Hayes says there is 'frustration' as COVID-19 cases increase

By Scott Benjamin

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-5) says there is “concern” and “frustration” in her district over the resurgence of COVID-19 cases since the summer began, which apparently are largely due to the Delta Variant.

She said in a phone interview with Patch.com that the information she has received indicates that many recent hospitalizations are due to the Delta Variant.

A small number of municipalities across Connecticut- including, according to CT Hearst, New Fairfield, Bethel and Danbury in the Fifth Congressional District - have recently announced that they are or will soon be requiring wearing masks at indoor public venues.

Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) issued an executive order on August 5 allowing leaders of Connecticut’s cities and towns to impose their own mask mandates for indoor public places,” according to CT Mirror.

Brookfield Democratic First Selectman Steve Dunn told Patch.com on August 10 that Lamont made in error in leaving it up to each municipality to determine whether to require masks.

“We do not have a coordinated response,” he said. “If I put a mask requirement in and one of the surrounding towns does not, how does that help?”

Hayes said that each municipality can make a sound decision based on its “population” and “density,” as well as other pertinent information.

The congresswoman from Wolcott, who is in her second term, said state officials in Connecticut have effectively communicated information on the pandemic since it began in March of last year.

Regarding the residents who have not yet been vaccinated, Hayes said that It is not a case of “a lack of access to it or affordability” since the vaccine is free of charge.

Dunn told Patch.com that the people who are not vaccinated have put the rest of the population at risk.

On a separate topic, Hayes, who is a former the national teacher of the year, said she expects that she will support the $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that was approved on August 10 in a 69-30 vote in the U.S. Senate. She indicated that the U.S. House had just been notified about the Senate’s action.

The Washington Post reported that, “The bill proposes more than $110 billion to replace and repair roads, bridges and highways, and $66 billion to boost passenger and freight rail. That transit investment marks the most significant infusion of cash in the country’s railways, since the creation of Amtrak about half a century ago, the White House said.”

Hayes said that she believes the legislation would “benefit” the Fifth Congressional District.

“There are serious transportation challenges in Connecticut,” she said, adding that they will “take years to complete.”

An ad-hoc committee appointed by former Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Essex) in 2015 reported that the state should spend $100 billion over the next 30 years on transportation-related projects. Lamont devoted considerable time during his first year in office to getting a highway tolls plan approved. By February 2020 the proposal had not come to a vote. in the General Assembly. He then abandoned his plan and said he would seek to find bond appropriations to get some of the projects completed.

Hayes said the federal legislation will have “significant impact” on broadband access.

The Wall Street Journal reported that with greater government intervention “proponents say, the legislation recasts broadband service as a necessity, more akin to water and electricity, to which everyone should have access. Government estimates say about 14 million Americans lived in areas without high-speed internet as of 2019, but officials acknowledge that data is incomplete, and private estimates put the figure at 40 million or higher.”

Hayes remarked that during the pandemic it became evident that some of her constituents discovered that while “working at home they could not access reliable broadband.”

The congresswoman said she wanted to see more attention paid to the “environment” in the infrastructure proposal, but noted that action on that issue could be taken at a later date.

On another topic, The Washington Post recently reported that Congress will likely tackle voting rights legislation when it returns in September from the current district work period.

Hayes said Connecticut has a “safe” and “reliable” voting system.

However, she said “some federal intervention” will be required to ensure that similar standards prevail in some other parts of the country.

The Washington Post has reported that voting rights rallies have been scheduled in Washington and other cities across the country for August 28, the 58th anniversary of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.

On a separate subject, Hayes said the United States should be more ambitious in producing semi-conductors.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that ‘the U.S. Senate voted for direct industry subsidies with little precedent: $52 billion for new semiconductor fabrication plants, called “fabs.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Sen. Mark Mr. Warner (D-Va.) -a native of Vernon, CT. - said the U.S. has little choice because semiconductor fabs are going to be built and without federal intervention they’ll go to China. ‘I was a venture capitalist before I was a politician,” Mr. Warner said. “‘This is the kind of bet America has to make.’ ”

Hayes said it is not good policy to have many items “shipped from other places.” There cannot be an “overreliance on foreign” manufacturing.