The House of Representatives took up the emergency certification bill that was passed earlier by the Senate.
The debate lasted about 45-minutes and passed 96 to 46 with two Democrats Rep. Bill Dyson, D-New Haven, and Rep. Shawn Johnston, D-North Grosvenordale joining the Republicans in voting against the measure.
Rep. Mary Ann Carson, R-New Fairfield, said there’s a lot in the bill that she likes, but the governor is likely to veto it without a budget to fund it. She said ultimately she’ll have to vote against it until there is a budget agreement.
Rep. Bill Hamzy, R-Terryville, said a lot of what was in the bill was in “our own health insurance bill,” but all things considered it’s inappropriate to pass the bill without a budget. “Unfortunately this bill ends up being a backdoor approach to creating a state budget,” and that’s not the way it’s supposed to work, he said.
Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, said “there’s a time and a place,” and this is not the time or the place for this bill. “It’s 2 a.m. on the last day of session and we do not have a budget,” he said.
He said the bill calls for $10 million more than the Democrats Appropriations budget and the timing is wrong so he will have to vote against the bill.
Tune in tomorrow to find out what the governor decides to do. Until then good night.
