Closing Remarks – Wilton Candidates’ Forum – October 12, 2010

This is a very serious time.  Everyone is worried about the future in Connecticut.  In fact, many people have told me that they are just plain scared.

Seniors fear they can’t afford to stay here.  College graduates can’t find jobs.  Parents plan to leave when their children finish school.  Experienced professionals are unemployed or fear losing their jobs.  Business owners are struggling to stay afloat and sometimes don’t even take a salary, just to keep their businesses alive.

Connecticut is experiencing the worst financial crisis in its history.  The state faces almost $3.5 billion in annual deficits for the foreseeable future, and its tens of billions of dollars of unfunded liabilities are staggering.  We have one of the highest tax burdens in the country, the highest per capita state debt, runaway unemployment, a record number of business closings, an exodus of talented people, and a climate of terrible uncertainty that has lasted way too long.

You don’t fix this with politics.  It’s not about politics, not about who’s right or who’s loudest.  It’s about math.  You can’t spend money you don’t have, and you mustn’t borrow what you can’t pay back.

It’s also about staring reality in the face and acting with urgency to turn this state around.  We need to reduce tax pressure on people, businesses, and towns, and make life more affordable.  We need to make our state more business-friendly.  And we need to free up resources to invest in fundamental education and transportation improvements so crucial to the economy and our quality of life.  This evening, I’ve suggested a number of ways to cut spending and to make the state a more attractive place to do business.

In our district, we pay a lot for the privilege of living in this beautiful state.  And in any efforts to reverse the negative trend, your voice needs to be heard loud and clear.

It’s important to remember that we are talking about representative government.  The boss here is not me, and it’s not the party I belong to.  It’s you.  If you elect me, I will be your representative, not your arbiter.

Your representative owes it to you to push hard to change the status quo, to produce and support ideas for making state government less costly and more efficient, and to fight to take the tax pressure off our people, our businesses, and our towns and cities.   It’s not enough to vote against things.  Voting against your own party’s budget adjustment and then, the same day, voting against the other party’s proposal as well serves no purpose, unless you then propose something yourself.  Your representative must champion measures that will create opportunities and restart Connecticut’s economic engine.

There is no time to waste.  It’s going to take real leadership to fight the fight for our future.

I am ready to stand up for our district, both on the floor of the House, and here at home, and to be your vocal advocate. I am ready to make sure you know what I’m doing and how I’m voting on your behalf, without waiting for you to ask. And above all, I am ready, always, to listen and to make sure the issues that are important to Norwalk and Wilton are front and center in Hartford.

You’re not going to relinquish your future – nor should you – and if you can’t have it here, you’ll find it somewhere else.  I won’t stand by and let Connecticut lose its finest natural resource, its people.  I will do everything I can, on your behalf, to help make Connecticut once again the best place to live, work, raise a family, and retire.

Leading Organizations Acknowledge Lavielle’s Commitment to Helping Businesses Grow and Create Jobs

WILTON, October 11 – Gail Lavielle today announced that the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Connecticut Save America’s Free Enterprise (SAFE) Trust had endorsed her candidacy for State Representative of Connecticut’s 143^rd Assembly District.

The CBIA is Connecticut’s largest and broadest-based business membership organization. It is the leading voice of business and industry at the State Capitol and before state administrative agencies.  According to John R. Rathgeber, CBIA president and CEO, “Gail Lavielle will take steps to create fiscal policies that move the state in the right direction, welcome businesses, and create jobs.  She knows our future depends on it.  We need lawmakers who are committed to restoring business confidence in our state so that employers will invest, grow, and create jobs here.  And we need leaders who are committed to solving our fiscal problems by making fundamental changes to reduce the size and cost of state government.”

The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s leading small business association representing small and independent businesses.  Tim Goodrich, NFIB Regional Public Policy Director, said that the NFIB Connecticut SAFE Trust’s endorsement was based on Lavielle’s understanding of the “issues important to small business” and her commitment “to the needs of thousands of Main Street businesses and their employees in Connecticut.”

Gail Lavielle is a candidate for State Representative of the 143^rd District, which includes parts of Wilton and Norwalk.  A former business executive, she worked for more than 25 years in finance, marketing, and communication, holding executive leadership positions with Fortune 500 corporations, and held Series 7, 66, and 31 securities licenses.

