Submitted by Joe Kelly
Connecticut is a great place to build a life. A lot of people who have lived here for decades will tell you that. Like me, they raised their families here, worked here, paid taxes here, volunteered in their communities, and hoped to enjoy their retirement here.
But for too many people, that is getting harder to do.
Connecticut’s lack of affordability is one of the central themes I hear from voters throughout the 36th District, particularly from older residents. In Greenwich, North Stamford, and New Canaan, their concerns are the same: high electric bills, rising property taxes, whether they can retire comfortably, and whether their kids and grandkids can find good jobs.
These aren’t abstract concepts; they’re people’s lives.
Let’s start with property taxes.
For someone living on a salary, a property-tax increase is painful. For someone living on Social Security and retirement savings, it can be more serious. Their tax bill keeps going up, but their income doesn’t keep pace.
In Hartford, I’ll fight the unfunded state mandates and other policies that drive municipal costs higher and put more demands on local property taxes.
Towns should have the flexibility to manage their budgets responsibly without having new expenses dumped on them by the state.
Then there’s electricity.
Connecticut residents don’t need anyone to tell them their electric bills are high — they see it every month — but those costs can hit retirees especially hard because they have less ability to absorb another fifty dollars here or a few hundred dollars there. Seniors on fixed incomes should never have to choose between paying an electric bill and paying for food or medication.
I’ve spent my career in the energy and financial business, and I know there are better ways to provide reliable power without making customers to pay more and more. In Hartford, I’ll be the leading voice demanding greater accountability from the utilities, because I know what to ask. I’ll also fight to get unnecessary public-benefit costs off electric bills, and I’ll make affordability a priority in every energy decision.
But there’s another part of this equation that doesn’t get talked about enough.
For many older residents, staying in Connecticut isn’t only about whether they can afford their own home; it’s also about whether their children and grandchildren can afford to live nearby. That’s where housing costs, taxes, electricity, and jobs all converge.
I hear this a lot from families. Parents and grandparents want their children to be able to build careers, buy homes, and raise their own families here. And they want to know that after a lifetime of working and paying taxes, they can afford to stay here, too.
That means we need to make it easier to create more housing and lower the costs of building it while still respecting local involvement in those decisions. It also means creating an economy where young people can find good jobs and see a future for themselves in Connecticut.
Helping Connecticut’s aging population isn’t about creating yet another government program. It’s about making sure people who worked their whole lives can afford to stay in their homes, without property taxes and electric bills steadily eating away at their retirement savings. And it’s about making Connecticut affordable enough that their children and grandchildren can build their lives nearby.
These aren’t separate challenges; they’re all part of the same affordability problem.
If we get affordability right, we do more than lower a few bills. We give families a reason to stay, businesses a reason to invest, and the next generation a reason to build its future here.
That’s the Connecticut I want to fight for in Hartford on behalf of the 36th District.
Joe Kelly is a candidate for the CT State Senate.