The Milford-Orange Times is continuing its election-year tradition of asking the candidates to respond to questions about what they would do for the residents of Milford and Orange if voters elect them. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Q: What do you think are the greatest challenges facing the district right now, and how will you help address them? Be as specific as possible.
State Rep. Kathy Kennedy, Republican, District 119 (Incumbent)
Kathy Kennedy
A: First, I want to begin by thanking all the constituents in the 119th House District of Milford and Orange for granting me the opportunity to represent your interests as state representative. It has been my honor to serve you, meet residents and business owners, and fight for a more affordable, safe and sustainable community. After knocking on thousands of doors, folks and I agree that the greatest challenges facing our district primarily are affordability and public safety.
Whether it’s the skyrocketing electric rates or the cost of housing and essentials, Connecticut continues to become more expensive every day. This is due to the effects of inflation, high electric bills and the resistance from our Democratic majority to reduce unnecessary taxes and preserve the spending guardrails we currently have in place.
As a mother who also knows what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, I want to continue protecting our savings from useless taxes and rate hikes that only set our families and businesses further back. For example, many of our hard-working residents who have good paying jobs are now more worried about budgeting for basic goods, forcing many to leave our state for more affordable locations.
In my fight for affordability, I helped pass the largest income tax cut in Connecticut history, invested in our local schools, secured state funding for community projects and proposed several bills to offer financial incentives to attract new families, develop our businesses and protect senior retirement benefits. More recently, I joined my House and Senate Republican colleagues in standing up against the rising utility rates by calling for a special legislative session, while Democrats stated they wanted to wait until after the election.
I won’t stand for that. With your support, I will fight for a more affordable place to live, putting the needs of our communities before political agendas.
Another challenge facing our district is crime and our public safety. While my colleagues on the other side of the aisle believe that crime is down, folks in our neighborhoods disagree. In recent months, we have witnessed rising episodes of theft and reckless driving that put more pressure on our law enforcement and threaten our quality of life.
These issues stem from current legislation that prevents our police from effectively carrying out their investigative duties, including simply being able to stop a vehicle that is emitting marijuana smoke. Additionally, we must invest in our youth and address juvenile justice reform policy that protects our teens from getting involved with criminal activity.
On public safety, I am proud to have been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and the Police Officers Association of Connecticut for my commitment to protecting our values and communities. During the last session, I supported legislation that invested in police retention and recruitment programs, cracked down on street takeovers and established a Fallen Officer Fund to aid the families of officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. I also passed bills that implemented safer driving measures, such as the installation of speed cameras and wrong-way driving signs, to help reduce road accidents and fatalities.
Properly attending to our public safety concerns requires legislative changes and social changes. For instance, by encouraging the growth of the school resource officer program, we can protect our students and help them get acquainted with our police and respect the job they do every day. Enacting similar social and political changes will once again invite new businesses to grow and families to remain in our district.
Other important issues that I have heard from our constituents include local control on affordable housing, protecting our shoreline and environment, combatting unfunded education mandates, as well as election integrity, following the ballot incident in Bridgeport last fall. On all of these issues, I have been and will remain dedicated to reaching across the aisle and always making your voice heard, because to me, that’s what matters most.
In my time as state representative, the greatest challenge facing our entire state has been that our government is managed by a sole party agenda. If we recall, one Democrat lawmaker said, “When we see Republican amendments, we vote them down.” As a candidate endorsed by the Republican and Independent parties, I know what it means to stand up for all voices, despite party affiliation.
Even in a presidential election, we must remember that the state government affects us the most. Being your representative means giving all folks a seat at the table, not just one ideology or interest.
This election, I encourage all of my constituents to share their voice, either from Oct. 21 to Nov. 3 or on election day, Nov. 5. I invite you to support me as state representative so that Milford and Orange can continue to have an open-minded leader and a confident voice in Hartford.