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A Business Plan for Connecticut
Build the Foundation for Success
1. Modernize Our Transportation Infrastructure
Once the Gateway to New England, Connecticut has become a dead end. Our transportation infrastructure is stuck in the 1950s. In 2010, we can’t afford a train that takes 80 minutes to go 60 miles from New York to Bridgeport. We can’t afford to let freight trucks clog up I-95. Our location is a major competitive advantage, and we’re squandering it with our antiquated infrastructure.
In a more accessible Connecticut, dollars and jobs could flow from New York to Bridgeport, New Haven, New London, and further into the state. And, our citizens could save millions of hours stuck in traffic, making them more productive and giving them more time with their families.
Connecticut needs a bold strategy that addresses rail and road, ports and airports, and links them all together in a 21st century transportation network. A national transportation revolution is underway, but we’re sitting on the sidelines. Florida got $1.25 billion in federal funds for high-speed rail to Disney World; we got 3% of that for rail to Hartford.9 If we’d gotten those $1.25 billion, we could have brought high-speed to Connecticut and created over 30,000 quality construction jobs in the process.10
➢ I will invest strategically in the most congested areas, like Southwest Connecticut, rather than spreading our limited dollars thin around the state.
➢ I will improve the quality, speed, and scheduling of passenger rail by modernizing our stations, tracks, and trains.
➢ I will work with governors of nearby states to expand freight rail, moving more cargo across the Lower Hudson on tracks, not trucks—rush hour is bad enough without having to bob and weave around 18-wheelers.
➢ I will concentrate our scarce highway dollars on clearing dangerous, traffic-inducing chokepoints, those areas that shut down every day at rush hour.
➢ I will focus our growth on transit-rich urban cores—Connecticut was at its finest when we had vibrant cities, and I will ensure our kids have great cities to settle down in.
➢ I will get on the phone, get down to Washington, and get Connecticut back in the game for federal transportation dollars. Our future and our jobs are at stake.
2. Invest in Our People
Connecticut’s number one advantage is our people: we have one of the most educated, most productive workforces in the nation. Yet that great strength is in jeopardy. Our workers are some of America’s oldest and many are about to retire.11 In the generation that will replace them, the achievement gap between rich and poor kids is America’s widest, and less than half of tenth graders meet state goals in math or science.12
Our prized education advantage is at risk and with it, our prosperity. Not too long ago, when many of our state’s manufacturers worried about a shortage of engineers, CCSU petitioned the state to set up an engineering program. The request was rejected; then Sikorsky announced it was moving its major research facility to Bozeman, Montana. Governor Schweitzer had promised Sikorsky an engineering program to guarantee a ready supply of top-drawer engineers. I won’t get caught flat-footed by Bozeman; I will make sure Connecticut has the best workforce in the country.
➢ I will spread across the state ground-breaking reform efforts like those in New Haven, where a courageous mayor and bold teachers union reached agreement on ways to link teacher and student performance, turn around failing schools, and help teachers do their jobs best.
➢ I will put Connecticut on the cutting edge of President Obama’s national effort to reform education, competing for and winning federal funding like Race to the Top.
➢ I will ensure our colleges and businesses work together, as I have done at CCSU, so our companies get workers with the best skills and our kids graduate college with the best jobs.
➢ I will create a full loan repayment program for students at state colleges and universities who study high-demand fields like renewable energy, health technology, and life sciences and stay in state after graduation.
3. Attack High Costs
Energy. Connecticut has the highest energy costs in the continental U.S.,13 a crushing burden on our businesses and families. We can’t hope to keep and attract high-paying manufacturing jobs if our companies are forced to pay sky-high electric rates. Energy costs are one of the biggest expenses in manufacturing, not to mention other industries.
➢ I will use federal and state dollars to create an army of energy entrepreneurs to weatherize our homes and businesses—sealing windows, replacing insulation, ensuring our dollars don’t leak out. We can lower families’ electric bills and put hundreds of unemployed young people to work in just a few months if we move fast.
➢ I will make it easier for our hard-pressed families and businesses to afford money-saving improvements by preserving funding sources like the Connecticut Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Funds.
Health Care. Health costs are a massive tax on small businesses, and our businesses face some of the nation’s highest.14 My small business, for instance, has seen our costs double over the last decade. I will turn Connecticut, America’s insurance capital, into the model of reform, giving our businesses a true cost advantage over other states’.
➢ I will halt the rapid growth of health costs by promoting smart prevention efforts, expanding electronic health records, and appointing a strong commissioner who sees Connecticut as the $6+ billion health care company we have become,15 coordinating health spending across the government to lower costs.
➢ I will invite small and medium businesses, as well as towns, to join a larger insurance purchasing pool, giving them more bargaining power to save money.
➢ I will implement the groundbreaking SustiNet program to ensure Connecticut builds on the recently passed federal health care reform bill, bringing savings to our businesses and families as soon as possible.
Read the complete plan by clicking the links below:
1. Change Government's Business Model
2. Get Government Back on Offense
Build the Foundation for Success
1. Modernize Our Transportation Infrastructure
2. Invest in Our People
3. Attack High Costs
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