Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The big three, Looney, Lamont, Ritter “No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session,” said Mark Twain. The life, liberty and property of Connecticut residents will be safe after May 8, 2024 when the General Assembly packs it in for the fiscal year. Of course, the General Assembly will reconvene in February, at which time the life, liberty and property of Connecticut citizens once again will be put in jeopardy. Some prospective bills never make it from the drawing board. Such was a bill, championed by environmentalists and politicians seeking to make hay from California’s attempt to outlaw the sale of internal combustion engines after 2035. A measure to replicate in Connecticut California’s stringent laws and regulations concerning environmental tidiness has now been put off until the current 2024 elections have concluded. “In a surprising move,” the Hartford Courant tells us, “House Speaker Matt Ritter said that the legislature will not vote...

Looney, Lamont, Duff and Ritter It’s been 16 months since this writer first noted that Governor Ned Lamont’s most obstreperous political opposition in Connecticut would come from progressive Democrats, not Republicans: “During his first term in office, Governor Ned Lamont need have no fear of the Republican Party, which was thoroughly thrashed by Democrats in the recently concluded elections.” Under an ominous title, “ Potential budget showdown over tax hikes ,” a Hartford paper notes – better late than never – “Democrats in the General Assembly are pressing ahead with plans for raising taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents, despite Lamont’s opposition to the idea, setting up a potential budget clash with the governor.” We are advised that closed-door budget talks have begun as lawmakers race toward the legislative session’s June 9 adjournment.” A “closed door budget talk” has been, since the administration of former Governor Dannel Malloy, one to which minority Republicans h...