CT Patch Candidate Profile: Jennifer Leeper For State Rep

FAIRFIELD, CT — Election Day is fast-approaching on Nov. 5, and there are a number of key races on the ballot in Fairfield.

To help educate readers about the state's election, Patch reached out to candidates for office to get more information on their campaigns, and about the issues that are facing the town and state.

Candidate’s Name: Jennifer Leeper

What office are you seeking? State Representative

District: 132nd House District

What city or town do you live in? Fairfield

Party affiliation: Democrat

Education: Wellesley College, BA; University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy, MPP

Occupation: I have been your State Representative for the last four years, serving for the last two as the Vice-Chair of the Education Committee. Prior to that, I worked for Connecticut’s State Department of Education as a policy and data analyst. I also have served as a school administrator in New York City where I served as a director of special education.

Family: My husband Nick and I have two boys, Sam and Ben. They are in fifth and third grades in Fairfield’s Public Schools..

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Previous public office, appointive or elective:

I was on Fairfield’s Board of Education prior to being a State Representative.

Age: 40

Why are you seeking this office?

I ran for office in 2020 on the promise of rebuilding CT’s economy and doing it by putting people first. I’m proud of how my colleagues and I have delivered on that vision. We have taken meaningful steps to get our economy going in the right direction by cutting $1.2 billion in taxes to the middle class and our seniors, paying down another $7 billion in our legacy pension debts, which saves us hundreds of millions of dollars in our operating budget every year, and maintaining a historic $4 billion rainy day fund, and even a $1.64 billion budget surplus all that will help us weather any uncertainty that lies ahead.

This past year in particular, I’m really proud of what we have achieved for Fairfield. We’ve put a statutory pause on the state’s Racial Imbalance Law to avoid school redistricting, we passed comprehensive reforms to the Siting Council in response to UI’s disastrous monopole proposal, and we passed the most substantive 8-30g reform since the law’s inception.

We’ve done this important work while also making historic investments in education, our community non-profits, mental health, protecting seniors, gun violence prevention, workforce development, and protecting reproductive rights. All of this to ensure our state is a place where people want to stay.

After that first 2020 election, I was hopeful we would return to a world where the political parties debated policy differences but I fear our democracy is even more fragile now than it was then. I am committed to continuing to use my professional background as a data analyst to build common ground, engage in fact-based policy debates, and to be honest with constituents about the complexity of the challenges that we face. I have always believed in doing the work to find solutions to the challenges we face and not in just highlighting the problems.

I believe I have delivered on this promise for our community and recognize that there is always more to do. With the potential of many very significant issues being returned to the states, who we have serving in our state legislature, governing on issues and being our firewall from the potential chaos in Washington, is more important than ever. We need leaders committed to dialing down the temperature of our politics and bringing people together. I have worked hard to do this here in Fairfield and it’s been an absolute honor to serve this community and I hope to earn the privilege of continuing to be your State Representative.

What do you believe is the No. 1 issue facing Connecticut, and how do you plan to address it?

The number one issue facing Connecticut is our economy. The entire world is still grappling with high inflation caused by Covid and global supply chain disruptions. As your legislator, I have worked hard to tackle affordability and maintain economic stability. We cut income taxes for the middle class and expanded tax exemptions for pension, annuity, and IRA retirement income. We also maintained Connecticut’s fiscal guardrails, grew our Rainy Day Fund to a historic $4B, and paid down pension liabilities by another $7 billion, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year. In addition, I fought hard for the elimination of property taxes for veterans who have a permanent and total disability from their service.

I know that energy prices are high and our residents are suffering under the hikes this past summer. As someone who just took on UI after their monopole proposal, I fully understand the undue power our utilities hold. I have been working really hard to engage our Federal partners in this work so that we can meaningfully reform our utilities.

A lack of childcare affordability and availability is a nationwide problem that is especially pertinent here in Fairfield. Connecticut recently expanded Care4Kids, a program that subsidizes early childhood care and education for low and middle-income families. Based on the Surgeon General’s recent announcement that parent stress is a public health issue underscores how important access to this early childhood support is and how we must expand it.

A key part of improving our overall affordability is also in growing our tax base by attracting more businesses, helping them grow, and bringing workers here. Our businesses identify our lack of housing, both supply and affordability, as the top concern for them growing their businesses here in CT. In order to grow our state’s economy, employers must have places for their employees to live.

There have been an alarming number of deaths on Connecticut's roadways. Is there anything from a legislative standpoint that can be done to address that?

This is one of the issues that I hear about most often from my constituents. In order to combat it, we have created a Vision Zero council, which helps Connecticut invest in safer road infrastructure. This approach shifts to a systems-level approach to achieving zero roadway fatalities and is modeled after the successful Swedish initiative that has been similarly implemented throughout Europe.

As Wrong Way accidents have increased, we responded by installing new alert systems at high-incident on and off ramps across the state. We have also enrolled additional classes of State Troopers for more highway patrols.

In the future, I plan to propose allowing local police officers to have jurisdiction over their town’s segment of highway, in addition to our State Troopers, to enhance enforcement. Police officers often recount that they feel powerless in going after these very obvious, dangerous drivers, and this would empower them. Lastly, during the last legislative session, we in the House passed a bill to give municipalities more tools to crack down on frightening and dangerous road takeovers. Unfortunately, this did not pass in the Senate and I look forward to again passing it in the House this session and ensuring that it will pass the Senate as well.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My opponent’s single issue is repealing the decades-old 8-30g law. This cannot be achieved as the votes are just not there. I fully understand how important housing and zoning policies are to our community and I have a very thoughtful voting record on all these issues. I have also worked closely with my colleagues in the majority to prevent the passage of any bills that I believed would negatively impact our community while also achieving meaningful reforms to 8-30g.

We have many more issues before us as a community and state than just this one. I have always been honest with our community about the complexity of the challenges we face and rather than just highlight those challenges, I work hard to achieve solutions. This is evidenced in the expansive middle-class tax cuts we passed, the vast improvements to the Siting Council we implemented after UI’s disastrous monopole proposal, investments in public education and early childcare, and how we paused the state’s racial imbalance law to avoid school redistricting.

Over the last four years, I have hosted countless town halls and public forums. I send a weekly newsletter detailing what is happening in the legislature and what I am focused on. I am always willing to talk with constituents about an issue, especially when they disagree with me and I remain committed to continuing that open-door approach.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have fought for Fairfield for the last four years and delivered the solutions that my constituents have asked for. 1. Prevented school redistricting by pausing the 1960s-era racial imbalance law, 2. Improved the 8-30g law by awarding points toward our moratorium for middle housing (i.e. duplex, triplex, quadplex) in “as of right” zones, regardless of affordability, and 3. After bearing witness to UI’s egregious proposal to build monopoles throughout Fairfield and Southport and take over 7 miles of privately owned property along the way, we passed a law that reformed the Siting Council. Now, the legislation improves the requirements of public notice and engagement, provides robust financial analysis, and enforces penalties on utilities.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Thank you for the honor of trusting me to be your Representative for the past 4 years. It's been a pleasure. I hope to be able to continue to do this important work in our Capitol, representing you all as we work toward a brighter future.