My Pledge - State Senate Candidate Christopher Coutu

Courage, common sense and integrity have guided me through 17 years of
military service and two terms as a state representative. These principles will
continue to guide me as a candidate to be your next state senator. My pledge to
the citizens of the 19th District (Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lisbon, Lebanon, Ledyard, Marlborough, Montville, Norwich and Sprague) includes the following:

1. In the wake of evidence that special interests have again infiltrated Hartford and, in particular, the congressional campaign of the state Speaker of the House, I pledge to fight vigorously to restore public confidence and rebuild
   trust in state government. I support establishing both and independent
   ethics committee and an Office of Inspector General to root out waste, fraud
   and abuse at all levels of government.
2. I will not support state government spending more than it collects in tax revenue.  Hartford has an addiction to spending and in 2011 the budget increased by 5.5%. This is unsustainable.
3. I will not support borrowing more than the state can pay back. Each year we spend billions on debt service and principal, while not funding our pensions.
   This is unsustainable.
4. I will fight to eliminate government programs that are broken, redundant, or do not provide a return on taxpayer investment.  We must prioritize core services like transportation, education and public safety.
5. I will work to return state government to its founding principles: a government by the people and for the people, with no over reach or uncontrolled growth.
6. I pledge to set the conditions to help Connecticut businesses grow and flourish. We need to remind our elected officials that government doesn’t create jobs; business men and women do. I will fight to redirect funding for projects like the “Busway to nowhere” to small businesses who create 93% of all new jobs.

By committing to this pledge, I will challenge the status quo in Hartford, protect our quality of life, and create a pro-business environment to protect and grow private-sector jobs throughout our region.

I hope you’ll join me! For more information, please visit www.christophercoutu.com.