Lavielle’s background also includes extensive work in education and transportation – two areas that are critical to Connecticut’s ability to attract businesses.  At UConn, she teaches upper-level courses to undergraduates to help prepare them for business careers.  As a member of the CT Public Transportation Commission, appointed by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, she has defended the interests of Wilton, Norwalk, and all of Fairfield County on issues including the upgrading of the Danbury branch line, rail station parking and access, the renovation of the Wilton train station, and the development of pedestrian and bike paths, including the Norwalk River Valley Trail.  She also serves as an appointee of House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero on the state’s Advisory Council for Professional Standards for School Administrators.

In Wilton, Lavielle serves on the Board of Finance and the Energy Commission.  She holds an MA from Yale, an MBA in finance from UConn, and a BA from Cornell.  She and her husband of 25 years, Jean-Pierre, are active in many service, civic, and cultural organizations.

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Published in The Hour on September 22, 2010

During the last several months, I have visited with thousands of people in Norwalk and Wilton.  Almost every conversation reflects one common concern:  people fear that neither they nor their children can have a future in Connecticut.

These are people we all know.   They are seniors and people on the verge of retirement who feel they cannot afford to stay here – and even if they can, they think they can live better in another state.  They are college graduates who are anxious to start work, but cannot find jobs in Connecticut.  They are experienced professionals who have either been unemployed for months, or fear losing a job they still have at any moment.  They are parents who plan to leave when their children finish school.  They are small business owners who are struggling to stay afloat, and have often sacrificed their own salaries so that they can keep their workforce employed.

These are people who believe that hard work should lead to a better life.  But having worked hard at a job, raising a family, or getting an education, they are now seeing their incomes reduced, their savings depleted, and their prospects become more uncertain than they could ever have imagined.  It’s not surprising that they doubt the ability or the will of state government to help.

What has brought people to this pass?  One of the highest tax burdens in the country.  One of the environments most unfriendly to business in any ranking of states.  The country’s highest per capita state debt and state deficit.  Serial business closings.  Runaway unemployment.  Uncertainty about tax policy, business policy, and aid for education and towns.

The situation is crying out for action.  Yet the General Assembly’s supermajority, which can do whatever it wants, has resisted, with remarkable consistency, taking any initiative to reverse Connecticut’s downward economic spiral.

The 2010-2011 biennial budget could have made our state government leaner, more efficient, and more productive; could have avoided increasing taxes for people and businesses; could have maintained funding for municipalities; and could have lowered the deficits projected for future years.  Yet the supermajority voted down countless proposals to do all of these things.  Instead, it gave Connecticut one of the country’s ten highest tax increases — $1.5 billion, including a 10% corporate tax surcharge and a personal income tax increase of nearly 30%.  It also raised fees by $110 million, borrowed $1.3 billion, cut municipal aid by $50 million, and increased spending by $300 million.

The result?  This budget went into deficit almost immediately.  Depleting the state’s rainy day fund and borrowing against future revenues led to a downgrading of Connecticut’s bond rating, raising the cost of its debt, which is borne by taxpayers.  Funds raised from long-term bonding are being used to cover operating expenses because of cash shortfalls.  Unfunded liabilities for state employee pensions and retirement costs exceed $43 billion.  Annual deficits of more than $3.4 billion loom for fiscal 2012 and beyond.

The supermajority’s leadership has not shown enough respect for the people of Connecticut to offer an explanation for allowing this state of affairs to continue.  Last May, the Senate chair of the Appropriations Committee was asked during a floor debate why the state’s impending annual deficits weren’t being addressed.  Her answer:  “We’re hoping for an immediate and abrupt turnaround in our economy.”

Hope is not a financial strategy.  It is time to move forward with concrete solutions.  Time to reduce the tax pressure on people, businesses, and municipalities.  Time to make it easier for businesses to hire and operate.  Time to shrink the size of state government and make it more efficient and productive.  Time to face the realities of fundamental education and infrastructure needs and commit to long-term plans for meeting them.

These are the responsibilities of our legislators – no exceptions.  The time for rhetoric is past.  It is time to get things done.

Connecticut’s only natural resource is its people and their native ingenuity.  They will not relinquish their future.  If we don’t act now to ensure them that future in Connecticut, they will seek it elsewhere.  There is no time to waste.  Connecticut’s future – our future — is at stake.

