Rep. Donna Veach: The Southington Outsider Q&A
On October 1, the Southington Outsider sat down with the candidates running to represent Southington at the State Capital for video interviews. Rep. Donna Veach, who represents the 30th District, was unable to attend the session and elected to submit written answers to the questions.
What changes would you work for at the state level to make it easier for residents to afford electricity?
The state of Connecticut has the third largest electricity rates in the country. The first thing I would do to tackle these outrageous charges would be to eliminate the ridiculous public benefits charge. This tax equates to somewhere between 15-20%, which amounts to approximately $1 billion dollars a year coming out of the taxpayer’s pockets. These public benefits, only actually benefit a portion of Connecticut’s ratepayers. The way our rate-structure is set up, ratepayers are on the hook for a number of energy related programs, which include supplementing EV rebates, battery storage incentives, and solar subsidies to name a few. In addition to this going after the public benefits charge, I would suggest eliminating other taxes within the supply portion of our bills which account for over $400 million per year. Another way to make more affordable energy would be to expand the use of hydro, nuclear power, and natural gas.
What is the most useful thing the state could do right now to help its municipalities?
In my opinion, the most useful thing the state could do to help our towns would be to fully and permanently fund the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula. For many towns, the largest part of our local budgets come from the Board of Education. Education is critical to all of our communities and funding it is not only difficult but extremely expensive. When the state doesn’t fully fund their portion, that remaining balance is unfairly placed onto our towns and cities who are forced to carry the weight of these unfunded costs.
In the town of Berlin alone, over 55% of our budget is set aside for the Board of Education. In Southington that number increases to 65%. We need to stop placing a Band-Aid on this issue and find a permanent solution that doesn’t involve dropping these costs back onto our municipalities. The burden of not funding education properly trickles down to all our local homeowners and businesses, which makes it more difficult to continue to provide the basic services that people expect in a municipality. Another option is to give taxpayers back the overtaxed funds the state has received to help offset some of their increasing costs that come from living in Connecticut. The state also needs to stop with the unfunded mandates. You can’t run a household or business like that, why does government think they can do things differently?
Which segment of the population do you feel has needs that are being overlooked by the state?
I feel that there isn’t one but many segments of Connecticut’s population that are being overlooked. Connecticut has been in the midst of an affordability crisis for quite some time. It goes without saying that our electricity costs are beyond out of control! Working families are struggling with the cost of childcare, seniors and veterans are struggling with the cost of healthcare, individuals and couples looking for an affordable place to live are having a hard time finding one, and everyone who owns or touches something in this state is struggling with the cost of the taxes associated with it. Unfortunately, there aren’t many who can comfortably afford to simply exist in this state, let alone retire in it.
Identify a national or international issue that impacts us in Connecticut. How should this issue be addressed?
Affordable healthcare is a real issue on both a national and local level. Healthcare has become an insurmountable burden to so many people living in our state. I hear regularly from elderly residents how they must continue to work just to keep themselves covered by a healthcare provider. They are working beyond retirement age because of the lack of coverage or the inability to pay for affordable care. Prescription meds have become out of control for many.
How do we fix this? Certainly, it will take a combined effort by state and federal agencies to come together. Pooling groups/organizations together for better pricing may be one way to help. Abuse and fraud within our healthcare systems also adds to these rising costs. While the idea of free healthcare sounds great in theory, someone else will be forced to help pay for it somewhere along the way.
A question posed by Veach's challenger Linda Pierce: "Do you believe every person should have the freedom to make their own reproductive choices—including the right to choose what happens to their pregnancy when continuing it puts their life at serious risk?"
As a member of the Catholic church, our religious beliefs place a significant importance on the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception up until birth, and therefore I believe that deliberately ending an innocent human life is morally wrong. In instances where a pregnancy is deemed life threatening to the mother, it is my understanding that medical intervention would occur to save her life without intentionally choosing to end the pregnancy via an abortion. These procedures aimed at saving the life of the mother may ultimately result in the loss of the fetus, but the intention isn’t to end the life of the child but rather save the mother’s, which may result in the unavoidable loss of a pregnancy.
At this present time, Connecticut has some of the strongest pro-abortion/reproductive-health protections in the entire country. Further strengthened in 2022 by the reproductive-health shield legislation, so the idea that women’s rights aren’t protected in Connecticut is inaccurate and misleading.
A second question from Linda Pierce: "Many Berlin and Southington residents—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—are deeply concerned about what they’re seeing from the federal government. You are a Republican and a supporter of President Trump. Where do you stand right now with regard to what is happening at the Federal level and how these policies affect Connecticut residents?"
First, let me start by saying the current president is not on the ballot in Connecticut despite how often the other side of the aisle tries to portray it as such. I am running for reelection as the Berlin and Southington state representative in the State of Connecticut and therefore have zero say in what is happening or taking place on the federal level. While the federal government can impact a state, states by in large can set their own guidelines, laws, rules, etc. (examples are legalizing marijuana and not cooperating with ICE).
My concern has, and will always be, the district in which I represent. As a member of the Republican party, I do support our president but would be cautious to throw the topic of what’s happening at the federal level into one giant political pot. While I can admit that I don’t agree with everything that happens at the federal level, I’d argue that very rarely does someone completely agree with everything someone does every single time. Do I agree with every decision that is made at the federal level, absolutely not. The rule of law is not only important to me, but for many of the residents who call the 30th District home. I believe that we need to follow that rule of law and the constitution of this country.
Question for self: "As a member of the minority, how have you fought to hold the majority party accountable, protect taxpayers from government overreach, and defend the constitutional rights of those whose voices might otherwise be ignored?"
As a state legislator for the past six years, I have spent hours listening to my constituents, regardless of whether or not I agree with them. I have spent the better part of that time fighting to make Connecticut a more affordable place to live, work, raise a family and retire in. I have joined my Republican colleagues in proposing hundreds of different types of tax cuts, fighting for more transparency in the budgeting process, providing solutions to cut electricity costs and reduce government spending, along with preserving our residents' constitutional rights and freedoms. These proposals seemingly receive very little to any serious consideration. I have pushed back against reducing sentences for violent and dangerous criminals, expunging criminal records, and defunding and/or restricting the ability of our law enforcement officers to do their jobs safely. I have supported parental choice when families raised concerns with vaccine standards and stood alongside homeschool families who were unjustly shut down from testifying for no fair reason by our majority party.
As a local councilwoman, I understand how important retaining local control is for our municipalities when it comes to the types of decisions that would ultimately impact our community. Residents know what’s best for the communities they live in, not lawmakers in Hartford who have never stepped foot into our towns. Our constitutional rights are constantly being challenged, and the good people of Berlin and Southington need a voice like mine who is constantly fighting on their behalf. One thing is for certain, every decision and vote I take is always made with the betterment of our community and the people who live there in mind.
