Primary Information – Governor

On August 10th, Democrats in Connecticut will hold a primary to select candidates for the November ballot. In New Canaan, there are four races on the ballot: Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of the State and Comptroller.

The race for governor features two Democrats: Dan Malloy and Ned Lamont. The DTC has endorsed Malloy.

Links to candidate websites are in the column to the right. Here are some highlights from those sites.

Taxation and Budgeting

Malloy: http://danmalloy.com/policy/taxes_and_the_budget

As Governor, I will initiate long overdue comprehensive tax reform for our State. Establishing comprehensive tax reform will be a multi-year endeavor that I will begin pursuing immediately upon taking office. Reform will be guided by 5 key goals. Real tax reform must:

* Be sustainable, comprehensive and address the balance of state and local taxation
* Provide for a fairer and more progressive sharing of taxation
* Ensure a greater and more equitable state share of local funding for schools
* Strategically generate job growth and encourage business development
* Relieve the local property tax burden on low and middle income seniors, veterans, and individuals who are disabled

Lamont: http://www.nedlamont.com/issues?id=0004

I have already initiated a line-by-line, top-to-bottom review of the state budget so that on day one, I can begin squeezing out every last efficiency. I will consolidate purchasing and contracting, automate processes, merge duplicative functions, streamline agency business processes, and tune state laws and regulations to maximize federal funding… In the long run, though, we cannot cut ourselves out of these problems, nor can we tax ourselves out of them. We must grow the economy. More new jobs, more new businesses, more new taxpayers-that is the answer.

Education

Malloy: http://danmalloy.com/policy/education

As Governor, my initiatives to enhance education across the state will be guided by these goals:
1. Focusing on Early Childhood Education
2. Innovations in Teaching and Learning
3. Connecting Students to College and the Workplace
4. A Smarter Higher Education Agenda

Note: each of those numbered points is followed by extensive details on Malloy’s site. There is an “executive summary” at the end with a bullet-point summary.

Lamont: http://www.nedlamont.com/issues?id=0006 and http://action.nedlamont.com/page/s/education

* I will start by asking for the resignation of the state boards of education and higher education: the members can get their jobs back, but only by showing me they will be part of the solution. While many members are excellent, others are mere partisan appointees. The good will stay, and the others I will replace with education experts.

* I will strongly support early childhood education programs like School Readiness that target the children most in need.

* I will make sure our teacher prep programs give future educators lots of hands-on experience in the classroom, and I will hold these programs accountable for training effective teachers, as other states are beginning to do. I will also create an independent teacher certification board to maintain the highest professional standards.

* I will ensure student achievement is one of multiple aspects of teacher evaluation. Scores matter, but they’re far from the whole picture: for instance, teachers shouldn’t be on the hook for children who arrive in class just a few months before testing, as so many of my students at Harding High did.

* I will encourage districts facing challenges to collaborate with teachers and parents to change school schedules, calendars, and instruction methods-longer school days, for instance, may help raise student achievement.

* For chronically underperforming schools, we will work with parents, teachers, and administrators to restructure schools under proven models

note: these are the first few points on Lamont’s education page. There are more, but I’m trying to keep this somewhat compact.

Health Care

Malloy: http://danmalloy.com/policy/health_care

As Governor, I will:

* 1. Change our fiscal focus from paying exorbitant costs of advanced preventable illness to prevention, early detection and treatment, thus saving lives as well as resources.
* 2. Push for a comprehensive pooling bill to allow municipalities, small businesses and the self-employed access to better coverage at a lower cost. In addition to providing more health care coverage, this will make Connecticut a more business friendly state – i.e., it’s a job-creator.
* 3. Form strategic partnerships with Connecticut’s community health centers, which play a vital role in our health care system by treating those who have been denied or cannot afford health insurance, or who don’t live in close proximity to a hospital.
* 4. Properly fund our nursing homes to cover the actual costs of providing care. In urban areas, I will ensure the homes are kept open so local residents can remain near family.
* 5. Properly fund privately-operated (non-profit) group homes and day programs to maintain and improve care services and job standards. These services have been severely under-funded for years, leading to high staff turnover rates.

note: Malloy’s Health Care page lists 11 points total; these are the first 5. Also, there is discussion of the uninsured, Malloy’s basic philosophy on health care, and a section on mental illness treatment.

Lamont: http://www.nedlamont.com/issues?id=0005 and http://action.nedlamont.com/page/s/healthcare1

As governor, I will lead bold, sweeping reform of our health care system, building on federal legislation and the state’s own efforts. With reform, we can save Connecticut families more than $30 billion over the next decade.

* I will use the state’s $7 billion in purchasing power to spread consistent health information technology statewide. Different local systems should be able to talk with one another so that critical medical records are available when needed, wherever the patient may be.

* I will work to provide patients more information. The price and quality of a given treatment can vary dramatically from hospital to hospital; by letting people comparison-shop, we can bring down costs and raise up quality.

* I will leverage the state’s purchasing power to phase in payment reform over time. Rather than a “fee for service” model that rewards providers for the volume of tests and services they perform, we should pay based on how patients fare.

* I will require providers serving state populations to report quality and safety metrics such as readmissions and hospital-acquired infections. I will provide enhanced reimbursement to the top third of providers to start a race to the top.

* I will establish “medical homes” for groups covered by the state, paying providers to work together with patients to personalize care, provide round-the-clock access, and make certain that no one is lost in the system.

note: These are the first few points on Lamont’s health care page; there are more.

