Cristin McCarthy Vahey

Public Health continues to remain in the news these days. From measles outbreaks and vaccines to Center for Disease Control governance, research funding, and the MAHA movement, there are many competing voices about who and what can help us keep ourselves and our family members healthy, safe, and strong. Today, I wanted to share some information about what has been happening at the national level related to vaccines, how that impacts Connecticut, and what we are doing this session in the public health committee to address vaccine access and affordability.

This week I joined my colleagues to support a new plan that strengthens the Education Cost Sharing program, the state's leading grant to local school districts. The plan redirects between $100-$170 million from our state's surpluses to flow back to cities and towns for education funding.

This proposal would prevent cities and towns from having to increase property taxes to cover the rising cost of education. It is our responsibility to make sure all children in Connecticut receive a proper education and learning environment, and this proposal goes a long way toward achieving that goal.

A reminder to please join me and State Rep. Marcus Brown for our legislative coffee hour tomorrow, Feb. 21 from 10am-noon at Nick Diner (2200 Madison Ave., Bridgeport).

This event will be a relaxed, informal conversation to discuss what is happening in the legislature, our top priorities this session, and the issues that matter most to you. We hope to see you there!

A reminder to please join me and State Reps. Jennifer Leeper and Sarah Keitt for a Fairfield Town Hall tonight from 6:30-8pm at the Egan School of Nursing (Second Floor, Fairfield University, 1073 N. Benson Rd., Fairfield).

We will discuss the legislative session and hear what issues matter most to you. You can use this link to RSVP. I look forward to seeing you there!

Last week, Reps. Keitt, Leeper and I had the privilege of hosting a forum to discuss housing and the new Housing Bill, An Act Concerning Housing Growth. We were joined by our Fairfield Town Plan and Zoning Chair, our Fairfield Planning Director, the Executive Director of MetroCOG, our regional council of Government, and a representative of our state Office of Responsible Growth. We spent time talking about the contents of the new bill and how they would impact and be implemented in Fairfield. It was an informative discussion, and I hope you can take the opportunity to watch it.

Due to the impending winter storm, Rep. Marcus Brown and I have decided to postpone our upcoming legislative coffee hour, which was scheduled for this Sunday. We will follow up as soon as we have rescheduled!

I hope you are all staying safe and warm in the midst of this cold spell. I am thinking a lot about the 3,500-4,000 people who are homeless and battling the elements this week. There are many ways to combat homelessness and one is assuring adequate housing supply. Below you can find information on this week’s housing forum as well as some of the other events and issues I have been working on as we prepare for the legislative session, which begins February 4th.

The Fairfield House delegation is pleased to convene a panelists of local, regional, and state planning experts to discuss the recently passed HB 8002 - An Act Concerning Housing Growth. The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 22 from 7-8:30pm at the BOE Conference Room (501 Kings Hwy E., Fairfield). You can join us either in person or online. I hope to see you there!