Gail Lavielle is a candidate for State Representative, 143rd Assembly District (Wilton and Norwalk).

Our state government’s excessive spending and borrowing have seriously compromised our future and our quality of life. It is urgent to reverse the state’s downward economic spiral so we can make Connecticut once again the best place to live, work, raise a family, get an education, and retire.

· Restore common-sense budgeting to Hartford. Cut wasteful spending and shrink the size of state government. Stop borrowing to pay operating expenses, and pay off debt. Address more than $43 billion in unfunded liabilities.

· Make it easier and less costly to do business in the state to expand the tax base, create jobs, and ensure opportunities for our young people. Reduce business taxes, lower energy costs, and limit workplace mandates.

· Make life more affordable for seniors. Reduce taxes on pensions, Social Security, cars, and real estate transactions.

· Improve accountability in education, shrink the achievement gap, and ensure that everyone has access to a quality education.

· Invest in our transportation infrastructure.

· Stop imposing unfunded state mandates on cities and towns.

Five-town steering committee to proceed with routing study and collecting public input

NORWALK, September 13, 2010 – The steering committee of the Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT) has received a federal grant for assistance in exploring the development of a multi-use trail extending from Norwalk to Danbury.  The $180,000 grant from the National Recreational Trails Program was approved by the Federal Highways Administration with the recommendation of the Connecticut Recreational Trails Advisory Board.  The grant program is administered in Connecticut by the Department of Environmental Protection.

The grant will be used to conduct a routing study for the trail, including extensive solicitation of input from members of the public, regional planning agencies, municipal boards and commissions, and businesses and other organizations.

The grant proposal was submitted in the fall of 2009 by the Town of Wilton on behalf of the NRVT steering committee, which comprises representatives from Norwalk, Wilton, Ridgefield, Redding, and Danbury.  The steering committee members were appointed by the chief elected officials of the five municipalities.  While the group is chaired by Patricia Sesto, Director of Wilton’s Department of Environmental Affairs, most of its members are volunteers.

Since the early 1990s, groups that have successfully constructed trails in the individual towns have been exploring the possibility of linking them together to form a trail that would benefit the entire region.  Because of this history, the NRVT steering committee believes that there may be significant public support for the project.  The committee will, however, seek confirmation of this support through an appropriate process of public consultation.  It will also seek public input on design, routing, and other aspects of the trail.

“The award of this grant is great news for all five communities,” said steering committee chairman Patricia Sesto.  “The NRVT will offer significant benefits to everyone, residents of the towns directly involved and visitors alike, and at the same time does not preclude any other transportation initiatives.  We’re looking forward to moving ahead with conducting the study and seeking public input, so that we can develop a firm plan for the trail, including its exact route, its design, and its amenities.”

“The NRVT will be a regional transportation resource that links our five communities in a unique way,” said Gail Lavielle, NRVT public outreach subcommittee chair and member of the CT Public Transportation Commission.  “Not only is it consistent with many state-level transportation priorities – improved multi-modal transit, reduced automobile reliance, environmentally friendly transportation – but it will also provide new opportunities for fitness, family outings, and tourism.”

The proposed NRVT would provide a route of approximately 27 miles for pedestrians, cyclists, and other users of non-motorized transportation.  It would extend from Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk through the Norwalk River valley to Danbury, incorporating, where possible, existing trails in Norwalk, Ridgefield, and Wilton, as well as new segments in Redding. Ultimately the trail should reflect the needs and desires of each of these communities. The first continuous mile of the trail, which begins at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, has already been completed.

More information on the NRVT is available at www.nrvt-trail.com.

Since 2008, we have known that our state was facing the worst financial crisis in its history. We have enormous unfunded liabilities, huge annual deficits for years to come, and a bond rating that has just been downgraded and is still in jeopardy. We have the second highest tax burden in the country, runaway unemployment, a record number of business closings, an exodus of talented people, and a climate of terrible uncertainty that has lasted way too long.

We also have a Democratic supermajority in our General Assembly that can essentially do whatever it wants but has taken no action to get this situation under control. Last year, it passed a biennial budget that just kicked the can down the road by raising taxes, borrowing, draining reserves, relying heavily on one-time revenues, and even increasing spending. When that budget went into deficit, they simply passed more stopgap measures and left the problems for the next administration to solve.

