As legislative leaders debate when to re-open the State Capitol building to the public, the General Assembly, as a whole, must do a better job allowing for public participation. There are several reforms which can dramatically improve civic engagement and increase transparency, accountability, and competition coming out of the last year of coronavirus.

Fred Carstensen’s article analyzing the revenue prospects of legalized recreational marijuana on the future of Connecticut’s economic recovery, to be fair, should also analyze the socioeconomic costs involved with its passage to present an accurate picture of the overall fiscal impact on the economy. 

In a March 24 opinion piece titled A plea for a hold on zoning reform, author Alexis Harrison of Fairfield attacked H.B. 6107 and (without naming it) S.B. 1024. As a fellow Fairfield County resident (from the neighboring town of Trumbull) who thinks zoning reform is one key to building a more prosperous and inclusive Connecticut, I’d like to counter its claims and make an argument of my own. 

The COVID-19 pandemic affects us all, but it has taken an especially severe toll on Black and Hispanic state residents, magnifying inequities that have long produced worse health outcomes for people of color.

Like many states, Connecticut faces numerous infrastructure problems, largely resulting from a lack of long-term provision for repair and maintenance costs. Much of the country’s infrastructure was built with design-bid-build contracts focused on the cheapest way to build projects, making long-term management more difficult and costly, leading to the “crumbling” conditions seen throughout the country.