Every Connecticut resident deserves to be able to afford and live here, especially  our seniors. Connecticut is one of the richest states in the richest country in the world. If you choose to retire and spend your golden years here, you should do so with dignity and pride. 

Connecticut should be a place where our seniors can afford to stay in their homes, where public policy supports multi-generational access to housing , and where we have a strong social safety net so that everyone is protected, no matter what stage of life they  are at. That agenda has to be backed by deep  investment, a forward looking vision, and a governor willing to fight for it.

That is why as Governor my agenda will include helping seniors live well in Connecticut, supporting the workers and local providers delivering the best care possible, and stopping  those looking to make a cheap buck off our most vulnerable neighbors.

The solutions:

• No Private Equity in Nursing Homes

  We know exactly what happens when private equity gets its hands on a care facility. Prospect Medical Holdings — a private equity-backed hospital system operating right here in Connecticut — declared bankruptcy in 2025 after investors extracted hundreds of millions of dollars in fees and dividends while the system crumbled around patients. Investors walked away with $658 million. Patients and workers were left with the aftermath .

  Those living in nursing homes deserve dignity and dedicated care. They cannot be a means for venture capitalists to make destructive profits off of. That is why as Governor I will support the following:

  • No new private equity or REIT ownership of Connecticut nursing homes.

  • Existing private equity owners will face enhanced transparency requirements, mandatory performance bonds, a prohibition on sale-leaseback transactions for the first five years after acquisition, and no transfer of facility property without the Department of Public Health Commissioner's approval showing it benefits resident care.

• Increased Medicaid Reimbursement Rates for Aging Related Care

  Medicaid is the funding source for roughly 74% of nursing home care in Connecticut. Despite years of advocates pleading with Gov. Lamont to raise rates, he has chosen to sit on surplus dollars and hope the issue goes away. Medicaid rates have not kept pace with the actual cost of delivering quality care, resulting in facilities cutting corners on staffing and services, or going under. Both outcomes hurt seniors seeking long term care and memory care the hardest. 

  Connecticut is seeing increased demand for memory care, and the reimbursement structure does not adequately account for the complexity and intensity of dementia-related care. That is why as Governor I will support the following:

  • Direct DSS to conduct an immediate review of reimbursement rates for long-term care, and dementia and Alzheimer's care. 

  • Based on the DSS review, bring rates into alignment with actual care costs.

  • Tie Medicaid reimbursement increases directly to staffing and quality benchmarks.

• A Tax Structure that Works for Everyone, Including Seniors

  Connecticut has a fundamentally upside-down tax system. The wealthiest residents pay an effective tax rate of less than 8% of their income in state and local taxes, while working residents pay over 20%. A retiree living on Social Security can suddenly be saddled with a huge tax bill they did not plan for because of our overreliance on the property tax. Seniors on fixed incomes pay more as a share of what they have than our billionaire governor who has spent $70 million on his own campaigns while blocking every initiative about fairness in our tax code.

  Property taxes continue to increase dramatically long after you stop taking a paycheck . Social Security checks do not go as far as they used to. Grandparents raising their grandchildren do not have a child tax credit to help them offset some of the costs of raising children. Gov. Lamont has called every one of these ideas “too expensive,” or , “too complicated.” He is the single, largest barrier our state has to a fairer tax code.

  As Governor I will support the following: 

  • Raise the Social Security exemption threshold to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for joint filers. Going forward, instruct the Department of Revenue Services to recommend incremental adjustments to the exemption to keep pace with inflation. 

  • Increase state funding for the Homeowners Elderly/Disabled Tax Relief Program, raise the income thresholds to reflect the actual cost of living in Connecticut, and push the maximum credit up significantly. 

  • Create a permanent, fully refundable child tax credit of up to $600 per child that grandparents can take advantage of to help with the costs associated with raising children.

• Supporting Senior Housing Options and Making Downsizing a Cost-Effective Reality

  Three out of four American adults say they want to stay in their home or community as they age. Fewer than half believe they will be able to. Meanwhile Connecticut is losing its already limited housing stock to private equity and corporate landlords.. One of the most direct ways is to get more homes into the hands of Connecticut families without penalizing seniors who are ready to downsize. Year after year, good housing bills come up for debate that would solve these problems. But Gov. Lamont shows no leadership in getting them across the finish line. This past year a bill that would have created more housing options for seniors, with near-unanimous Senate support, backed by architects, housing advocates, and both parties, died in the last days of session.

  This is exactly the kind of failure a governor can fix. That is why as Governor I will support the following:

  • Support legislation that would allow homeowners to rent up to three bedrooms in their own single-family home without needing local government approval. 

  • Make ADU requirements mandatory for all cities and towns, creating more downsizing options for seniors. 

  • Create a targeted tax incentive for seniors who sell their primary residence to a Connecticut family that will occupy it as their primary home, helping stop Connecticut’s limited housing stock from being purchased by corporations.

• Support for Connecticut’s Long-Term Care Workforce

  Seniors in Connecticut rely on the support of long-term care workers to ensure they can age with dignity. But our state faces a staffing crisis. This crisis in Connecticut's long-term care sector is a direct result of wages that do not compete with other sectors, benefits that do not reflect the physical and emotional demands of the work, and a governor who has treated these workers as nothing other than a line item.

  Connecticut deserves a Governor that will raise reimbursement rates for facilities, tie Medicaid funding to a direct care spending floor to ensure the money reaches workers, and will build a workforce pipeline through our state universities and colleges. Governor Lamont has stood in the way of tangible support for long-term care workers by blocking raises and resisting SEIU 1199NE’s call for $25 an hour until threatened with an historic strike. That all changes after Election Day. As Governor I will support the following:

  • SEIU 1199NE's push to $25 as a starting floor, with a clear path to $30, tied to Medicaid reimbursement increases that ensure the money actually reaches workers. 

  • Establish a minimum staffing ratio for Connecticut nursing homes. The federal rule requiring minimum staffing has been under attack. Connecticut needs to  set its own standard and hold facilities accountable  regardless of what Washington does.

  • Create a long-term care workforce pipeline in partnership with community colleges and the state university system, including debt-free pathways into CNA, home health aide, and direct care roles.

  • Guarantee that Medicaid rate increases for long-term care facilities include a direct care spending floor. 

  • Extend full collective bargaining rights and protections to all home care workers, including PCAs, across the system. 

• Protect Connecticut Seniors from Donald Trump’s Cuts and Attacks 

  Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans have made their agenda clear. They are focused on slashing federal funding to blue states to pad the pockets of the billionaires that funded their campaigns. The time of “we’re looking into that,” is over. Advocates estimate that federal rule changes have pushed 30,000 or more Connecticut residents off SNAP already. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people on HUSKY could lose coverage over the next decade as work requirements kick in starting January 2027. This is an attack on seniors living on fixed incomes who rely on SNAP to supplement limited food budgets, and who depend on HUSKY to cover prescription costs and long-term care services that Medicare does not fully pay for.

  Connecticut has amassed a record Budget Reserve Fund, created a Federal Emergency Response Fund, and continues to enjoy record budget surpluses stemming from years of bull market gains. Sitting on this money is an abdication of responsibility. I will leverage what we have saved, and show other Governors across the country that Democrats at the state level can stop Trump’s attacks. Replacing the food assistance that Connecticut families have lost would have cost less than $50 million a year. On Medicaid, the fight to ensure coverage remains for everyone is winnable if we take steps now to do something about it, not Governor Lamont’s approach of waiting until people suffer. That is why as Governor I will support the following: