Collins’ column an unfair attack on senator

A recent column by David Collins was a hit piece targeting one senator for something that every lawmaker in Connecticut does in accordance with state statute. Collins chose to attack only one senator, a Republican, because of his apparent personal animosity for all Republicans. He doesn’t want Republicans elected to office, no matter how much good they have done. And that bias prevented him from writing with fairness and objectivity.

For example, his column fails to mention that it was the Republican budget that proposed eliminating the mailers he criticizes — a budget Democrats rejected. His Democratic state representative also sent out a state-funded mailer, which included a photo of a political candidate now running for her seat. Both those facts didn’t fit Collins’ narrative, so they never made it into his column.

Missing from Collins’ story is the truth about what the state legislature has accomplished thanks to a growing number of Republican voices and bipartisan cooperation. We passed historic back-to-back bipartisan state budgets without tax increases. We protected essential health benefits, irrespective of what happens in Washington. We lessened the negative impact of federal tax changes on local residents. We passed caps on spending and bonding, stabilized transportation funding, restored the Medicare Savings Program in full and implemented a new, fair education funding formula.

But in Collins’ partisan world, these bipartisan accomplishments apparently mean nothing. Kevin Witkos Canton

Editor's note: The writer serves as Deputy Senate Republican President Pro Tempore. He represents the 8th Senate District.