I support integrating arts education at all levels of our K-12 educational system. I also strongly support nonprofits like Music Haven and the New London Youth Talent Show that empower youth through the arts and reduce the opportunity gap in urban areas. Diversity and Inclusion I am so proud that Connecticut has pioneered initiatives to make arts and culture more accessible to disadvantaged communities and communities of color. When assessing grantmaking, the state now requests that projects be READI – that is, relevant, equitable, accessible, diverse and inclusive. This policy has led to marked improvements in engagements with the arts in our state, and I would like to make sure that Connecticut remains at the vanguard of the READI movement. Did you know that Connecticut has a state troubadour? (Yes, really!) Because of READI, our state was able to reach and attract non-traditional artists, and for the first time awarded the “troubadourship” to a soul singer. I can’t wait to invite Nekita Waller to perform at my inauguration. I also strongly support efforts to reduce or eliminate entrance fees for low-income families at our state’s cultural institutions. For example, many states and communities including Massachusetts, Colorado, and Philadelphia provide free or discounted entry for SNAP recipients and their families to address income inequality and increase access to the arts. Similarly, I support programs like Blue Star Museums that increase access to the arts for our military families. However, because these free and discounted access programs are costly to our cultural institutions, I will work closely with them to make these programs more financially sustainable. Revitalizing Cities and Towns The arts are an important part of what makes our cities and towns such vibrant places to live. For example, new arts institutions have improved the vitality of Torrington’s downtown. And a recent survey of Electric Boat employees, including newly-hired employees, found that access to and opportunities for arts and cultural activities affects their decision to stay or leave. Investing in the arts, then, is critical to revitalize our cities and towns and attract new families to our state. For instance, I would study the impact of UNLOAD, a nonprofit which linked a gun buyback program in Hartford with artists to get guns off the streets, or ConnCAT in New Haven, which trains and educates youth and adults with afterschool arts programming and job training programming. I am heartened by the following example, which took place in a small town in Minnesota, after the state made a commitment to dedicate and sustain funding for the arts: "When [Mayor] Gossman took office in 2008 “everything was going down the toilet,” he said. The recession had weakened a local economy in flux with the consolidation of family farms. The grocery store had closed, and the hardware store was about to. For-sale signs hung in Main Street windows." LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 68 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT "Today, not a single empty storefront remains. Galleries and gift stores line the compact downtown. On a recent Sunday, a sign outside Goat Ridge Brewing Co. advertised brews and “pickin.’” Inside, a handful of musicians sitting in a circle played a Tom Petty tune on banjo and guitar." “There’s a rising awareness of the benefits of investing in the arts and culture, even in the smallest towns,” said Sheila Smith, executive director of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts. “People want … amenities to draw young people, especially in places where they’re losing people to the big cities." “Having a vibrant arts and culture community contributes to the life of a town.” Support Economic Development and Tourism The arts are an important tool in my approach to bring sustained economic growth back to Connecticut. The arts attract tourism dollars, support thousands of jobs and account for 3.5 percent of the state’s GDP. In spite of our success, I believe that our state can do more. For example, I am keenly interested in emulating Massachusetts’ Cultural Facilities Fund. The CFF supports construction projects at cultural facilities and is highly effective at leveraging private dollars. The CFF’s impact has been impressive over the last 10 years: • CFF projects have hired 25,513 architects, designers, engineers and construction workers • 101 million tourists have visited these organizations since 2007 2,168 new full-time permanent jobs have been created as a result of the new construction or renovation of these facilities • • $91 million has been raised privately to directly match CFF grants LAMONT FOR GOVERNOR 69 NED'S PLAN FOR CONNECTICUT