The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Case aims for 4th term
Winsted legislator ‘loves helping people’
WINSTED — While some political hopefuls and incumbents began the final leg of their campaigns by opening a headquarters, state Rep. Jay Case didn’t bother. He’s going door-todoor instead.
“There’s not going to be a headquarters,” said the legislator, who is seeking a fourth term in office in November to represent the 63rd District, serving the towns of Winchester, Colebrook and sections of Goshen and Torrington.
“(My campaign is) going to be my feet on the ground, knocking on doors and reaching out to my constituents,” he said. “I find it’s more productive to go out and meet the people, rather than have them come to me.”
Case is the ranking member of the Human Services Committee and serves on the legislature’s Appropriations and Environment committees. He is the ranking member of the legislature’s Internship Committee, where he helps young people learn about state government and policy, according to his website. He is a founding member of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities caucus, which brings members of the I/DD community into state policymaking decisions and provides them with a voice to improve the way government delivers supportive services to the community, he said.
Before serving in the General Assembly, Case
was a small-business owner and active volunteer in northwest Connecticut.
The best part of his job, he said, is to “be out there.”
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “I like to hear what people have to say, and to try and answer their questions and get their feedback. People are riled up about the state’s financial status, and want to hear what’s going on. You hear a lot about (the proposal to bring back highway) tolls, and you get to talk to people about that. It really depends on who you’re talking to . ... If it’s someone who’s elderly, they’re worried about their (MSP) medical savings plan. And taxes are a big thing, too.”
During his first three terms, Case pointed out, the state faced large tax increases and a $5 billion debt. This year, the legislature produced a bipartisan budget with no tax increase.
“Now we have $1.5 billion in our budget, and that’s because we had a zero tax increase this year,” he said. “The governor gives you a budget to work with, but the legislature has the right to veto what the governor does.
“This time we all knew we had to work together, and we showed we could do that by passing a bipartisan budget. I think people liked that — they respect it. We have to keep doing that.”
Case, a Republican, is being challenged by Democrat Winchester Mayor Candy Perez, who kicked off her campaign Sept. 3. Case voiced his opinion of the Democrats based on the state’s budget.
“It’s been one party for 40 years controlling the budget, and that has to change,” he said. “We have to learn to live within our means, and that means stop the frivolous spending. We can do it.”
He criticized Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal to do a $10 million feasibility study on whether Connecticut should bring back highway tolls, which many say will bring muchneeded revenue to the state. Case doesn’t see it that way.
“Why do we need a $10 milion study for tolls? What do we need that for?” he asked . “To spend that money, when we’re having trouble meeting the money we need for the MSP, doesn’t make any sense. The bottom line is, we have to put people before projects.
“We have high tax bills and a lot of debt to pay down. That’s a priority,” he said. “So we still have a lot of work to do.”
If he is re-elected, Case will continue to oppose what he refers to as “frivolous spending,” while focusing on the needs of the people in the communities he serves.
“I’m not running for office to make a living, I’m doing it help people,” he said. “The biggest part of my job is the day-to-day, helping people who need it. There was a guy who needed a double lung transplant, and he came to me for help. I was able to help him with his Medicaid so he could get that. That was four years ago, and he’s doing great now.
“I focus on the things that frustrate people about the government, and try to help them,” Case said. “
Looking ahead, Case said one of his biggest goals for the state is to get control of and end the opiate crisis in Connecticut.
“Mental health and addiction are two of the things that are just not getting enough,” he said. “We’ve put a lot toward gun control, but nothing for mental health and the opiate crisis, which is huge.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 63,632 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2016. The age-adjusted rate of overdose deaths increased significantly by 21.5 percent from 2015 to 2016. “Opioids — prescription and illicit — are currently the main driver of drug overdose deaths,” the CDC reported. “Opioids were involved in 42,249 overdose deaths in 2016 (66.4% of all drug overdose deaths).”
The CDC also listed Connecticut as one of 27 states with a “significant” increase in drug overdose death rates. Connecticut has continued to seek ways to combat overdose deaths, including providing Narcan, a drug that revives an overdose victim, to police and emergency service workers, and providing more funding to individual towns and cities for education and prevention, according to www.ct.gov/dmhas.
Case said that if Connecticut doesn’t find ways to further the fight, “it’s not going away,” he said. “We need to concentrate on it. It’s getting out of hand.”
He believes the way addicts are treated needs to change. “We don’t give people enough rehab — sometimes 30 days isn’t enough,” he said, referring to treatment programs for people struggling with addiction, which often provide detoxification from the drug, followed by in-house treatment.
“Sometimes, 30 days doesn’t give them enough time to reacclimate,” he said. “They need more time to recover and learn how to live. I have some ideas about that, and I’m looking forward to working on it.”
The incumbent legislator is also concerned with the disabled and mentally ill, who are often overlooked, he said.
“For example, we still have more than 2,000 people with disabilities waiting for housing. That’s what I studied in college, and it’s something that’s very important to me. I had a brother with disabilities and I saw how hard it was for him . ... There’s no reason for that many people to be waiting for a place to live. It’s a huge priority for me.”