State Rep. Rachel Khanna (opinion): Correcting the record
State Rep Rachel Khanna, D-Greenwich/Stamford.
Tyler Sizemore, Staff Photographer / Hearst Connecticut Media
In a recent column, “Telling yes votes from no votes” Alma Rutgers laid bare the liberties my opponent, Tina Courpas, is taking with my voting record as state representative for the 149th district. The lies and deceptive claims made by Courpas in a flier she distributed to voters clearly violates her promise to run a campaign “about telling the truth” and restoring “civility” to politics.
Misrepresenting my votes in an effort to advance her own candidacy hardly exemplifies either.
While it’s personally disappointing that Courpas chose this course of action, what’s more alarming is how my opponent says she would vote, if given the chance. Her positions make clear that she will be a rubber stamp for broadly written and hastily conceived amendments from some of the most extreme voices in her party. She promises she is willing to forgo public and expert input to advance her own ideological principles and beliefs. And she’s more than willing to turn down millions of dollars of state funding for Greenwich and Stamford.
Domestic violence — the No. 1 reported crime in Greenwich — is a good example. My opponent states she would have voted for a poorly worded and overly broad amendment to a domestic violence bill that would impose mandatory life sentencing without parole on anyone who murdered another family member. The consequences of this amendment were horrifying, as the mandatory sentencing would have applied to an abuser who murdered as well the abused, who would face life imprisonment without parole without consideration of any mitigating circumstances.
My opponent states she would have voted yes on new absentee ballot voting requirements on “signature matching” without any interest in hearing testimony from experts, comments from the public, or importantly without considering the cost to taxpayers.
My opponent also proudly proclaims she “would have voted no” on the 2024 budget bill. There’s a lot to unpack here. The 2024 budget bill protected the historic tax cuts included in the biennium budget passed in 2023 and exempted even more retirement income from state taxes.
It allocated “use or lose” federal ARPA funds to local nonprofits in Greenwich and Stamford — organizations that help our seniors and kids — such as River House, Parsonage Cottage, Greenwich Alliance for Education, United Way, Stamford Boys and Girls Club and our public libraries. This budget bill, which passed with my support, also paid down generations of pension debt and maintained our state’s record Rainy Day Fund.
Being a legislator requires one to think critically, deliberately, and thoughtfully about all of the issues, the bills introduced to address them, and any and all attempts to unravel, delay, or derail a good bill’s progress, such as many of the amendments my opponent says she would readily support. There is a process for introducing a bill, contributing to its development and improvement in a bipartisan manner, and getting it to the floor for a full House vote. Many of the amendments and votes my opponent would have supported hinder this process.
The financial discipline applied to our State’s budget has dramatically improved our state’s fiscal standing, as evidenced by the recent upgrades to our bond rating. And again this year, we reaffirmed our commitment to adhering to the fiscal guardrails and paying down our longstanding pension debt. In contrast, Courpas favors a plan that would bust those fiscal guardrails for a short-lived bandage fix to high energy costs that provides her a political sound bite and only saves residents $12 per month. That defies common sense.
As for bipartisanship, my opponent claims I voted 98% of the time with Democrats. It’s true, and you know what else is true? So did my Republican colleagues! Of the more than 400 bills that were signed into law in the past two years — 98% passed with bipartisan support.
I am the candidate in the 149th state House race endorsed by both the Democratic and Independent parties. My recent endorsement from the Independent Party of Connecticut was earned based on my legislative record and this cross party endorsement reflects my commitment to representing all the residents of the district.
I am proud of my record and of my fact-based, honest campaign. I hope I can count on your vote and that I will be able to continue serving you as your state representative in the 149th district.
Democrat Rachel Khanna is the state representative for the 149th District and is running for re-election.
Sep 13, 2024
