Maria Horn

I’m just going to say it: December is off to a rough start this week.  While I do enjoy a good New England winter, the icy snow and wind (and whatever noisy storm blew through Salisbury last night) wasn’t exactly festive, particularly joined with the arrival of the Omicron variant, the uptick of COVID infections across the state, the prospect of energy cost hikes, the loss of some treasured trees in a local park, and maybe even hungry bears looking around for their last bit of bird feed before hibernation.  

Happy Thanksgiving eve to all of you!  We are traveling to New Hampshire this year to spend Thanksgiving with my brothers and their families, so the pies are baked, the soup is cooked, and we are trying to get on the road and limit our exposure to Thanksgiving traffic, which we suspect will be back with force this year.  

As your State Representative for the 64th House District, this week’s big news for me was that the Reapportionment Commission voted unanimously to approve new House district maps for the 151 districts throughout Connecticut, which shifted the boundaries of the 64th District.  We gained a new town: welcome, Washington, to the 64th District!  I look forward to getting to know you all.  
 

Yesterday was Veterans Day, honoring all of the brave men and women who wear the uniform, including our own family, friends, neighbors, and heroes we have never met.  My father was a veteran, and keeping his flag in my office reminds me of the long chain of service in my own family, and the values that underlie that decision to serve something beyond our personal interest.

The big events this past week were of course the municipal elections here in Connecticut, and a few gubernatorial and other elections in the rest of the country. 

This is my State Capitol update for the week of October 25.

The specific focus for much of my work this week was on rural economic and healthcare needs.  It included a panel convened on Friday by Community Health and Wellness Center (CHWC) highlighting the critical need to draw (and retain) primary healthcare providers in our area.

The plan Nuvance announced at the end of September to limit services at Sharon Hospital remains very much front of mind, and we began to deepen the conversation this week, when Nuvance presented the plan to the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (a consortium of 21 towns in the northwest corner).  Many thoughtful members of the community joined this meeting (held via Zoom) and kicked off the agenda with public comments that were focused, diverse in perspective and experience, and uniformly opposed to the announced plan.