Candidates Spar Over Crime, Abortion, Taxes & More In CT Gubernatorial Debate

CONNECTICUT — The state’s three governor candidates met Tuesday for the first of two scheduled debates before Election Day.

Incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont, Republican Bob Stefanowski and Independent Party candidate Rob Hotaling sparred on issues ranging from the state’s budget surplus to crime and housing.

What to do with the state budget surplus

Connecticut has about $6 billions budget surplus and the gubernatorial candidates have different ideas of what to do with it.

The state should give half of it back to taxpayers, Stefanowski said. He said Lamont raised taxes and the federal government gave billions of dollars in aid, and that the surplus amounts to a shell game of taxes. He pitched reducing the sales tax rate and suspending the diesel tax. Stefanowski said his entire tax plan would save the average household about $2,000 a year.

Lamont said it would be foolish to gut the rainy day fund when a recession was on the horizon.

“We don’t want to go back to the bad old boom or bust days,” he said.

Part of the rainy day fund was used earlier this year to help bring down car taxes in a number of communities, Lamont said.

The state property tax credit was also expanded to cover more people. The state also accelerated its plans to eliminate taxes on 401k, pension and fixed income. All the moves helped lead to the largest middle class tax cut in state history, Lamont claimed.

Hotaling said that surplus dollars should be used for education and getting younger students into health care worker pipelines.

Workforce shortages

Pay should be increased in urban schools, Stefanowski said. He said he was a free market fan, and that that compensation for teachers in places like Hartford and New Haven should be higher.

Hotaling also said that the job for teachers and police in urban areas is more difficult, and that compensation should be adjusted. State surplus dollars should also be used to get younger students into the health care worker pipeline.

Career training should be a shared responsibility between the state and private companies, Hotaling said. The state needs to incentivize private companies to create apprenticeship programs.

Crime

Lamont and state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioners James Rovella unveiled the state’s 2021 crime report statistics, which showed a 3 percent drop in reported crime from 2020 and a 9 percent drop in violent crime.

“Our crime rate is going down despite some fearmongering,” Lamont said.

Stefanowski promised to repeal parts of the police accountability bill that was passed in 2020. He also said starting pay for state police troopers should be raised. He rhetorically asked whether anyone listening to the debate really felt safer now than they did four years ago.

The state should use more of its rainy day fund to hire high school counselors and other support services for higher schoolers, which would help with youth crime rates, Stefanowski said.

Housing

Stefanowski said he was a product of affordable housing, his parents moved his family from New Haven to North Haven after finding a modest home for $25,000.

He was critical of the state’s 8-30g law and said the 10 percent threshold isn’t fair for towns that require 2-acre lots. The law mainly applies to towns that are under 10 percent affordable housing stock. It allows developers to circumvent most local zoning regulations if a project includes affordable units.

Instead, the state should partner with municipalities to buy abandoned buildings and build affordable housing.

Lamont said he believes in local control, but towns need to present their plans about how they will help the affordable housing situation. Affordable housing is especially needed in downtown areas.

Abortion

Stefanowski accused Lamont of greatly misrepresenting his views on abortion rights in Connecticut.

“Let me be really clear on this, Roe v Wade is codified in Connecticut state law,” Stefanowski said. “I’ll protect a woman’s right to choose as long as I’m governor.”

Lamont accused Stefanowski of supporting the pro-life movement by donating to Republican senate candidate Leora Levy.

Stefanowski fired back and said that donations aren’t a blanket endorsement of everything a candidate supports. He said Lamont donated money to a Montana governor candidate who is avidly pro-2nd amendment.

Healthcare costs

The best way to deal with high healthcare costs is to tackle the underlying costs of drugs and hospitalizations, Lamont said. The state directed money toward accelerated nursing education programs to deal with the nursing shortage. He also encouraged the self-employed and those at small businesses to look at the state healthcare exchange, which offers subsidies.

Healthcare costs have only gotten worse over the past four years, Stefanowski said. He agreed with Lamont that prescription drug costs need to come down.

Hotaling said the state should expand access to community health centers and school-based health services, which are often priced at a patient’s ability to pay. Stefanowski agreed with Hotaling.