State Representative District 38

What action(s) will you take to reduce out-of-pocket drug costs and reduce the impact of the cost of prescription drugs on taxpayers and insurance premiums?

Implement public universal health care coverage and place caps on prescription costs. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#Healthcare

In these inflationary times, what will you do to help ensure that Connecticut’s middle-income retirees on fixed incomes are able to keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets?

Reduce taxes on pensions/retirements and make housing more affordable. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#FairEconomicPolicies

How do you plan to address the growing long-term care workforce crisis in the state?

Reduce educational costs to enter care jobs through statewide tuition-free public colleges and universities and increase pay and improve benefits while strengthening collective bargaining and union organizing rights of workers. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#PublicEducation https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#WorkingPeoplesRights

Gas prices are higher than ever, which is difficult for older adults on fixed incomes. Yet, alternatives to cars in Connecticut are limited. What will you do to help older adults access other forms of transportation?

Invest in mass-transportation and electrify and decarbonize our transportation and energy infrastructure. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#EnvironmentalPolicies https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#Infrastructure

What are the two most urgent problems facing Connecticut within the context of climate change and the environment, and what will you propose to solve them?

We must rapidly move to end our use of fossil fuels which requires heavy investment in alternative clean/green energy sources. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#EnvironmentalPolicies

How can Connecticut's education systems create better outcomes for students in low-income communities?

By ending our model of funding public schools by local property tax and instead fund our public schools equitably universally at the state level through progressive taxation on the highest earners, most wealthy, and largest corporations paying their fair share of taxes. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#PublicEducation

Pedestrian deaths spiked a few years ago and remain high, and it's fairly clear that driver behavior, such as distracted driving, is only getting worse despite significant efforts by law enforcement to stop it. How can Connecticut's streets be made safe for pedestrians and bicyclists?

With investment in pedestrian friendly infrastructure, including protected walking and bike lanes while also taking cars off the road by providing viable mass-transit options. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#Infrastructure

How should the state and its school districts deal with COVID-19 going forward?

What should be done on the state level to further address Connecticut's lack of affordable housing? Do you support, for example, mandating or incentivizing towns and cities to alter their zoning codes to be friendlier to affordable housing?

Investment in housing must be made through public and not-for-profit avenues, because if only private, for-profit developers are involved then housing costs will continue to rise as their aim is to increase profits rather than to provide affordable housing.

What can be done to prevent excessive consolidation of the healthcare industry and the loss of services – or, in some cases, the loss of small hospitals themselves – in the state's rural areas?

Create a system of public, not-for-profit, universal health care and implement heavy regulation against monopolistic practices. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#Healthcare

Do you think the state's two major electric utilities (Eversource and United Illuminating) are sufficiently regulated? If not, what measures would you take to ensure that consumers are protected to the greatest extent possible against prolonged loss of services and unfair rate increases?

No, and we must move away from a private, for-profit model for providing utilities and toward more public, not-for-profit utilities at the state, regional, and/or municipal level, such as Groton and Norwich Public Utilities.

What is your position on whether Connecticut should open its election primaries to unaffiliated voters?

Yes, Connecticut primaries should be open to all voters. Further reforms must also be made. —Implement a system of automatic voter registration, similar to Oregon’s opt-out voter registration system (as opposed to opt-in). —Implement a system of statewide ranked-choice/instant-runoff voting, similar to Maine’s ranked-choice voting, so that voters are free to vote for the candidates and policies they want rather than against what they do not want. — Make Election Day a state holiday so all can participate fully and fairly in our democracy. — Increase democratic engagement by lowering the voting age to 16 years. —Support no-excuse absentee voting to give Connecticut voters the guaranteed option to vote by mail or secure ballot drop box. https://www.nickgauthier.com/issues#ElectoralReform