Issues: Why I am running for Connecticut Secretary of the State

Issue 1: Tool Box of Democracy

The Tool Box of Democracy is a direct democracy proposal that puts you in the political driver’s seat and creates more choices and more voices. Here are the Tools that I support:

• Immediate reform of CT’s Campaign Finance law. As the Green Party candidate for Secretary of the State, why do I have to collect 208,000 valid signatures to get state campaign grants of over a million dollars, when my two major opponents have to collect zero signatures to qualify for the same grant?
• Initiative and Referendum allows voters to accept or reject statues and proposals on their voting ballots.
• Term limits of 10 years for the CT’s House and Senate and eight years for state-wide office.
• Enactment of proportional representation that would allow minor parties one state at large house voting seat for every 15,000 votes cast for that party in all house legislative elections.
• Instant Run off voting allows voters to rank their preferences for candidates on the ballot and allows voters the ability to transfer their 1st choice to a 2nd candidate if their 1st choice does not get a majority.
• Ballot access reform.
• Charter Revocation for corporations convicted of crimes.

Issue 2: The Green New Deal

The Green New Deal is a national Green Party program to create economic prosperity and ecological sustainability. Here are the details:

• Create millions of jobs through massive public investment in renewable energy, mass transit and conservation. 200,000 Green jobs for CT each year paid for by cuts in military spending.
• Reduce military spending by at least 70% and bring our war dollars home to save our economy.
• Establish ambitious, science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and enact legislation to establish a carbon tax.
• Establish an enhanced and preventive medicine based Medicare that covers everyone in the U.S.
• Institute tuition-free public higher education for all students.
• Change trade agreements to protect labor, environmental, consumer, health and safety standards. Create fair trade not free trade.
• Institute drug reform legislation, stop sending people to jail for drug offences, and offer effective and humane solutions to hard drug addiction.
• Enact tough limits on credit card interest and lending rates and institute strict financial regulation. Create a progressive tax reform program.
• Amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate personhood and create a Green commonwealth based on social justice, sustainability, progressive economics, and international peace.

Issue 3: Green Economic Development

Green Economic Development means taking back control of all our utilities and establishing a CT State Bank. I support the following proposals:

• Repeal electric restructuring and establish a CT public power authority. This would immediately reduce monthly electric rates by 25%- 40% which is the amount of profit being taken out of CT’s economy by greedy energy companies and Wall Street.
• Establish Municipal Utility Districts to distribute and control the electricity brought from the CT public power authority and have the MUD’s control local electric lines and local distribution.
• Make immediate major investments in CT base wind, solar, geothermal and other safe and sustainable energy sources financed by a CT State Bank. Stop lending our state pensions and other state money to Wall Street and bring this money back to leverage Main Street development.
• Close all nuclear power plants and use massive conservation and state sponsored alternative energy programs to fill the gap.
• The CT State Bank state would not simply compete with national banks and credit unions but would partner with them to improve their ability to encourage investment in CT’s infrastructure and lend to CT citizens for the creation of a Green commonwealth.