Politics & Government

Q&A with State Sen. Toni Boucher, State Rep. Gail Lavielle

The Westport Sunrise Rotary Club hosted Boucher and Lavielle at Bobby Q's earlier this month to discuss Connecticut's recent legislative session, healthcare, and political differences.

Westport's Sunrise Rotary Club received a visit earlier this month from State Rep. Gail Lavielle (R-143) and State Sen. Toni Boucher (R-26), who discussed the recent legislative session that just ended and fielded questions from Rotarians.

Boucher, who represents Westport, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, and Wilton in the Senate, said she and her peers in the Senate put forward a number of "positive initiatives" during the last session.

One of the initiatives Boucher endorsed was a bill that eases constraints on doctors pursuing continuing education in Connecticut.

Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Regarding educational reform, Boucher was pleased a bill that would allow high-performing juniors in high school to waive their senior year and move onto college or the workforce passed the Senate.

Lavielle also spoke of educational reform that would affect Westport. There is currently a group working on a list of high-performing districts that would qualify to be relieved from certain state mandates. That list is expected to be finished in October and could be acted upon when the 2014 legislative session begins.

Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The state representative for parts of Norwalk, Wilton, and Westport said the end of the 2013 session felt rushed and compressed, especially when it came to voting on the budget.

This session didn't provide "enough policy change for my taste," Lavielle said. "We keep going in the same direction."

She did highlight the "lockboxing" of the special transportation fund revenues through 2015 so that money cannot be used for anything other than transportation issues.

Lavielle also praised the passage of the clean marinas bill, a law that she proposed and championed.

Following the review of the legislative session, Boucher and Lavielle answered questions from the Rotary Club members, who zeroed in on healthcare concerns: 

Q: How is Obamacare working in Connecticut?  

Toni Boucher (TB): "The big sell was it would be more affordable -- but it will be more expensive," Boucher said. State aging agencies are concerned they could be run out of businesses because of penalties regarding costs associated with care, Boucher explained. "Costs are so prohibitive that it goes against what it was designed to do -- get everyone insured."


Q: Is healthcare a right or a privilege? Should everyone have it, or just those who can afford it?

TB: "We've reached a point of development as a country -- it's something that should be available to all," Boucher said. Connecticut is 92 percent fully covered, according to Boucher.

"Why should we dumb down healthcare" to fill the 8 percent gap? Boucher said that instead the state should focus on the best ways to make sure that 8 percent is insured, rather than changing the system for all.

Gail Lavielle (GL): Lavielle, who lived in Europe for some time, said she has seen the pros and cons of universal healthcare. The United States has attained "heights of quality that sometimes you don't see elsewhere," according to Lavielle, and it raised the issue of "quality of the health care versus the convenience of the circumstances," calling to mind luxury hospitals and medical establishments found in the U.S.


Q: What are the main philosophical differences between Democrats and Republicans in Connecticut?

GL: "On the Republican side of the Connecticut House, we take caucus positions on the budget and financial issues," Lavielle said -- "but not on social issues." Regarding hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage, "Most of us believe that whatever you think is fine, but it isn't the government's business to tell you what to do with your personal lives." She said Democrats have taken some caucus positions on social issues, but House Republicans don't. On the national level, "Republicans are more doctrinaire than in Connecticut," Lavielle said.

TB: The two parties differ chiefly in economic principles, according to Boucher. The Democratic side of the aisle believes "centralized government can better take care of the whole," while Republicans believe in a small government, Boucher said. The Republican Party may be split on some social issues, but are "totally aligned" on economic decisions, Boucher said.  

Regarding gay marriage, "there's more unanimity than you'd imagine," with Connecticut Senate Republicans. She added that she would like decisions on social issues to be left to the states, not made on a national level.

"On many personal decisions, I think Connecticut has gotten it right," Boucher said. 


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