Chip Beckett 2020 Policy Positions
Cost Of Living
CT has raised the cost of living to a point where people feel their only option to save money is to move, no matter how much they may enjoy living in this state. Taxes are a reflection of government costs, both the cost of services and the number of services available. Can we cut the cost of services with efficiency, holding wage and benefit increases to inflationary levels, by outsourcing? These are the questions our elected officials need to start asking. We need to give serious thought on how to make this state more affordable.
Taxes
Taxes are the price of civil society, but mine are killing me. Connecticut has excessively high property taxes, which are the biggest burden to residents and businesses, especially the small ones who have been especially hurt by COVID. The state needs to fairly fund services. For example, the constitution says it is responsible for education; why shouldn’t every public school student be given a flat educational grant, say $8,000/student (1/2 the cost of education). Poor districts could be given more for medical and social interventions administered in schools, but education is universal.
It is irresponsible to simply label a town “rich” and lower funding as a result. This idea would help control property taxes, and let less affluent people move to more expensive towns, because housing costs would actually go down.
Education
We need a strong educational system because our lives are in a society of science and technology. To succeed, our students need to understand and be comfortable with science and technology, which is our hope to meet the challenges of the day. We need to place an emphasis on STEM related fields so we can develop a workforce prepared for the challenges of the 21st Century.
Environment
We need strong environmental laws that are holistic. We need to think about how things work on a system basis. We need to preserve land from development to raise our food and clean our air and water. We should be efficient with public infrastructure, and redevelop and infill existing infrastructure rather than sprawling out further and further from population centers.
Streamlining Government
Many people talk about state and local governments as 2 distinct entities. They really are not; towns deliver the services the state says we must under the rules they say we must follow. We should really focus on how the 2 branches of local service delivery can better coordinate for improved service to residents at lower costs.
The idea I have shared with CRCOG is to take advantage of our 169 towns as a retail delivery centers for state services. With estimates of 30% of state employees leaving state service in the next few years, I believe we can shift responsibility from state offices that provide general public services (like the DMV) and deliver these services through town halls if online services are not available or are inoperable.
The towns have people staffing the offices that could be paid on a case basis like the Town Clerks are for various functions. Town halls are more convenient to more people than state office, and often with more available hours.
Police Accountability
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor should both be alive and well. Good policing should not include physical harm to people not posing a threat to others. I would not expect to be held with a knee on my neck for over 8 minutes by any police jurisdiction in the US; and no one else should either.
We need to acknowledge that policing is a very difficult profession, and we the public expect more and more without error. It is a demand that is unlikely to be performed to the standards that are expected.
Unfortunately, our legislature rushed through a police accountability bill that the Chief States Attorney has said is unconstitutional. This bill should have never even been voted on by the Senate or signed by the Governor. When the problems were pointed out, it should have been pencils down until the issues were worked out. Rewriting a deficient bill next year is a poor substitute for doing the people’s work correctly the first time. We as citizens should demand better than sloppiness and laziness from our elected officials.
We need to correct any issues that police officers face in providing social protection and safety for all of us, but it needs to be done right.
CT has raised the cost of living to a point where people feel their only option to save money is to move, no matter how much they may enjoy living in this state. Taxes are a reflection of government costs, both the cost of services and the number of services available. Can we cut the cost of services with efficiency, holding wage and benefit increases to inflationary levels, by outsourcing? These are the questions our elected officials need to start asking. We need to give serious thought on how to make this state more affordable.
Taxes
Taxes are the price of civil society, but mine are killing me. Connecticut has excessively high property taxes, which are the biggest burden to residents and businesses, especially the small ones who have been especially hurt by COVID. The state needs to fairly fund services. For example, the constitution says it is responsible for education; why shouldn’t every public school student be given a flat educational grant, say $8,000/student (1/2 the cost of education). Poor districts could be given more for medical and social interventions administered in schools, but education is universal.
It is irresponsible to simply label a town “rich” and lower funding as a result. This idea would help control property taxes, and let less affluent people move to more expensive towns, because housing costs would actually go down.
Education
We need a strong educational system because our lives are in a society of science and technology. To succeed, our students need to understand and be comfortable with science and technology, which is our hope to meet the challenges of the day. We need to place an emphasis on STEM related fields so we can develop a workforce prepared for the challenges of the 21st Century.
Environment
We need strong environmental laws that are holistic. We need to think about how things work on a system basis. We need to preserve land from development to raise our food and clean our air and water. We should be efficient with public infrastructure, and redevelop and infill existing infrastructure rather than sprawling out further and further from population centers.
Streamlining Government
Many people talk about state and local governments as 2 distinct entities. They really are not; towns deliver the services the state says we must under the rules they say we must follow. We should really focus on how the 2 branches of local service delivery can better coordinate for improved service to residents at lower costs.
The idea I have shared with CRCOG is to take advantage of our 169 towns as a retail delivery centers for state services. With estimates of 30% of state employees leaving state service in the next few years, I believe we can shift responsibility from state offices that provide general public services (like the DMV) and deliver these services through town halls if online services are not available or are inoperable.
The towns have people staffing the offices that could be paid on a case basis like the Town Clerks are for various functions. Town halls are more convenient to more people than state office, and often with more available hours.
Police Accountability
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor should both be alive and well. Good policing should not include physical harm to people not posing a threat to others. I would not expect to be held with a knee on my neck for over 8 minutes by any police jurisdiction in the US; and no one else should either.
We need to acknowledge that policing is a very difficult profession, and we the public expect more and more without error. It is a demand that is unlikely to be performed to the standards that are expected.
Unfortunately, our legislature rushed through a police accountability bill that the Chief States Attorney has said is unconstitutional. This bill should have never even been voted on by the Senate or signed by the Governor. When the problems were pointed out, it should have been pencils down until the issues were worked out. Rewriting a deficient bill next year is a poor substitute for doing the people’s work correctly the first time. We as citizens should demand better than sloppiness and laziness from our elected officials.
We need to correct any issues that police officers face in providing social protection and safety for all of us, but it needs to be done right.