We can probably best describe the Democrats’ style of budget management as putting buckets under a leak without ever fixing the roof. They deny that the state has a spending problem, and a borrowing problem. Instead, they think all of us are keeping too much money in our pockets, and they want to make us spend more.

I have spoken with thousands of people in our district, and they have had enough. Our state government can’t make any more demands on our residents, our businesses, or our municipal governments.

The next budget must be different. We will have to cut spending and streamline our state government to make it no more costly than what we can afford. This means agency consolidations, moving state functions to the private sector, and reducing state employment-related costs. During the past two legislative sessions, I spent days and nights in the Capitol watching the supermajority stifle countless commonsense proposals made by Senate and House Republicans for doing all these things. This has got to stop, and we have to be on the floor of the House and the Senate to stop it.

Your representative must be your standard-bearer. Your representative owes it to you to push hard to change the status quo, to produce and support ideas for making state government less costly and more efficient, and to fight to take the pressure off our people, our businesses, and our towns and cities. Your representative must be your voice, advocating vigorously for measures that will create opportunities and restart Connecticut’s economic engine.

There is no time to waste. Fixing the situation Connecticut is in is going to take courage, and it’s going to take leadership. And the 143rd must show leadership in that fight.

I am ready to provide that leadership and fight that fight on behalf of Norwalk and Wilton. I am ready to stand with my Republican colleagues to offer concrete solutions and make them work. I am ready to push hard for these solutions, and to marshal support from all quarters. I am ready to stand up for our district, both on the floor of the House, and here at home, and to defend its interests. I am ready to make sure my constituents know what I’m doing and how I’m voting on their behalf, without waiting for them to ask. And above all, I am ready, always, to listen and to make sure the concerns of Norwalk and Wilton stay front and center in Hartford.

I am grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support I’ve received from the Wilton and Norwalk communities. Our early fundraising efforts exceeded our goals very quickly, in terms of both funds raised and timelines. More than anything, the confidence of so many people in our district makes me feel a sense of responsibility for others unlike any I have ever experienced. I went into this determined to fight for you, but this demonstration of your trust has strengthened my commitment even more.

If I have the privilege of representing the residents of Norwalk and Wilton, I will put all my energy into making Connecticut once again the best place to live, work, get an education, raise a family — and stay.

LAVIELLE STATE REPRESENTATIVE CAMPAIGN

AMONG EARLIEST TO QUALIFY

FOR CITIZENS’ ELECTION PROGRAM GRANT

WILTON, May 29 – State Representative candidate Gail Lavielle today announced that the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission has approved her campaign’s application for a grant from the Citizens’ Election Program (CEP).

To qualify for CEP campaign funding, candidates for the State House of Representatives must raise at least $5,000 in contributions of $100 or less, including individual contributions from at least 150 residents of the towns they are seeking to represent.

The Lavielle campaign had received more than enough contributions to be ready to submit its application on May 20, the first possible application date for the 2010 election year.  The application was approved on May 26, just 15 days after Lavielle’s unanimous nomination as her party’s candidate for the House seat of the 143^rd Assembly District, which includes parts of both Wilton and Norwalk.

“The strong, immediate response to our fundraising efforts demonstrates that the people of our district are impatient for concrete solutions that will restore Connecticut’s economy,” said Gail Lavielle.  ”I want to thank the residents of Norwalk and Wilton for their enthusiastic support.  You have made it possible for me to focus all my energy in the coming months on speaking with voters, listening to their concerns, and getting our messages about commonsense government out to the district.  Your confidence has given me the inspiration and encouragement to fight even harder for changes that will give us an efficient state government that we can afford, improve our business environment, get people back to work, and reduce the financial burden on our municipalities.”

Gail Lavielle was nominated on May 11 as the Republican candidate for the office of State Representative of the 143^rd Assembly District, which includes parts of Norwalk and Wilton.  Her background combines extensive business experience, public service, and teaching.  She worked for more than 25 years in finance, marketing, and communication, holding executive leadership positions with Fortune 500 corporations, and held Series 7, 66, and 31 securities licenses.  As a member of the CT Public Transportation Commission, appointed by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, she has defended the interests of Wilton, Norwalk, and all of Fairfield County on issues including the upgrading of the Danbury branch line, rail station parking and access, the renovation of the Wilton train station, and the development of pedestrian and bike paths.  She also serves as an appointee of House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero on the state’s Advisory Council for Professional Standards for School Administrators.  In Wilton, she serves on the Board of Finance and the Energy Commission.  At UConn, where she is a PhD candidate, she teaches upper-level courses to undergraduates.  She holds an MA from Yale, an MBA in finance from UConn, and a BA from Cornell.  She and her husband of 25 years, Jean-Pierre, are active in many service, civic, and cultural organizations.

