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Martin Looney

Running for State Senator

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Party: Democrat

CEP Status: participating

Website:

Age: 72

Marital Status: Married

Current Residence: New Haven

Current Job: State Senator/attorney

Previous Job: Adjunct faculty

Previous Job: State representative

Education: B.A. M.A. J.D

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?
We must move toward providing free public college tuition . We have begun the process with increased financial aid for community colleges.
What can be done to improve the business climate in Connecticut while COVID-19 continues to be a risk?
We must provide grants and loans to businesses using both General fund appropriations and capital bonding funds and aggressive pursuit of federal funds.
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?
We must review the procedures used in our special sessions this year to ensure accessibility and accountability especially regarding public hearings.We
What specific legislation would you support to reduce racism in Connecticut?
Our police accountability bill represents a significant step in combating racism in providing for anti bias training and deescalation training for police recruits regarding potential violence. We also must ban zoning practices that effectively prevent diversity in suburban housing.
What is one specific policy you support to help protect African Americans as an at-risk group during the pandemic?
I support guaranteed health coverage and state mandated provision of PPE for all service industry workers, many iof whom are African-Americans.Wr
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.)
We need a more progressive income tax and a separate tax on dividends and capital gains to enable us to meet our needs.
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?
We must increase staffing in the Department of Public Health and concentrate more preventative measures on protecting nursing home patients.wr
How can Connecticut lower healthcare costs while also improving quality and access to care?
We must adopt a state public option healthcare system and ban health insurance plans with high co-pays. We must also improve access to generic medicines and facilitate importation if less expensive drugs from Canada.
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