Connecticut Comptroller Sean Scanlon recently participated in the CT Mirror In the Room discussions where he missed several opportunities to be a leader, seemingly falling back on the path of least resistance rocketing towards another year of status quo. I was momentarily optimistic about his remarks when he mentioned the front page of the Hartford Courant which perfectly depicted the crossroads our state is at with the two leading headlines: “Officials hail state’s financial rise: Sharp turnaround celebrated as pension fund hits record $60B” and “Study: 40% in state are struggling financially: About 18% reported times of not having enough food.” Despite acknowledging this contradiction, Scanlon is not immune from the disconnect of many of our elected officials who are blind to the sentiments at the kitchen tables of nearly half of our state. The negative consequences of fanatic adherence to our fiscal roadblocks are vast and obvious. We’re failing to maximize federal matching dollars by not fully funding certain programs – leaving money on the table. We’re heavily relying on highly regressive property taxes to fill the gaps in our local governments and public school systems that are seeing a deterioration in state support. We’re deferring necessary maintenance, only increasing our long-term cost to keep up public infrastructure. We’re failing to fully staff and fund state agencies and we’re hiking tuition and cutting programs at our public higher education institutions, some of the key programs which could make our state more fiscally stable in the future by having more people doing well enough not to need safety net programs and to pay taxes to the state. This is not good governance. This is not financial responsibility. This is blind support for arbitrary policies that were never rooted in research and data. Scanlon has repeatedly urged cautiousness around modification of the fiscal guardrails and as we have learned more and more about the impacts of these harmful policies, he has continually missed the opportunity to be a financial leader in our state. He also made concerning inferences to zero-based budgeting which has been proven to reduce and eliminate essential services in the name of prioritizing cost-savings measures over long-term social and economic development in our communities. This approach also puts a focus on cutting spending without taking a hard look at our state’s tax inequity. Connecticut’s heavy reliance on regressive tax policies such as property and sales tax, put an undue burden on the working poor and middle class while giving the ultra-wealthy a pass on paying their fair share, placing Connecticut in the bottom half of states in terms of tax fairness. Scanlon didn’t stop there though. He went on to attack the Southbury Training School, a residential program home to around 100 developmentally disabled patients, at times making inaccurate assertions. He specifically called out the internal fire department as an example of waste, but that fire house has long been shut down. Elected officials with a minimal understanding of the work of state agencies and their specific programs should be cautious in suggesting cuts. Instead, they should listen to the voices on the ground – those reliant on services and the workers who provide them – to find ways to improve services and assess whether or not there’s a better way to help more people. In this same interview Comptroller Scanlon noted that he would like to run for governor one day. To be successful he must understand that Connecticut voters demand a leader who recognizes that policies debated and passed in Hartford have to be responsive to the needs of residents across Connecticut. His affinity for the status quo is not the answer. Carol Burgess is a State Retiree who lives in the Oakdale section of Wallingford.