
HARTFORD, CT — There’s no lack of pressing issues to debate during the 2018 legislative session, but you wouldn’t know that from the anemic amount of pre-filed bills.
The deadline for individual legislators to submit legislation is Feb. 9 and the deadline for committees to propose legislation is Feb. 22.
At the end of last week, the Senate clerks had only received one bill and the House clerks had received around 20. That’s far fewer than previous years.
Since this year is considered a “budget adjustment” year, any legislation that’s submitted by individual lawmakers needs to relate to budgetary, revenue, or financial matters. That means bills proposing naming rights for bridges or creation of another state polka are off limits.
Legislative leaders said they stressed the rules of what should be considered in a short session year, the session ends May 9, when they met with their members in early January. However, a flood of legislation could still be forthcoming and will be posted online Feb. 7 when the session opens.
This will be Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s last chance to influence the state budget process and try to save his successor from having to inherit a budget deficit half the size that he inherited.
According to the January revenue forecast, Malloy will have to close an estimated $165 million budget gap in the 2019 budget.
Legislative leaders who negotiated the two-year budget without Malloy have said they are working on solutions to resolve the $244.6 million that cropped up in the 2018 budget. Still it means Malloy is left making adjustments to a budget he didn’t help craft.
Additionally, the budget as passed included structural deficits in the out years totaling $1.9 billion in 2020, $2.6 billion in 2021, and $3.1 billion in 2022. These deficits are largely due to statutorily scheduled net revenue adjustments and the remainder of the deficits reflect the assumed increase in fixed costs.
Not unlike recent years the budget will be the main focus of the legislative session, but there are other issues that may offer legislators a reprieve from the doom and gloom.
According to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research, which tracks issues based on interim studies, research requests, nonconfidential discussions with legislators, and executive branch agencies, there are a number of issues that will be raised again this year.
The Environment Committee is likely to take up a bill that would establish a bear hunting season.
UConn wildlife biologists have been tracking Connecticut’s black bear population and have determined that the population, which is highest in the outermost suburbs, is increasing and bears are adjusting to living in a habitat shared with humans. Last year, the Senate debated and then essentially defeated a bill that would have allowed for bear hunting to reduce the population.
It’s also expected to take up changes to Connecticut’s bottle bill, and the Education Committee is expected to discuss Connecticut’s school funding formula following the Connecticut Supreme Court’s recent decision not to intervene in the matter. Last year, while they were waiting for the court to act, the General Assembly revised the Education Cost Sharing formula.
The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee is expected to debate ways in which they could modify the state tax code to reduce the impact of the changes by the federal government.
The committee also will examine ways to reduce the amount of tax revenue it forgoes annually because of tax credits, exemptions, and deductions.
And it’s expected to debate an increase in the gas tax.
Connecticut has two gas taxes. One is flat and the other is 8.1 percent of the wholesale price of gas at New Haven Harbor. That means state taxes on a gallon of gas were about 42 cents last Friday.
Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, who co-chairs the Finance Committee, has proposed a 4-cent increase to the flat portion of the gas tax, and Malloy proposed a 7-cent increase, also to the flat portion of the tax.
Malloy and legislative Democrats have said increasing the gas tax — at a time when fuel efficiency and the number of electric vehicles on the road is increasing — just makes sense.
Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders in the House have also proposed approving electronic tolls for most of Connecticut’s main highways, like I-95, I-84, and I-91.
Without new funding streams for the Special Transportation Fund, the Malloy administration says there won’t be enough money left in the fund to go to Wall Street and seek financing.
The belt tightening efforts will continue, too.
The General Administrations and Elections Committee is likely to look at extending their expenditure oversight and control to quasi-public agencies, including to their contracting or personnel practices.
Even though the General Assembly created these agencies to operate with more autonomy, recent reports indicate they gave large severance payments to departing employees. It may reconsider legislation that would require quasi-public agencies to submit contracts with an annual cost of more than $100,000 to the attorney general and legislative committee of cognizance for review.
Meanwhile, the Labor and Public Employees Committee is expected to take up Paid Family and Medical Leave. This will be the fourth year in a row the issue has been raised for debate. In previous years it’s gotten a public hearing and even a committee vote, but has never been called in either the House or the Senate.
Past proposals would have created an employee-based fee that would be taken from their paycheck and then placed into a fund that would be distributed to an employee who needed to take leave. The proposal seeks to avoid creating a burden for employers.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
There will also be legislation proposed requiring Connecticut residents to purchase health insurance. The federal government voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring individuals to have health insurance, but Connecticut is one of nine states considering creating one of its own.
All of these issues and more, such as legalizing marijuana, gaming issues, and banning bump stocks on guns, will be done with the 2018 election as the backdrop.
It’s a gubernatorial election year and there are dozens of candidates running with no clear frontrunner in either party. All 151 House seats and 36 Senate seats are also up for re-election. The Senate is evenly divided 18-18 and Republicans are four seats away from gaining a majority in the House. If they do, it will be the first time since 1986 that Republicans controlled that chamber.
More State Budget news

Stefanowski Talks Abortion, Employee Raises & Budget In First Press Conference
For a half-hour Wednesday, Bob Stefanowski stood outside the state Capitol and fielded questions on abortion rights and state employee raises in a sign the Republican candidate plans to run a more conventional campaign in this year’s rematch with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Keep reading
Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep reading