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Jeff Sullivan

Running for State Representative

22 CTNewsJunkie Reader Endorsements

Party: Republican

CEP Status: participating

Website: www.facebook.com/sullivanforct2020

Age: 31

Marital Status: Married

Current Residence: Manchester

Current Job: Home Improvement Contractor

Previous Job: Outside Solar Sales Consultant

Previous Job: Outside Security Sales Consultant

Education: Bachelors of Science in Business Administration

What can be done to improve the business climate in Connecticut while COVID-19 continues to be a risk?
Let people get back to work and allow the businesses which are shutdown currently to reopen. Allow each individual to engage in whatever behavior and level of risk they deem acceptable. The prolonged economic lock-downs are a criminal violation of the rights of private property owners. The State of Connecticut should allow businesses to run their business however they want, and allow individual workers to keep more of the money they earn, and allow business owners to keep more of the profits they create. Never before has government, or more accurately one man been permitted to micromanage and extensively dictate the way in which private businesses operate. As a consumer, if you believe that the way a business is operating would be unsafe to your health, then it's your responsibility to protect yourself and not consume the products or enter that business. i.e. if a bar or nightclub was allowed to reopen, the people who want to consume the product from that business should be allowed to do so, and if you're not comfortable going into that bar or nightclub then you shouldn't. Everything comes down to personal accountability. Governor Lamont cannot and should not be making decisions which impact the lives and livelihoods of all Connecticut residents, and this behavior is antithetical to the American system of government.
With so much uncertainty ahead about COVID-19, how would you ensure that the people's business – both at the legislature and in all of our elections – will be conducted effectively, and with full participation, in the safest possible manner for the foreseeable future?
Viruses will exist, and no government can make them magically disappear. Only you can ensure your own safety by acting appropriately to protect yourself from the spread of disease. Wash your hands frequently, stay away from sick people who are coughing and sneezing, and stay home if you're sick. CDC recently updated estimated infection fatality rates for COVID. Here are survival rates by age group: 0-19: 99.997% 20-49: 99.98% 50-69: 99.5% 70+: 94.6% The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits to society, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. It's common sense.
With higher education facing major changes because of the pandemic, what steps will you take to make sure that Connecticut’s residents have access to college and/or other job training that won’t leave them tens of thousands of dollars in debt?
Well, as an individual who is self-educated in my professional trade, and learned countless other subjects through reading and conscious effort, I'm not sure that I'm entirely on board with spending up to a hundred thousand dollars on a college education. We live in the digital age, where we have an unlimited amount of information available to us at our fingertips. We can access virtually all human knowledge through a simple internet search, or by visiting your local library and taking out books on whatever subject you hope to study. Colleges are beneficial, and they certainly help young people learn, but I'll also challenge the conventional wisdom that everyone must go to college. We should take more care to perform a cost-benefit analysis before agreeing to place oneself in loads of debt to receive a college education. Based on my personal college experience, I would argue that I didn't learn much from my professors, or by sitting through lectures, but I studied the textbooks, and put in the time to absorb the information through conscious effort, and I think most people are capable of that, if they are motivated enough to do so.
What specific legislation would you support to reduce racism in Connecticut?
Racism is defined as "The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others." That being said, I'm not sure any specific legislation could be proposed which changes the way that individuals view one another. Laws cannot change the way that people think or feel.
What is one specific policy you support to help protect African Americans as an at-risk group during the pandemic?
I'm not sure how to answer this, but I think it's a ridiculous question, and now I understand why some candidates wouldn't want to complete your survey.
Connecticut’s revenues will sharply decline as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and, unlike Congress, Connecticut has a balanced budget requirement. What changes would you make to balance the budget? (If you want cuts, be specific what will be cut. If you want to raise taxes, be specific about which taxes.)
The State of Connecticut shouldn't be spending money they don't have. I will never support a tax increase; we are taxed enough already and pay among the highest taxes in the country. Here's one suggestion, let's eliminate state employee overtime pay from pension plan payout calculations. Also, why don't we start with incremental budget cuts for all State Departments? I.e. a 1-3% decrease in the funds allocated to each state department annually. If there is a specific department which cannot afford a budget cut, then another department should reduce their spending by a greater percentage. We should be asking the people who work in these State Departments where they can reduce their budget and cut spending - they know their department's operations best, and would be best suited to make them more efficient.
What should Connecticut do to re-tool our public health for COVID-19 and the possibility of future pandemics, while also addressing other chronic illnesses that put people at risk every day?
I'm not sure.
How can Connecticut lower healthcare costs while also improving quality and access to care?
We need to increase competition between service providers and enable competitive market-based healthcare services. I.e. we need many individual providers competing to provide the best services at the lowest possible price. Competition is the single greatest thing government can enable to benefit consumers. Currently, there is too little competition and not enough providers, which has resulted in an oligopic market structure, which enables tacit collusion and high consumer prices. Consumers have so little choice in healthcare providers which makes it so these providers don’t necessarily need to provide high quality or affordable care. Consumers need choice, and right now they don’t have much.