Tackling the state’s biggest problems in the new year
What are Connecticut’s five biggest problems? We asked and you answered.
Earlier this year, we asked our readers to tell us about Connecticut’s biggest problems — those issues that cross party lines and transcend decades. These are the issues with which past lawmakers have unsuccessfully dealt, and which future lawmakers will unfortunately have to face.
You responded with hundreds of thoughtful answers through our community partnership project Ask the Insider. As we looked at the feedback, some patterns began to emerge.
Over the course of 2020 we’ll examine the top five problems you identified, digging into why these issues exist and using your answers to guide to our stories.
If you have any questions or would like to weigh in, send an email to reporter Jordan Fenster, at jordan.fenster@hearstmediact.com.
Here are the subjects you said represent Connecticut’s five biggest problems:
Taxes/cost of living
We’re combining the two issues because so many of you said the state’s tax burden is making it harder to survive in Connecticut. But it’s not just property taxes — it’s the cost of a gallon of milk or a gallon of gas.
One reader called the problem “affordability,” and said it “stems from high property taxes, vehicle personal property, and other high tax issues.”
Spending
This may be related to taxes — those tax dollars go somewhere — but we’re splitting it out because so many of our readers identified it as a separate issue. Are those tax dollars being spent wisely? It comes down, for one reader, to “State governments' inability to get control of a realistic budget and control spending.”
Getting around
Anyone who’s been stuck in Merritt Parkway traffic understands the issue of infrastructure in Connecticut. Years ago, the CTFastrack bus provided commuters a new option between New Haven and Hartford, but Gov. Ned Lamont has made transportation a central piece of his plans for Connecticut’s future.
This topic might also include what one readers called “alternative transportation,” including “new transportation routes through Long Island Sound and hyperloops with tolls that can finance all transportation and fix sewer pollution of Long Island Sound.”
Unions, pensions and employee benefits
This was a theme in so many responses: Unfunded pensions and outofcontrol benefits for state employees are driving up the cost of living in Connecticut. It’s certainly a complex issue but perhaps there’s an innovative solution out there.
Are there too many state employees? Is there a way to pay off the pensions so many readers say are crippling the state budget?
Economy
We’re using the term “economy” as a catchall to cover business friendliness, the availability of jobs, the exodus of collegeeducated workers and whether the state is fostering small business growth.
“Cluster high tech companies,” one reader said. “Create a Connecticut Institute of Technology with incubators and make the state exciting and accessible.”