Politics & Power Quote by Jodi Rell

The phrase "restoring public faith" is the tell: it treats trust like a measurable public utility that can be repaired with enough competent management. Jodi Rell is writing in the register of post-scandal governance, where the first job of a new executive is not inspiration but sanitation. "Since taking office July 1" quietly asserts legitimacy and momentum, a timestamp meant to reassure jittery voters and skeptical lawmakers that the cleanup is already underway and she has been on the clock.

The subtext is transactional. Faith is framed less as an emotional bond than as a political asset the state needs to function: budgets pass, agencies run, businesses invest. By foregrounding "steady focus", Rell signals discipline and continuity, a temperamental contrast to whatever crisis made restoration necessary. The line also doubles as inoculation against cynicism: if the public still doesn't trust government, it's not because leadership hasn't prioritized it.

Then comes the pivot: "Now it is time" converts a moral project into an agenda item. "Even bigger and bolder gains" borrows the language of reform movements without specifying targets, creating maximum coalition room while implying urgency. "Through legislative action" is the strategic tell - she needs the legislature to co-own the reform, spreading both credit and risk. It's an invitation and a pressure tactic: if you oppose her bills, you're not just blocking policy, you're blocking trust itself. The rhetoric works because it turns an abstract deficit (faith) into a concrete mandate (laws), and makes disagreement look like complicity in the old dysfunction.