Municipal Experience Matters!
A Story of Local Success
As the two-term mayor of Rocky Hill, I serve the fastest growing municipality in Greater Hartford! A growing community equals growing demand on services and infrastructure. Amid a once in a lifetime pandemic, I maintained an aggressive agenda to support taxpayers. My boots-on-the-ground, proactive leadership recognizes public safety as the most important function of government. Under my administration’s Better Plan, Better Path model, we are ushering in unprecedented revitalization projects, rehabilitating blighted property, welcoming numerous businesses, increasing workforce housing, implementing policies to protect the environment, and kept our school district open throughout the pandemic– all while minimizing tax increase. Isn’t it time to get Connecticut on the right path too? Join me and together, we will build a stronger Connecticut for families, students, and businesses. Change Starts Here!
Policy Priorities
As Mayor of Rocky Hill, I don’t believe in quick fixes. Instead, I focus on long-term, proactive solutions that keep my community on the better path. It’s the reason I became involved in local politics in the first instance. I prioritized building a Better Plan, Better Path for my community which led to me being elected as one of only three female women to hold the position since 1843 and retain the seat as the first republican to win re-election in a historically democratic town. Unfortunately, that same proactive leadership is lacking at the state level. I’m running to change that. As your next State Senator, I will not allow another day to pass where families are forced to decide whether to put food on the table or gas in their cars. Under my watch, I will ensure that community-wellness and public safety are once again top priorities. I will put our most precious resource – our children and grandchildren – first, making sure they have the necessary tools to thrive in school so we can make up for the unprecedented academic, social, and emotional losses experienced over the past two years. Finally, I will implement solutions to change the hostile business climate that continues to define Connecticut’s sluggish economy and drives people away.
AFFORDABILITY / Tax Reform
Connecticut is unaffordable and taxes are too high. Today’s high cost of living and soaring inflation continues to strain people’s wallets. At a time when families are hurting most, CT Democrats voted against what would have been a record-breaking $1.2 billion dollar tax relief package for working and middle-class families. Instead, they have consistently and substantially raised taxes in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, and now again in 2022. Worse yet, they are sitting on a “historic surplus” yet refuse to return a portion to you by failing to fund needed initiatives.
Quick fix, temporary rebates do little to make Connecticut more affordable over the long term. Common-sense solutions, including an immediate sales tax cut and a reduction is the diesel tax would have an immediate and direct impact on your wallet by reducing the cost of goods and services and decreasing the cost of fuel used to haul the goods we consume.
The struggle is real and it’s the result of ineffective state representation over the past decade. Connecticut will continue to decline if left under one-party rule, which lacks diversity of opinion, hinders collaboration, and breeds divisiveness. Tax reform is needed to make Connecticut more affordable. For us in D9, (Cromwell, Middletown, Newington, Rocky Hill, and Wethersfield), it is critical that we elect a State Senator who will work for all the people, irrespective of party affiliation, with boots-on-the-ground, municipal leadership skills and business ownership experience to tackle these issues. Change Starts Here!
EDUCATION / Making Up Lost Time
Connecticut students, teachers, and families have faced unprecedented challenges, worry, and grief navigating the global outbreak of COVID-19. Students, regardless of whether they attended classes in-person or remotely, struggle with academic, social, and emotional losses due to nearly two years of disruption. Addressing this gap is critical to improving outcomes for our youth. Stronger outreach efforts and accessible community resources will help our youth thrive. Strong communities depend on strong schools.
School Safety
Our schools must be prepared to address safety threats of every level. School safety continues to be top of mind for parents and caregivers. Families entrust their school district with the well-being of their children. Their safety and that of our teachers and administrators must be a top priority for state lawmakers with more funding allocated to assess school needs, update safety plans and hire personnel such as school resource officers and social workers to implement change.
MENTAL HEALTH & ADDICTION / Creation of Rehabilitation Centers
For too long, Connecticut has failed to properly respond to the needs of those living with mental health and addiction problems. While new legislation was passed this year that begins to address concerns, it is important to note that it came only after we had reached a mental health crisis point in Connecticut. Undeniably, the COVID-19 pandemic “exacerbated” many issues, however, the decline of children’s mental health, indeed mental health amongst the general population, was predictable and as such, much should have been addressed earlier. As a former mental health and addiction counselor, I have worked in crisis intervention, including both inpatient and outpatient settings. There was a critical need for resources, staffing, and facilities then and there remains a critical need today. As your next State Senator, I will ensure mental health and addiction needs are truly met through policies that address and relieve the stigma associated with drug abuse and mental health; support the creation of rehabilitation centers and expansion of treatment options offered via mobile crisis units; and focus on the current opioid & fentanyl epidemic that has become a public health and public safety crisis.
PUBLIC SAFETY / Holistic Approach
Public Safety is my top priority as Mayor of Rocky Hill, and it will remain my top priority as your next State Senator. Unfortunately, majority leaders voted in favor of sweeping police reform and denied relief to municipalities, forcing us to tackle staggering crime rates across the state, alone, for more than one year. As a result, municipalities struggled with increased costs, our youth continued to perpetuate crime without accountability or adequate resources for rehabilitation, and law enforcement became a hostile work environment. As a litigator, former Special Prosecutor with the Division of Criminal Justice, and prior thereto, a mental health and addiction crisis counselor, I know first-hand the impact quality of life issues have on municipalities. Connecticut’s crime problems must be addressed from a holistic perspective aimed at empowering our youth and adults, providing rehabilitation, and preventing rather than reacting to crime in the first instance – community wellness depends on this.
Support For Big & SMALL BUSINESS
Big and small businesses across Connecticut are the backbone of thriving communities. As the Mayor of Rocky Hill, I prioritize community partnerships with our businesses. We have streamlined regulations and created policies to incentivize economic growth, recognizing that when businesses succeed, the community succeeds. Unfortunately, current majority leaders continue to harm our state’s business environment and despite higher wages and plentiful jobs, Connecticut’s business community continues to flounder. We can change this.
3 areas I will address:
- Connecticut has an aging workforce – something we should have been proactively preparing to address long ago.
- Connecticut is unaffordable and taxes are too high to recruit and retain businesses and employees – tax reform is needed.
- Soaring inflation, a worker shortage, and supply chain issues present critical challenges for businesses, compounding their struggle – let’s help businesses stay open.
According to a climate study performed by CNBC entitled: America’s Top States for Business, Connecticut ranks 39th in the nation, falling 15 places since last year! In addition to investments in workforce development, we need policies that support better outreach and broader incentives. Ultimately, lawmakers need a fundamental understanding that we must make Connecticut more affordable to keep our college grads here, support the businesses that survived the pandemic, and encourage new opportunity and growth.
Support for big and small businesses begins with immediate regulatory reform and tax reform at the state level to put us on the Better Path. Change begins with new leadership. Change Starts Here.
Anyone can have a vision, but only a few can get results!
Lisa Marotta for State Senate
