Submitted by Andy Duus
To the Editor:
“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth…”
Although economist Thomas Sowell wrote these words more than two decades ago, he could have been speaking about Kim Fiorello, State Representative from the 149th General Assembly district. Kim has been a tireless and courageous advocate for individual rights, free markets, and limited government, all precepts that have contributed mightily to the historical success of our society.
Kim also recognizes that with individual rights comes responsibility, for as Thomas Jefferson noted, “wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government.”
Toward that end, Kim has been relentless in her efforts to uncover and share with her constituents and fellow legislators the truth, however inconvenient it may be with popular sentiment.
As an example, Kim has not supported proposed legislative mandates that would require private insurers to cover additional medical services at stipulated below-market prices. Kim recognizes that these proposals, if enacted, would ultimately raise the cost, if not risk availability, of health insurance for all.
Additionally, to supplement her detailed and well-researched notes to constituents, and in contrast to other public officials, Kim has sponsored a series of public policy discussions on a variety of complex political issues, including the following:
• A discussion led by a Stanford economics professor on Henry Hazlitt’s classic Economics in One Lesson, that reminds us of the need to consider the long-term consequences of our decisions,
• A discussion with civil rights leader Bob Woodson about his 1776 Unites project that seeks to unite African-Americans to advocate principles like entrepreneurship, self-determination, and mutual social support,
• Discussions with renowned scholar and author, Dr. Peter W. Wood, who spoke about Critical Race Theory and what this means for education, and with famed black educator Ian Rowe on how his educational approach may allow children to overcome barriers and achieve success.
• A discussion with Dr. Scott Atlas, a Senior Fellow in health care policy at the Hoover Institution, on COVID policy missteps (which the CDC has subsequently acknowledged).
• Most recently, a discussion with accounting expert Sheila Weinberg on balancing the State of Connecticut’s budget.
The challenges faced by our society are difficult and cannot be addressed via sound bites. Kim is serious, measured, and thorough. We need Kim in Hartford, and I strongly endorse her reelection this coming November.
Andy Duus is a former member of the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting.