A day after passing a budget with overwhelming bipartisan support, the Connecticut legislature concluded its 2023 session Wednesday with the steady passage of bills in the House and a day-long filibuster by Republicans in the Senate.
Hours of stalemate on affordable housing and tenants’ rights in the legislature’s upper chamber stood in contrast to a session otherwise notable for its collaboration, typified by a $51.1 billion budget that included popular reductions in the state income tax and boosts in support for local schools.
In his first post-session remarks to the General Assembly since the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ned Lamont applauded lawmakers for their bipartisan work. The governor compared the tenor of the Connecticut legislature to that of Congress and other states.
“You showed us a different way and I think you showed us the Connecticut way and I’m really proud of that,” Lamont said.
But the budget disappointed nonprofit service providers, higher education institutions, and advocates for universal school lunches among others who saw only modest funding increases in a plan that sends more than $3 billion to the state budget reserve fund.
Spending under the package was tightly limited by a set of fiscal guardrails, which lawmakers unanimously renewed at the outset of the session. Democratic legislative leaders eventually sought workarounds to allow for more spending. Lamont proved to be a stickler for the rules.
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