CT Patch Candidate Profile: Jennifer Leeper For 132nd District

FAIRFIELD, CT — The 2022 election is heating up in Connecticut and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office. Eyes are primarily focused on the gubernatorial election, but every state representative and senate seat is up for grabs. All five of Connecticut's congressional seats, plus one U.S. Senate seat, are up for grabs as well.

There are 151 seats in the state House of Representatives and 36 in the state Senate. Democrats currently hold majorities in both chambers.

Connecticut Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Jennifer Leeper, a Fairfield resident, is running for State Representative 132nd House District:

Campaign website

https://www.leeperforfairfield.com/

Party affiliation

Democrat

Education

I have a Bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College where I double majored in Political Science and Religion. Additionally, I earned a Master’s in Public Policy from Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

Occupation

Before being elected, I worked for the Connecticut State Department of Education in the Performance Office and before that, I was a school administrator at an elementary school in New York City.

Family

My husband Nick and I have two wonderful boys, Sam and Ben. Sam and Ben are thriving in third and first grades in Fairfield public schools. Our family enjoys biking, skiing, going to the beach, LEGOs, and Star Wars!

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Only me

Age

38

Previous public office, appointive or elective

Before being elected to the CT State House, I served on the Fairfield Board of Education.

Why are you seeking this office?

After earning my Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, I spent my professional career working on the behalf of children as a school administrator in NYC and then as a data and policy analyst for the CT State Dept. of Education. The day Donald Trump was elected was the last day of my maternity leave with my second son and I felt deeply worried about the world that I would be leaving for my children. As someone professionally trained in using data to develop effective policy, it was clear to me that we needed more people who cared about good policy stepping into the political arena.

When I ran for this seat in 2020, I ran on repairing CT’s economy while putting people first and I believe my colleagues and I have delivered on this promise. We’ve paid $10 billion down on the state’s unfunded pension liabilities, resulting in savings of $450 million a year for the next decade. This frees up desperately needed funds to invest in our priorities such as education, and infrastructure, or back into our pockets to help ease the burden of inflation. In addition to the tens of thousands of new people moving to our state over the past two years, we’ve also had 28 new or expanding headquarters. We made CT more business-friendly by reducing the tax rate for unemployment insurance, providing tax credits to growing businesses, and expanding our manufacturing pipeline. We expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, instituted a Child Tax Rebate, and eliminated income tax on most retirement income- all to make our state more affordable for the middle class. I’m also proud that we were able to get universities more heavily weighted in the PILOT (payment-in-lieu of taxes) formula, resulting in almost twice as much money to Fairfield than GE ever contributed in taxes.

We’ve done all this important economic work while also investing in schools, mental health, tackling climate change, expanding voting access, strengthening pedestrian safety, combating gun violence, and protecting women’s reproductive rights- ensuring our state is a place where people want to stay.

After the 2020 election, I was hopeful we would return to a world where the political parties debated policy differences but I fear our democracy is even more fragile now than it was then. I am committed to continuing to use data to build common ground, engage in fact-based policy debates, and being honest with constituents about the complexity of the challenges that we face and propose meaningful solutions to those challenges. I believe this work is more important now than ever. It’s been an absolute honor to serve as a Representative for Fairfield and Southport and I hope to earn the privilege of continuing to advocate for our community in Hartford.
Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing this constituency is balancing continuing to grow our economy without overdevelopment. I will continue to pursue meaningful amendments to 8-30g to better incentivize the kind of middle development that we do want without the large-scale primarily market rate density. I will also continue to partner with the town to help identify state-owned land that could be transferred to the town for this type of development to help Fairfield meet a moratorium, much like Westport has successfully done. Lastly, I will continue to encourage Fairfield’s Town Plan and Zoning Commission to develop a clear, tangible, and actionable plan to meet our housing goals so that residents can have a clear vision of what the town will look like in 5, 10, and 20 years from the standpoint of development.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The major difference between myself and the other candidate seeking this office is that I am honest with residents about the complexity of the challenges our community faces and I provide tangible solutions to address these difficult issues. I work hard to dial down the temperature at a time when politics has become increasingly toxic and to explain to our community the complexity of these challenges and propose meaningful solutions. I’ve been disappointed to watch the way the other candidate has fanned the flames of division for partisan gain and only offered empty promises that may sound good during a campaign but will have no ability to deliver on if elected. Many of the issues facing our community are complex and require in-depth policy knowledge and partnership with experts across disciplines. I am a part of the Moderate Caucus in Hartford because I know people care about results and are sick of the partisan bickering. I have a proven track record on both the Board of Education and in the Legislature of delivering bipartisan results to positively impact our community.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

There are countless important issues that need our attention. During my time as a Legislator, not only during this campaign, I have worked tirelessly to improve the financial health of our state. Because of the responsible budget we passed this year, we are on track to continue to lower taxes to provide relief from inflation, and further pay down pension debts while preserving our rainy day fund to help us shoulder a possible recession all without cutting state resources.

Additionally, as a member of the Aging Committee and then Vice-Chair of the Human Services Committee, I have prioritized making our state a more affordable place for our seniors on fixed incomes. While we eliminated income tax on Social Security, pensions, annuities for joint-filers $100,000 and below and single-filers $75,000 and below, I view this as a starting point and not an end. We need marriage equity, meaning joint-filers should qualify for the benefit at $150,000 and below, so that seniors aren’t penalized for being married. Additionally, we need a sliding scale out of the benefit to avoid the current cliff that exists when you make even $1 over the threshold.

Currently, I am serving as the Co-Chair of the Indoor Air Quality in Schools Working Group to ensure that our kids and school staff have access to clean and safe air. This is extremely important work that will build on the $150 million investment the Legislature made in improving schools’ HVAC systems to ensure all of our schools have procedures and protocols in place to monitor the air quality in our buildings to ensure everyone’s health and safety inside.

There is so much work ahead on critically important issues such as defending our common-sense gun violence prevention laws, ensuring women continue to have reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, investing in climate preservation, and making health insurance both more broadly available and more affordable. I am deeply committed to continuing to progress all of these important causes.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I’ve proven that I can handle this role over the past two years by delivering real results to Fairfield residents. Since launching my 2020 campaign and through the past two years of serving as the Representative to the 132nd district, I have truly listened to residents' concerns about education, taxes, services for our seniors, COVID-19 response, gun violence, and the threat to women’s reproductive rights. I have consistently voted in accordance with Fairfielders’ needs, regardless if it meant voting with my party. I am a member of the Moderate Caucus and I am committed to delivering the best solution to the challenges we face. I have proposed and co-sponsored legislation that constituents voiced to me was important to them. I have taken on several leadership roles, like Vice-Chair of the Human Services Committee, Co-Chairing the Connecticut Main Street Working Group, and I am Co-Chair of the Indoor Air Quality Task Force. Additionally, I won the 2022 Jack Shannahan Award for Public Service from the CT Main Street Center and also the 2022 Manufacture CT Government Affairs Award.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve my community in this way and it would be a privilege to continue to do this important work.