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Connecticut Candidates for Governor Discuss Caregiving, Utility Costs

Video conversations with Ned Lamont, Bob Stefanowski, Oz Griebel and candidates for Attorney General, Treasurer, Comptroller

AARP asked the candidates for Connecticut governor, and other key races, how they will help Connecticut residents save for retirement and how they will lower utility costs, implement paid leave for caregivers and shore up home- and community-based services.

QUESTION 1: In 2016 the Connecticut Retirement Security Program was created.  It will give over 600,000 residents in our state a way to save for retirement at work. Knowing that employees are 15 times more likely to save merely by having access to payroll deduction, will you commit if elected to continue the implementation of this program?

QUESTION 2: As the energy industry continues to evolve, more changes are anticipated as to how energy is delivered and priced in Connecticut’s deregulated market.  Some of the proposals under consideration would increase costs to residential consumers and also weaken the consumer protections that have been put in place to protect residents from the unscrupulous practices of some of the actors in our electrical and natural gas market.  What will you do to ensure that, as the utility market in Connecticut continues to change, the interests of residential consumers will be protected?

QUESTION 3: The 459,000 family caregivers in Connecticut provide an estimated 427 million hours of care each year.  They help older parents, spouses and other loved ones live independently, at home, by providing assistance with activities like bathing and dressing as well as performing complex medical/nursing tasks.  Nationwide, nearly seven in ten (68 percent) caregivers report having to make work accommodations because of caregiving.  These adjustments include arriving late/leaving early or taking time off, cutting back on work hours, changing jobs, or stopping work entirely.  Would you support a family leave law (at no cost to employers), that provides paid leave to employees who have to take time off for family caregiving purposes?

QUESTION 4: The majority of Connecticut residents want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.  One way to ensure that they don’t have to move is to redirect spending away from costly nursing home care and into home and community based services (HCBS).  How will you expand services and supports through programs like the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders and the Alzheimer’s Respite program to allow more seniors to live independently in their homes and communities?

CANDIDATES: William Tong (D) and Sue Hatfield (R)

VIDEO QUESTION 1: In 2016 the Connecticut Retirement Security Program was created.  It will give over 600,000 residents in our state a way to save for retirement at work. Knowing that employees are 15 times more likely to save merely by having access to payroll deduction, will you commit if elected to continue the implementation of this program?

VIDEO QUESTION 2: As the energy industry continues to evolve, more changes are anticipated as to how energy is delivered and priced in Connecticut’s deregulated market.  Some of the proposals under consideration would increase costs to residential consumers and also weaken the consumer protections that have been put in place to protect residents from the unscrupulous practices of some of the actors in our electrical and natural gas market.  What will you do to ensure that, as the utility market in Connecticut continues to change, the interests of residential consumers will be protected?

VIDEO QUESTION 3: The 459,000 family caregivers in Connecticut provide an estimated 427 million hours of care each year.  They help older parents, spouses and other loved ones live independently, at home, by providing assistance with activities like bathing and dressing as well as performing complex medical/nursing tasks.  Nationwide, nearly seven in ten (68 percent) caregivers report having to make work accommodations because of caregiving.  These adjustments include arriving late/leaving early or taking time off, cutting back on work hours, changing jobs, or stopping work entirely.  Would you support a family leave law (at no cost to employers), that provides paid leave to employees who have to take time off for family caregiving purposes?

VIDEO QUESTION 4: The majority of Connecticut residents want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.  One way to ensure that they don’t have to move is to redirect spending away from costly nursing home care and into home and community based services (HCBS).  How will you expand services and supports through programs like the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders and the Alzheimer’s Respite program to allow more seniors to live independently in their homes and communities?

CANDIDATES: Shawn Wooden (D) and Thad Gray (R)

VIDEO QUESTION 1: In 2016 the Connecticut Retirement Security Program was created.  It will give over 600,000 residents in our state a way to save for retirement at work. Knowing that employees are 15 times more likely to save merely by having access to payroll deduction, will you commit if elected to continue the implementation of this program?

VIDEO QUESTION 2: As the energy industry continues to evolve, more changes are anticipated as to how energy is delivered and priced in Connecticut’s deregulated market.  Some of the proposals under consideration would increase costs to residential consumers and also weaken the consumer protections that have been put in place to protect residents from the unscrupulous practices of some of the actors in our electrical and natural gas market.  What will you do to ensure that, as the utility market in Connecticut continues to change, the interests of residential consumers will be protected?

VIDEO QUESTION 3: The 459,000 family caregivers in Connecticut provide an estimated 427 million hours of care each year.  They help older parents, spouses and other loved ones live independently, at home, by providing assistance with activities like bathing and dressing as well as performing complex medical/nursing tasks.  Nationwide, nearly seven in ten (68 percent) caregivers report having to make work accommodations because of caregiving.  These adjustments include arriving late/leaving early or taking time off, cutting back on work hours, changing jobs, or stopping work entirely.  Would you support a family leave law (at no cost to employers), that provides paid leave to employees who have to take time off for family caregiving purposes?

VIDEO QUESTION 4: The majority of Connecticut residents want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.  One way to ensure that they don’t have to move is to redirect spending away from costly nursing home care and into home and community based services (HCBS).  How will you expand services and supports through programs like the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders and the Alzheimer’s Respite program to allow more seniors to live independently in their homes and communities?

CANDIDATES: Kevin Lembo (D) and Kurt Miller (R)

VIDEO QUESTION 1: In 2016 the Connecticut Retirement Security Program was created.  It will give over 600,000 residents in our state a way to save for retirement at work. Knowing that employees are 15 times more likely to save merely by having access to payroll deduction, will you commit if elected to continue the implementation of this program?

VIDEO QUESTION 2: As the energy industry continues to evolve, more changes are anticipated as to how energy is delivered and priced in Connecticut’s deregulated market.  Some of the proposals under consideration would increase costs to residential consumers and also weaken the consumer protections that have been put in place to protect residents from the unscrupulous practices of some of the actors in our electrical and natural gas market.  What will you do to ensure that, as the utility market in Connecticut continues to change, the interests of residential consumers will be protected?

VIDEO QUESTION 3: The 459,000 family caregivers in Connecticut provide an estimated 427 million hours of care each year.  They help older parents, spouses and other loved ones live independently, at home, by providing assistance with activities like bathing and dressing as well as performing complex medical/nursing tasks.  Nationwide, nearly seven in ten (68 percent) caregivers report having to make work accommodations because of caregiving.  These adjustments include arriving late/leaving early or taking time off, cutting back on work hours, changing jobs, or stopping work entirely.  Would you support a family leave law (at no cost to employers), that provides paid leave to employees who have to take time off for family caregiving purposes?

VIDEO QUESTION 4: The majority of Connecticut residents want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.  One way to ensure that they don’t have to move is to redirect spending away from costly nursing home care and into home and community based services (HCBS).  How will you expand services and supports through programs like the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders and the Alzheimer’s Respite program to allow more seniors to live independently in their homes and communities?