As a Granby and Connecticut taxpayer, I am writing to show my support for the re-election of Bill Simanski as our State Representative. He has worked hard for us for many years, first on Granby’s Board of Selectmen, including eight years as our First Selectman, and most recently as our representative in the Connecticut House of Representatives. There he helped restore Granby’s Education Cost and Sharing funding that was lost due to the Democrat party; he worked to create a common-sense budget to start Connecticut’s path back to fiscal health, and strives to keep businesses and jobs in Connecticut. He has earned endorsements by many non-partisan groups. Bill has been a powerful voice for lower and middle class taxpayers, and we need to let him keep working for us.
In addition, as a woman, and as a survivor of sexual assault, I am showing my support for Bill because he, unlike other candidates and political figures recently, has not hijacked the #MeToo movement and the pain of sexual assault survivors for his political gain. I find that action morally reprehensible and an insult. Bill is far from the anti-women ogre some try to paint him as. The support and respect I have gotten from Bill, his efforts to keep jobs in Connecticut and to lower our taxes are all part of his PRO-women outlook.
I am against any platform that includes highway tolls and legalizing recreational marijuana. While we may be the only state in New England without highway tolls, neither I-91 or I-84 are toll roads elsewhere. We don’t need to spend millions on another study, nor millions to implement the plan. Tolls are just another tax on Connecticut drivers. Legalizing marijuana might bring in much needed revenue, but at what cost? Colorado and surrounding states have experienced a large increase in DUI accidents and citations and increased business costs due to the need for drug testing in many industries. Despite his opponent’s claim, regulating it will not keep it out of the hands of our teens. In reality, it will make it far more accessible to them.
Bill is an honorable, hard-working man. Granby and Connecticut need to keep him as our State Representative. He will continue to fight for us to reduce our taxes, provide more jobs, and make it possible to keep living in Connecticut.