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By Dave Holman

Connecticut Homeowners and Taxpayers,

On Tuesday March 10th, Betsy McCaughey, candidate for the Republican Nomination for Governor, will be speaking at the Nathanael B. Greene Community Center, 32 Church Street, Guilford, Connecticut from 6:00 till 8:30 PM about her plan to address the issues facing Connecticut taxpayers. Admission is free and all are invited to attend.

But how did this event come about and why is it important that all Connecticut taxpayers, all Connecticut homeowners, and all Connecticut homeowner wannabes hear Betsy’s message?

One day in early October 2026, I was listening to the Vinnie Penn Show on 960 AM New Haven as I do every weekday morning from 6:00 till 9:00 AM, and Vinnie happened to be interviewing Betsy McCaughey about HB-8002, the so called “Affordable Housing Bill”. This was months before Betsy announced her candidacy for Governor.

Specifically, during this interview, Betsy detailed all the horrendous mandates contained in this bill, and how these mandates would ultimately turn us into Los Angeles and destroy every community in Connecticut. I was so shocked by what I heard, and so impressed with Betsy, that I reached out to her to ask if we could interview her on GCTV (Guilford Public TV).

This interview took place on October 26, 2025, the same day that Governor Lamont signed this bill into law. It is 18 minutes long and is available for you to view on You Tube. I highly recommend that everyone watch this powerful interview.

This HB-8002 bill was brought up at the Guilford Board of Selectmen meeting on 11/17/26 under correspondence. At the 1:39:45 minute mark of this meeting, Guilford First Selectman Matt Hoey stated, “The Connecticut Council of Small Towns (CTCOST) which we are a member of, and the Connecticut Council of Municipalities (CCM) which we are a member of, have both endorsed this legislation as written because it’s a much better pathway than what was vetoed (HB-5002) and then approved by the Governor. It (HB-8002) includes provisions that ameliorate some of the concerns I had … To mandate affordable housing for 475 units regardless of infrastructure (sewers, water, schools.). That portion of the bill is out.”

But this statement was false because Betsy had explained in our interview on 10/26/25 that HB-8002 imposes a one size fits all mandate on all Connecticut towns that up to 20% of each town’s housing will have to be affordable rental, regardless of a town’s available infrastructure to support such high-density housing. Also, there is no reference on the CTCOST website of HB-8002 other than a letter they wrote to Governor Lamont on 6/1/25 urging him to veto HB-5002 which was the predecessor to HB-8002.

At the Guilford Board of Selectmen meeting on 1/5/26, and in response to an email I had sent the Board on 12/21/26 in which I invited the Board to cosponsor our event with Betsy McCaughey and to debate the merits and mandates of the bill with her, Selectwoman Sandy Ruoff said at the 1:11:08 minute mark, “There are legitimate questions arising from this bill (HB-8002) … CCM is doing a study of this bill to answer questions … We are going to let these people at CCM digest it and then we can digest it.”

In emails to me on December 4^th and 5^th 2025, First Selectman Matt Hoey said in response to my offer to reach out to Betsy to address the Board regarding HB-8002, “I am not interested in meeting with her … My response to yesterday’s email remains the same. The Board will be taking advantage of work being done by the CT Conference of Municipalities (CCM) which includes summaries of the bill’s provisions and a webinar.” As of 2/15/26, there is still no summary of the bill’s provisions or a webinar(s) about it on the CCM website (www.ccm-ct.org).

To wait for, and to singularly rely on, a still yet to be produced summary of the mandates included in the HB-8002 affordable housing legislation by the Connecticut Council of Municipalities (CCM) for the Guilford Board of Selectmen’s own understanding of the bill, and to refuse to co-sponsor or debate the merits and mandates contained in this legislation with Betsy McCaughy is truly a disservice to the citizens and businesses in Guilford.

Please come and hear Betsy discuss HB-8002, and all the issues that will be front and center in the 2026 campaign, at the Guilford Community Center on March 10^th at 6:00 PM.

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