This Sunday on Face the State, we were discussing everything from marijuana to the great communicator. We were joined by two young state lawmakers, State Representative David Arconti, Democrat of Danbury, and State Representative Jesse MacLachlan, Republican of Westbrook. The two shared their views on proposals currently being discussed at the state legislature regarding the legalization of marijuana, expanding casino gambling, and returning tolls to Connecticut highways.

Also on the program Sunday, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, who talked about her proposal to do away with the current registrars of voters system, which we know worked so well in Hartford this past election day.

Merrill truly believes there is a better way, and rattled off some interesting information including a comparison between Connecticut and San Diego County in California. Merrill said both have similar populations, yet San Diego has one registrar looking over elections, Connecticut has at least 169, including three in Hartford.

I also asked Merrill to stick around for our flashback, so I could ask her about what Connecticut can do to make our presidential primaries at least somewhat interesting. We used to be a battleground state, and to illustrate that I found an interesting report in our archives from 1980. Don Noel, now Face the State moderator emeritus, interviewed Ted Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as they visited our state several times in an effort to win the then important Connecticut primary.

Oh and by the way, that guy in the top jumping over a burning pile of wood? That’s Representative Arconti, who just may be the fittest lawmaker at the capitol (Themis Klarides may disagree) and always tries to get fellow lawmakers to join the crossfit craze, including fellow Face the State guest MacLachlan.

Watch the lawmakers: http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=11227911

Watch the Secretary of the State: http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=11227925

Watch Don Noel interview Kennedy and Reagan: http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=11237810