Maria Horn

This week the Governor announced plans to loosen economic restrictions, moving to Phase 3 of the state’s re-opening on October 8.

On Friday night we lost a legend in Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It’s hard to put into words what her life and legacy meant to me, personally and professionally, and to working women everywhere.

Plans are beginning to solidify for the Connecticut General Assembly to hold a Special Session before the end of September.  This time, the Senate will convene first: we expect that to happen next week.  The House will follow, and we expect to convene on either September 29 or September 30.  The agenda is still under negotiation, but the focus will be on bills which have had hearings during the truncated regular session, that have strong bipartisan support, and/or that address urgent situations that need immediate attention.

Nonprofit organizations in our area do incredible work to keep our communities healthy, and to keep us connected to one another

School, in its new and varied formats and schedules, began in earnest this week.  Before the schedule kicked into gear, I had many anxious conversations with teachers, parents, administrators, and staff, about the unknowns they were facing as they made decisions about how to move forward. 

Our long-term care facilities – nursing homes and assisted living facilities – have been hard hit by the COVID-19 crisis, and deaths among those residents make up more than half of the state’s total. Those deaths are concentrated in certain facilities, while almost 30% of the nursing homes in CT suffered almost no infections at all.

Earlier this week, Governor Lamont signed orders extending the state’s civil preparedness and public health emergency to February 9, 2021. Due to expire on September 9, this extension allows the Governor’s prior executive orders to remain in effect (pending any legislative action, which would override them) and allows him to continue to modify those orders as conditions change.

Some students in the district went back to school yesterday, and others will be going back next week. "Back to School" this year looks different for every family and I have heard from many of you about the anxiety caused by the uncertainty about COVID-19.