Candidate Interview: Anne Hughes

Weston Today photo

State Representative Anne Hughes, a Democrat, is completing her fourth term in the General Assembly’s 135^th House district and seeks a fifth. The district contains Weston, Redding, and part of Easton.

We began our interview by asking what pleased her most about the Legislature’s most recent session.

Rep. Hughes said the Legislature is a little on the slow side. “We finally got some AI protections and consumer privacy laws and some child protections over the finish line,” she said, but all of that “took several cycles” at a time the federal government is pulling back and changing regulations on “really dangerous stuff.”

“We’ve got to do our part to protect our people and keep them healthy,” she said. She is proud that universal school breakfast passed, calling it a major win at a time that “affordability is crushing families in every district.”

Ms. Hughes said the Legislature enacted some environmental protections and an expansion of solar energy, including permitting balcony solar, which allows people to install solar panels in their own home or rental unit without taking on “a really huge electrician bill.”

She is also proud of legislation that provides tax relief for veterans, people with disabilities, and caregivers who attend to a family member in their home.

In the meantime, however, she said subsidies are being “ripped out of the healthcare exchange,” and she worries that people will not be able to afford their insurance premiums. Ms. Hughes said the State drew an amount from surplus to “plug a little bit of the gap,” but those funds run out at the end of December. “I think people are going to drop healthcare altogether unless we scramble and put together another package.”

Asked to predict challenges legislators will face when the General Assembly reconvenes in January, Rep. Hughes said “healthcare will be the biggest one.”

“People are really struggling with affordability, and I think there are some things we can do around that.” She said she also has been working throughout her time in office for a more fair tax structure.

SPED, school construction

Rep. Hughes said the State should “leverage some of our good bond rating and lower borrowing costs” and distribute more money to towns to offset the rising cost of special education, costs that can “break the budget” at the local level.

With Weston about to contemplate a major school construction project, Rep. Hughes said she can and would advocate for a higher State reimbursement rate, but “you’ve got to be solid. You’ve got to have a solid plan and a compelling argument that this helps the entire state.”

On the doors

We asked Ms. Hughes what she hears from people while out knocking on doors for the campaign.

“People are generally pretty happy with their towns in Easton, Weston and Redding,” she said. “It’s not like they’re all complaining about hyperlocal issues. They’re fairly aware that gas and diesel and home heating oil prices are not something the State can directly control. But they worry about affordability.”

“Healthcare is a big concern,” said Ms. Hughes. “People are paying a mortgage for their healthcare. People, especially small business owners, are paying $30,000 or $40,000 a year to ensure their families, and they can’t afford it. Or if they can, they know neighbors who can’t.”

Ms. Hughes said there are structural things Connecticut “needs to be bold about and take on,” including health insurance, medical debt, and debt-free higher education for in-state students. “And then housing is another nut to crack,” she said.

“We’ve got to put more public funds towards investment in affordable housing,” she said. “Developers can’t be the only ones at the table because the way it is now they can’t make a profit at it. This should be our investment.”

Rep. Hughes closed the interview by urging citizens to “bring your collective voices to pass legislation that you care about, things that will help not just your grandchildren, but the world right now.”

“I think we’ve all gotten a little complacent about our institutions, thinking they will always be here to protect us. And now we realize they’re so fragile. The mail is fragile. Voting is fragile. So we’ve got to stand up in all kinds of ways.”