The last few months have been hectic regarding the politics of our country. The presidential election has been taking over all things government. However, individuals tend to forget about how important local elections are. In the state of Connecticut, specifically the area of Stamford, Caroline Simmons was recently re-appointed state representative for the city’s 144th district.
When asked about Caroline Simmons, some individuals didn’t fully understand the policies that she so strongly fought to exhibit in our community.“Who’s Caroline Simmons?” said Masha Yeremeev (’17) when asked on Simmons’s policies. Simmons ran for state-representative back in 2014 and ran for re-election for 2016 and she won! She promised to continue advocating for small business growth, job creation, improving local schools, and the overall enhancement of safety and life here in Stamford, as expressed in her mission statement.
According to Caroline Simmons’ campaign page, Simmons promises to keep supporting Stamford Public Schools by addressing overpopulation in schools and fighting for equal access to education for students. Last year, Simmons was able to obtain state investments reaching higher than sixty five million dollars in order to aid our school system. “I know that she’s lobbying to make Westhill an open campus” said William Bruno (’17). Simmons is fighting for schools all around Stamford, including Westhill.
Public safety also happens to be an important issue for Simmons considering she had previously worked in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; she is able to understand the importance public safety plays in our community, or any community for that matter. “Public safety is important for Stamford residents” said Edyliese Aquino (’17) and Aquino believes that an individual who could properly enforce such ideas in a community, is an individual that we should stand by. By improving transportation infrastructure and fighting for local safety programs such as the Stamford police canine program, Simmons believes it is important to keep our community safe.
Supporting small businesses and job growth proves to be important for Simmons because she advocates for supporting business growth in our state, by taking a stand on property tax relief, the Small Business Express program (which provides grants to small businesses to help them grow and create jobs), and reducing business taxes.
In addition, by winning the re-election, Simmons continues to stand up for seniors in our city by calling for more property tax credits for seniors and increasing the training for hospital staff on dementia. Protecting the environment by banning plastic microbeads and pesticides in playgrounds continues to be a major issue that Simmons promises to exhibit.
Most importantly, Simmons has fought for youth employment, and lowering student loans and promises to continue doing so through her re-election. She introduced legislation that would ultimately provide tax credits for businesses that hire recent graduates and promises to reduce income taxes for recent graduates.