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WILTON AND NORWALK REPUBLICANS NOMINATE GAIL LAVIELLE

AS CANDIDATE FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE 143rd ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

WILTON, May 11, 2010 – Republicans of the 143^rd Assembly District tonight nominated Gail Lavielle as their candidate for the office of State Representative.  The 143^rd district includes parts of both Wilton and Norwalk.

“I am honored by this nomination,” said Lavielle, “and I am deeply grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support I have received from both Norwalk and Wilton.  Our early fundraising efforts far exceeded our goals, demonstrating that the people of our district are impatient for concrete solutions that will restore our state’s economy.  I am committed to helping them fulfill their hopes and aspirations for a better future.”

House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk confirmed his strong support for Lavielle’s nomination:  “Gail Lavielle will be a top flight legislator in the State House.  She has spent many long days and nights at our sessions, and her work on state commissions has given her a thorough understanding of the legislative process.  She already has the confidence of our caucus leadership.  She understands the grave financial situation facing our state and what it means for the people of her district.  With her strong real-world executive background, she has the experience and the leadership qualities necessary to help us restore common sense to state government and turn around Connecticut’s economy.”

State Senator Toni Boucher of Wilton, who represented the 143^rd district for 12 years in the State House, said, “Gail Lavielle will focus on the issues that are most important to the people of Wilton and Norwalk, because she knows how to listen.  She is also a forceful and effective advocate.  She will have the courage to stand up on the floor of the House to propose initiatives and defend the interests of her constituents.  Her strong work ethic is apparent in everything she does.  The 143^rd district needs her energy, her intelligence, and her leadership skills in Hartford.”

“Norwalk and Wilton have been living with economic hardship and uncertainty for too long,” said Gail Lavielle.  “Connecticut has lost more than 100,000 jobs, we’re facing impending deficits of several billion dollars, and the state has more than $50 billion of unfunded pension liabilities.  Our people and businesses are straining under the second highest tax burden in the country.  Unfortunately, state government has done nothing to curtail its spending and in fact has increased it.  People expect their representatives to stop this vicious cycle and turn our state around.

“This situation has been critical for more than two years.  The current biennial budget, passed by the Democratic supermajority in 2009, increased spending, borrowed more than $2 billion, drained the state’s reserves, raised taxes, and increased nearly every fee in Connecticut.  Our Republican legislators opposed the budget and offered many commonsense proposals to close that budget’s deficits and make state government less costly and more efficient.  But they were voted down by the Democratic supermajority again and again in favor of stopgap measures like borrowing and using one-time revenues.  It’s like putting buckets under a leak but refusing to fix the roof.

“We must have the courage to make fundamental changes to the way our state government operates.  The citizens of the 143^rd district are looking to their representative to play a leadership role in offering and implementing proposals that will move Connecticut forward.  I am ready to stand with my Republican colleagues to fight for concrete solutions that will give us an efficient state government that we can afford, improve our business environment, get people back to work, and reduce the financial burden on our municipalities.”

Gail Lavielle’s background combines extensive business experience, public service, and teaching.  She worked for more than 25 years in finance, marketing, and communication, holding executive leadership positions with Fortune 500 corporations, and held Series 7, 66, and 31 securities licenses.  As a member of the CT Public Transportation Commission, appointed by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, she has defended the interests of Wilton, Norwalk, and all of Fairfield County on issues including the upgrading of the Danbury branch line, rail station parking and access, the renovation of the Wilton train station, and the development of pedestrian and bike paths.  She also serves as an appointee of House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero on the state’s Advisory Council for Professional Standards for School Administrators.  In Wilton, she serves on the Board of Finance and the Energy Commission.  At UConn, where she is a PhD candidate, she teaches upper-level courses to undergraduates.  She holds an MA from Yale, an MBA in finance from UConn, and a BA from Cornell.  She and her husband of 25 years, Jean-Pierre, are active in many service, civic, and cultural organizations.

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