Job Creation

Malloy: http://danmalloy.com/policy/jobs_and_economy

Malloy’s Jobs page is structured with “12 Goals” each of which has quite a bit of explanation. This list, under the goal of “Be Bold. Think outside the box. Drive job creation” provided specifics

* Create a new fund using close to a billion dollars in unused research & development tax credits to leverage new research and advanced manufacturing space, and encourage the participation of state and municipal pension funds to augment the initial investment. This plan, done correctly, could result in a $2 billion investment and as many as 30,000 direct jobs, and 75,000 spin-off jobs.
* Expand state investment in stem cell research and other cutting edge bio-medical fields; these investments directly generate high-quality, high-skill jobs and strengthen competitiveness in this critical field.

* Aggressively develop the state’s three deep water ports, reducing Connecticut’s brutal and expensive dependence on trucks. In addition to creating jobs, this will make us more economically competitive and reduce highway congestion.

* Expand on the Bradley Development Zone to bring a European connection to Bradley. Connecticut is deeply embedded in the global economy, and it’s absolutely critical that Bradley support that engagement. Moreover, according to a University of Connecticut analysis, every additional million passengers at Bradley translate into 10,000 jobs in Connecticut.

* Make additional investments in the research capabilities at John Dempsey Hospital in order to allow that campus to compete more effectively for important clinical trials, research, and experimentation – thus enabling the campus to work in synergy with the major medical complex in and around Yale University.”

There’s quite a bit more information available on Malloy’s site.

Lamont: http://www.nedlamont.com/issues?id=0001 and http://action.nedlamont.com/page/s/jobsplanintro

Connecticut needs to get back on offense. We are the Gateway to New England, one of the world’s most innovative markets, and we boast some of the world’s most productive workers, but governor after governor has failed to lead, failed to translate our strengths into real growth. For the last 20 years we’ve been dead last in job creation, dead last in business creation, and our families have paid the price.

I will make government move faster, establishing a one-stop website and 1-800 number where entrepreneurs get an advocate to help them start, fund, locate, staff, or expand a business as quickly as possible.

I will stop ineffective tax giveaways and instead make strategic investments, ensuring we provide more early-stage financing to promising firms and support industries where we already have the wind at our backs, like biotech and precision manufacturing.

I will reach out to businesses across Connecticut and empower a network of ambassadors to do the same, ensuring my government is dialed into business needs now, and threats and opportunities in the future.

I will create a culture of innovation, sponsoring forums and grant opportunities that bring together leaders of different industries to share best practices, patents, and talent.

I will modernize our transportation infrastructure, investing in our most congested areas, competing effectively for federal dollars, strengthening passenger and freight rail, and creating thousands of good jobs in the process.

I will invest in our people, improving our schools with innovative reforms, ensuring our kids graduate college with in-demand skills and well paying jobs, and offering full loan repayment for students at state colleges who stay in state after graduation.

I will attack high costs, building on federal reforms to bring down health care costs for small businesses and using federal and state dollars to create an army of energy entrepreneurs to make Connecticut the most energy efficient state in America.

It then links to a full jobs plan, which contains quite a bit of detail, dozens of action items like:

I will ensure we finance promising startups and support leading companies when they seek to expand.

I will provide property tax relief for new businesses in urban areas, helping businesses get off the ground and encouraging investments in our cities.

I will provide incentives to install fuel cells in new schools and public buildings, giving our manufacturers the guaranteed sales necessary to build another facility, add another shift, and create good jobs.

Energy

Malloy: http://danmalloy.com/policy/energy

Malloy commits to signing the energy bill that Governor Rell vetoed. The chairman of the energy committee, State Sen. John Fonfara (D – Hartford, Wethersfield), was in New Canaan recently, and he pledged to make that bill the first one to reach the next governor’s desk in January.

As Governor, I will look to expand opportunities to finance and invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy by leveraging federal dollars, using the state’s bonding authority, incenting private investment, and giving municipalities new options to finance investments.

As Governor, I will tap into expertise in our state agencies, universities, and elsewhere to refocus our energy experts on the goal of reducing costs for residential and business customers. Connecticut energy experts are a great resource, but leadership, as the record clearly indicates, has not lived up to the expectations of Connecticut’s citizens. As Governor, I will create an energy policy leadership team and ensure coordination of our energy expertise to meet the state’s energy needs in a way that maximizes benefits to ratepayers, the state’s overall economy and our environment, without creating costly new State agencies.

Lamont: http://www.nedlamont.com/issues?id=0003 and http://action.nedlamont.com/page/s/energy

Lamont presents Energy and Environment as two issues tied together as one.

As governor, I will confront energy costs head on and put us on the cutting edge in green business. I will also save our New England landscapes and seascapes. For too long, Hartford has passed ambitious environmental laws but failed to provide executive leadership to implement them.

I will negotiate long-term contracts with power generators, which could save the average Connecticut family over $160/year on its electric bills.

I will encourage families to weatherize their homes-sealing windows, replacing insulation, and consuming less energy as a result. The average family can save over $300/year, on top of the $160 from long-term contracts.

I will allow towns to offer property assessed clean energy (PACE) loans to home and business owners, enabling them to pay for clean energy improvements only as fast as the savings come in-you will be able to go green without cracking open your wallet each month.

I will encourage people to choose time of day (TOD) pricing, where you pay the price of electricity at each point in the day, rather than a fixed rate throughout. Electricity costs much more at peak times than in the middle of the night. By opting into TOD prices, families and businesses can save by running energy-guzzling devices, like dishwashers, when electricity is cheaper.

note: these are the first four of several items on the “energy and Environment” page.

There are more issues discussed, some with video displayed, at the candidates’ websites. In short, there is a wealth of information available; I hope you find this summary useful.

Finally, here are two appearances by Malloy and Lamont on recent WVIT (channel 30 in Hartford) broadcasts:

Lamont:
Malloy:

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