Less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office, Connecticut’s General Assembly will reconvene for its 2025 legislative session.
For nearly five months, the part-time legislature will discuss bills, hear public testimony and vote on legislation in committee and on the House and Senate floor. Lawmakers will also decide on the state’s next two-year budget.
The session begins Wednesday, Jan. 8, with Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s State of the State address at the Capitol in Hartford. Lawmakers must end the regular session business by midnight on June 4.
Here’s five things to know about the 2025 legislative session in Connecticut.
This session is fundamentally different from last year’s
This session is a “long” one, as outlined by the state’s Constitution. In odd-numbered years, the governor’s office and state lawmakers must agree upon a new two-year budget.
That means this year, Lamont must present his proposed state budget and bond package to lawmakers by Feb. 5. That sets off a month-long process to negotiate and finalize, which in the end requires a simple majority in both chambers, where Democrats hold a majority, along with the governor’s signature for approval.
The 2025 session will be nearly two months longer than the “short” session in even-numbered years, when lawmakers usually adjust the budget. Last year, things turned out a little differently when Lamont and other Democratic lawmakers assigned expiring American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to help programs, rather than formally adjusting the budget.
Expect some debate on state’s fiscal guardrails
These constraints, first enacted in 2017, are a complex set of rules for how much lawmakers can spend. Connecticut has been able to pay down pension debt and has seen state budget surpluses under the guardrails, but there has also been considerable debate among some lawmakers about the need to change these policies. Advocates and lawmakers who want to see the guardrails loosened say they want to see more state money for health care, child care and education.
Lamont, a Democrat, said he wanted to keep the guardrails during a December appearance on Connecticut Public’s “The Wheelhouse.” Some Republicans have also echoed a desire to keep the guardrails in place.
Top leaders are the same
Democrats still hold a comfortable majority in both state legislative chambers. Since the November 2024 election, 102-49 in the House and 25-11 in the Senate.
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter will return to lead the chamber alongside Majority Leader Jason Rojas. Vincent Candelora will return as House Minority Leader. Martin Looney and Bob Duff return as Senate Pro Tem and Majority Leader, respectively. And State Sen. Stephen Harding will return for his second year as Republican Minority Leader.
Bills, bills, bills
Over half a dozen of the nearly 30 committees have new House leaders. Legislative committees drive policy debate among lawmakers and engage the public on specific issues like education, health care and the environment. This year, there is a new committee on government oversight, and a select committee on special education.
While many bills are proposed each year by lawmakers, comparatively few become law. That’s because there is a specific process for how most bills become a law, which the Connecticut General Assembly learning center explains. (Think: ”Schoolhouse Rock’s” “I’m Just a Bill” sans music).
There are also a number of different types of bills. Some come out of committees, or are introduced by individual lawmakers or groups of lawmakers, or the governor. Among the many topics that will likely come up this session include:
- Addressing the housing crisis, such as passing “Work, Live, Ride” which would have created incentives for municipalities to increase housing near transportation hubs, but died in the 2024 legislative session.
- Crafting rules to make absentee ballots available for all Connecticut voters. Voters approved so-called “no excuse” absentee balloting in a November 2024 ballot referendum.
- Re-examining the number of required early voting days in Connecticut. 2024 was the state’s first foray into early voting. Uptake was high during the general election in November, but some town officials cited low-turnouts and long, state-mandated staffing hours for sparsely attended primary elections earlier in the year.
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state, and building resiliency to the climate crisis. The issue of energy and the economy has been on the mind of many voters and the governor, who recently pulled out of a multi-state deal to procure offshore wind.
- Discussing enhancements to the state’s aging electrical grid, and high utility rates.
- Tackling medical costs, from a task force on high prescription prices to potentially expanding “HUSKY for immigrants” eligibility for people ages 16-18.
Ways to get involved
Committees will hold public hearings, where people can make their voices heard in a few ways. That can be through written testimony on the CGA website – or speaking at the public hearing, Public hearings are also often broadcast online.
There’s also a bill tracking system – that’s not just for reporters and stakeholders! Anyone can sign up to see how a bill is progressing.
