Letter to the Editor: Letter to Gov: Veto House Bill 252

Dear Editor:
This is an open letter to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper:
Surviving economically in rural Colorado is a daily challenge and actually a hardship. Attempting to take care of the normal commitments and responsibility of family, job, any and all financial demands is a relentless all-consuming effort. A breadwinner is simply grateful to have employment and good health among the family members and the family unit progresses the best they can.
If, perchance, you live in rural Colorado and are a small business owner, you open your business each morning and wait for you customer or client to come through the door, and you, hopefully, service them correctly so they might again return and you can count the day’s efforts as positive when the bottom line advises you of your rewards or failures.
You are just barely holding on anyway, so you just keep fighting the battles, hoping against hope that the overall picture will begin to financially improve. Any small business owner that would like to lightly raise the rent knows that to do so would immediately mean a vacancy because the tenant is barely making it as well.
Now to suddenly be advised that another law is about to be mandated that will increase our daily electric bill severely is just more that we in rural Colorado can absorb — and proceed to that day when the bottom line tells us that we have chance for betterment.
Senate Bill 252 not only affects us personally, but it harshly threatens the energy sector that provides our rural electric power. It could even cause so many, many jobs to disappear overnight if this bill is passed.
Rural Colorado may not survive a hit like this. I even wonder what the negative effect would be for Colorado in general. Is our state really that strong that we dare take that chance?
I have felt that your performance and judgment in office has really been solid — I can’t even believe than an issue so powerfully negative to the well being of rural Colorado could be an issue to Colorado’s future under your watch.
Please veto this bill.
Gus R. Halandras
Rambullin B&B
Meeker