Miner will work on economy if elected again

State Sen. Craig Miner (R-30) of Litchfield is running for reelection in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Miner was elected to the state senate in 2016, and represented the 68th District in the state House of Representatives for eight terms prior.

In a telephone interview Sunday, Oct. 4, Miner was asked what his top three issues are.

Miner said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the top concern. He said the pandemic and its effects on people’s health and on the economy have “devastated the district.”

“It’s been a constant battle to assist businesses,” many of which are struggling just to break even.

He said assisting constituents with unemployment claims has been taking up much of his time as well.

“I guess you could call all of that ‘constituent services.’”

He spoke approvingly of a bill passed in the recent special session that makes it simpler for businesses that have environmental problems (such as contamination from dry cleaning chemicals, for example) to deal with state and federal environmental authorities in getting the sites cleaned up and available for redevelopment.

On municipal solid waste disposal, Miner said the state has a lot of work to do. He said single-stream recycling has been a “failure,” largely because the material doesn’t get cleaned enough to be usable.

“There’s almost no value to it unless it’s cleaned up.”

On the state budget, Miner said the current deficit stands at roughly $2.5 billion, some of which is the result of the pandemic and subsequent shutdowns.

He said addressing the deficit with tax increases would be “devastating.” 

Closing the deficit “will require spending cuts.”

As far as getting back to something like normal, Miner said, “We need to find a way to regain opportunities in a way that is still safe.”

The 30th Senate District includes the towns of Brookfield, Canaan (Falls Village), Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington, Warren and Winchester.