Concerns Linger Regarding Horse Guard Funding

By Kendra Bobowick

Will the Second Company Governor’s Horse Guard lose its state budget funding?

“[Governor M. Jodi Rell] assured me that the horse guard has nothing to worry about,” said State Representative DebraLee Hovey Wednesday afternoon, December 30, after she and the governor “had a conversation.” According to Ms Hovey, the governor “has no interest in eliminating the militia.” The horse guard, per state statute, is part of the state’s militia.

Ms Hovey said whether a matter of statute or exercising her purview, “She told me she’ll protect the horse guard to whatever degree she can.”

The governor vetoed a recent bill from the Democratic-controlled legislature that threatened the funding, which prompted fears that Newtown would lose its Fairfield Hills-based Second Company Governor’s Horse Guard.

As of January 4, Gov Rell’s office staff had heard nothing of a Democratic special session to override her recent veto of the party’s package that jeopardized horse guard funding.

Democratic State Representative Chris Lyddy confirmed that he had supported the Democratic majority’s proposal seeking to ease the state’s deficit that would call on the military to cut its budget. That cutback was interpreted by many to mean the effective elimination of one of the two governor’s horse guard facilities in the state, possibly Newtown’s. (The other facility is in Avon.)

Stating Wednesday that the military “has some things to work out,” Mr Lyddy is concerned that the state has enough funds to provide for Newtown’s families, child care, and other funding that supports Newtown as a community. “I can’t vote on single issues. I have to look at what proposals do for the community as a whole.” He said he is “absolutely” more concerned about families’ abilities to receive child care, elderly care. As one of Newtown’s representatives, he said, “I have to look at property taxes, education funding, children, not just the horse guard.”

He hopes he has not been mischaracterized on the position of his vote. He has spoken with the Appropriations Committee chair, legal counsel, the speaker of the house, and the majority leaders, and will continue his discussions with them. “There are things going on behind the scenes to support [the horse guard].” Perhaps the state can find ways to help the horse guard “fundraise more freely.”

While the Democrats could override the governor’s veto, Mr Lyddy said, “I don’t know that we will.”

The governor vetoed the Democrats’ spending package that called for $12.4 million in cuts, including $76,500 that would likely come from the horse guard. The state’s current deficit, however, is estimated between $337 million and $550 million.