Positions in Brief, 2007-2009

Support: political process open to all citizens; right to vote with confidence in the election process; availability of adequate information to make informed voting decisions; expanded registration processes, including Election Day Registration; voting systems that are secure, accurate, recountable and accessible; adequate funding and support for state agencies responsible for supervising elections, enforcing election laws, and assuring the integrity of voting technology.

Ethics (2004)

Support actions to: reform, strengthen, and clarify Connecticut’s codes of ethics as they apply to public officials, public employees, and lobbyists; require a transparent, competitive, and clearly defined state contract selection process; and Promote the establishment of municipal ethics commissions and municipal ethics codes as applied to municipal public officials, municipal public employees, and municipal lobbyists.

Fiscal Policy; (1981; updated and affirmed 2003)

Support: state budget that is an effective policy-making tool with stated goals and priorities with financial data on past performance in meeting goals, economic impact data and program costs. The Spending Cap should be made more responsive to fiscal realities.

Oppose: bonding for current expenditures; increased tax burden on business.

General Assembly (1982; affirmed 2003)

Support: measures to improve the effectiveness of the General Assembly, legislative committees, public hearings, and staff.

Initiative and Referendum (1984; affirmed 2003)

Support: ratification of Constitutional amendments by referendum; improved voter information and ballot questions.

Oppose: proposal of Constitutional amendments by initiative; direct initiative to propose laws.

Primaries, Procedures and Parties (1983; affirmed and updated 2003)

Support: participation in party’s nominating process for party members only; increased participation by party members.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Land Use (1975; affirmed 2005)

Support: comprehensive long-range planning for conservation and development.

Transportation (1975; last affirmed 2005)

Support: the planning and development of a balanced multi-modal transportation system in Connecticut.

Water Resources (1967; affirmed 2005)

Support: measures to improve water quality and preserve wetlands; regional, long-range approach to planning.

SOCIAL POLICY

Death Penalty (2006)

Support: abolition of the death penalty.. Capital punishment should not be a sentencing option for murder or any other crime. Until the death penalty in Connecticut is abolished, support an immediate moratorium on executions.

Gambling (1994; updated and affirmed 2003)

Support: the 2003 repeal of the so-called Las Vegas Nights legislation; inclusion of safeguards in any bills that are considered by the legislature.

Oppose: legalization of additional forms of gambling, especially the expansion of casino gambling and all legislation that enables such expansion.

Mental Health (2003)

Support: comprehensive community-based mental health systems for children and adults to include early detection, intervention and a range of services, and a public health initiative on mental health.

Quality Integrated Education in Connecticut Schools (1991; affirmed in 2001)

Support: quality education that reflects the diversity of our society; collective responsibility; alternative means of school assignment; state responsibility for funding; local responsibility for the initiation and implementation; and shared responsibility for planning, monitoring and assessment of programs.

School Finance (1990; updated and affirmed 2000)

Support: a system that: makes available to each community sufficient financial resources to provide a suitable program of educational experiences for every child; removes the cap on the ECS grant, and sets the Foundation in the state’s biennial budget.

School Start Time (2006)

Support: policies and practices that delay school start times in Connecticut high schools, middle schools, and junior high schools in order to facilitate the alignment of instructional time with adolescent sleep patterns.

School Vouchers (1996, affirmed 2007)

Support: system of elementary and secondary education that is fiscally and educationally accountable to citizens.

Oppose: the use of public funds through vouchers or direct payment to support students attending non-public schools.

Teen Pregnancy (1989; affirmed 1999)

Support: a comprehensive Family Life Education program in all schools; school-based health clinics for health care services including reproductive health; programs and services designed to help teens delay parenthood and to enable teen parents to finish high school.

POSITIONS OF THE LWVUS

FOR LWVCT ACTION

CLEAN AIR

Support: measures to reduce air pollution and policies to accelerate pollution control, resource recovery and non-polluting disposal of solid and hazardous wastes; and adequate funding for enforcement of environmental protection.

ENERGY

Support environmentally sound policies that reduce energy growth rates, emphasize energy conservation and encourage the use of renewable resources.

GUN CONTROL

Support: protection of the health and safety of citizens through limiting the accessibility and regulating the ownership of handguns and semi-automatic weapons.

HOUSING

Support: increased public funding for housing production and rehabilitation; expansion of the Rental Assistance Program; adequate funding to meet special housing needs; encouragement of private sector investment in affordable housing; inclusionary zoning techniques and land use policies to encourage municipalities to meet housing needs.

REAPPORTIONMENT

Support: apportionment of districts based on contiguity, compactness, and equal population; integrity of political subdivisions; and preservation of community interests.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Support: protecting the constitutional right of the individual to make reproductive choices.

THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

is a nonpartisan, nonprofit volunteer

grassroots organization of

women and men, founded in 1920.

Its mission is to promote political

responsibility through the informed and

active participation of all citizens in

their government.

Find links to full positions and background on our website, www.lwvct.org, under

our Action page.

September 2007

This document is also available online in printable pdf form.

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