Josh Elliott used an online policy forum Monday to frame his Democratic primary challenge to Gov. Ned Lamont as the choice between the status quo and a gamble on radical change.  Elliott, 41, a state representative from Hamden, sketched in broad strokes his aspirational vision of a very differe nt Connecticut: a state with no property tax, sharply higher income taxes on the wealthy, and possibly highway tolls. “I would eliminate the property tax entirely, have one tax and one tax alone, and that would be the income tax,” Elliott said. “Everything else is regressive, and I want to move away from regressive taxation.” Lamont and Elliott had separate 45-minute conversations Monday with Pete Harrison, the Connecticut director of the Regional Plan Association, the research and advocacy group for the New York metro area. The governor, who is seeking his third term, went first in an appearance that exposed the pros and cons of incumbency: Lamont has a record, and his focus seemed to rest more on defending the past than outlining a future. Elliott was free to riff on possibilities. The Regional Plan’s housing campaign in Connecticut, which originally was branded as Desegregate CT and now is called Pro-Homes CT, put the group in conflict with Lamont. He vetoed a housing reform measure it sought, then he negotiated a revised version with broader support. “This bill had buy-in from mayors and first selectmen,” Lamont said, his oft-repeated rationale for the veto and revisions. “I just think that it’s very important that the folks who are going to be implementing this are at the table. You know, the first round we really didn’t have mayors or first selectmen on board.” Lamont’s view of Connecticut’s progress on increasing the stock of housing at all price points during his eight years in office is rosier than Harrison’s or Elliotts. In one question, Harrison noted that realtor.com gave Connecticut a grade of F when it comes to balancing affordable housing against the high the cost of living. “Other states —  red, blue, purple — are driving ambitious pro-homes agendas with substantive zoning reform laws,” Harrison said. “realtor.com just gave Connecticut an F grade for the second year in a row and categorized us as the ‘stagnant bottom.’” What additional zoning reforms are needed to “move the needle?” he asked. “Well, let’s start with what we did in the housing bill,” Lamont said. “We’re speeding up permitting and making real reforms that make it easier for you to build housing, especially in commercial areas, as of right.” Lamont’s use of the phrase “as of right” means a property owner can act without obtaining special approval from local land use boards. Neither candidate had a detailed response to Harrison’s question about how the state would better provide transit to the 30% of households where no one owns a car. “RPA believes buses should be the top priority for enacting this vision, but currently we have a very disjointed network of 17 systems with limited frequency connections and unintegrated fare boxes,” Harrison said. “How will you create a fast and fair bus network?” Elliott talked about bringing local leaders and agencies together. Lamont said his commissioner of transportation is currently trying to do just that. Throughout his conversation with Harrison, Lamont ignored Elliott.  But the challenger mentioned the incumbent in his first minute, faulting Lamont for vetoing the first, stronger version of the housing bill. Elliott said it was emblematic of their differences. “Ned Lamont is a status quo manager, where I am a reformer,” Elliott said. Elliott did not offer a framework for how he could eliminate the property tax, the primary source of revenue for cities and towns. His pitch for a 4% increase in the income tax on millionaires would not come close to covering the lost revenue. To increase funding for transportation, the challenger adopted a proposal the governor made in the disastrous opening months of his first term: highway tolls. Lamont pitched the idea without a fully fledged plan for what it would accomplish, and his approval rating dropped to the bottom rank of U.S. governors. Elliott, as it turns out, thought it was a good idea, if poorly conceived. Like Lamont, Elliott likes the idea of relying on out-of-state truckers and motorists passing through the state to pay for a portion of the upkeep on its highways and aging bridges. “So, I’m pro-tolls. I’m still pro-tolls, even 10 years, eight years later, however long it is, because what I think it needed was a better messenger,” Elliott said. Elliott said tolls are regressive and would be considered only as part of a larger tax reform package. While the governor has abandoned tolls, he told Harrison the state still is making progress on speeding up rail travel using funding obtained through the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law passed during the first year of the Biden administration. Connecticut is replacing rail bridges whose conditions forced trains to slow their speeds. “Thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure bill, we’re redoing most of these major rail bridges and car bridges,” Lamont said. Both candidates said the political environment for addressing climate change has grown more complicated, given the Trump administration’s opposition to green energy. Lamont touted Connecticut and Rhode Island prevailing in fending off the president’s efforts to kill the nearly completed off-shore Revolution Wind. “We got it open, so those turbines are beginning to turn,” he said. “We’re making enough carbon-free power for about 300,000 homes between us and Rhode Island.” But Elliott criticized Lamont for not going forward with the purchase of power from another wind project with Massachusetts and Rhode Island because of its high price. “Now both of those states kept on moving forward, and they’re bearing the benefit of that, and we aren’t. We need to be willing to make these investments now,” Elliott said. Ryan Fazio, the Republican nominee for governor, will take questions from Harrison on the same topics at 11 a.m. on July 9. To watch, register with the RPA or watch on CT-N. The conversations with Lamont and Elliott were live-streamed on CT-N and are available to watch on the site’s archive by clicking on Lamont or Elliott. The Democrats are scheduled to debate on July 22 on WTNH. ...read more read less