While some Democrats will be boycotting the event, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and the state’s all-Democratic Congressional delegation will be attending the ceremony that sends Trump back to the White House.

Although Lamont was a strong supporter of Democrat Joe Biden and the host of a political fundraiser for Biden as far back as 2019, he said he is traveling to Washington out of respect for the presidency. He will be one of only four Democratic governors in attendance.

“It’s a big crowd of four of us,” Lamont told The Courant. “I get down there Sunday evening and maybe see a couple of the guys. On Monday, we get picked up pretty early by the National Governors Association, and we go to the Capitol building. All the Republican governors and the four lonely Democrats will be in a green room for an hour and a half, waiting for the inauguration. For me, it’s a good chance to talk to these governors. I don’t see the Republicans quite as much as well, compare notes. It’s a sign of respect for the presidency.”

While groups of governors often meet with the president, Lamont said he did not know if they would meet on the busy inauguration day with Trump. In February, they will gather in a more formal setting at the annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C. that traditionally includes meeting with the president.

Lamont will be in the nation’s capital for less than 24 hours, skipping the inaugural balls and returning on Monday afternoon.

“I’m not going to the parties,” Lamont said. “I’m not doing the parade. I’m not doing any of that. This is the inauguration and respect for the office of the presidency. … By the way, Republicans didn’t show up for Biden. It’s just absurd what’s going on, I think. Trump skipped Biden’s. It’s not brand new.”

Lamont noted that President John Adams skipped the inauguration of incoming President Thomas Jefferson more than two centuries ago in 1801.

Nationally known Democrats like former First Lady Michelle Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC, will not be attending the ceremonies. In the same way, Trump did not attend Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2020.

But Connecticut’s entire all-Democratic Congressional delegation is expected to attend. That attendance will take place even though the state’s two U.S. senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, have raised numerous questions about Trump nominees to key positions, and the Congressional members have opposed various proposals by Trump.

Republicans

While some Democrats are boycotting the event, state Republican Chairman Ben Proto said that Lamont is making the correct move.

“I think he’s right,” Proto told The Courant. “This is not a partisan, political event. This is an event for America. This is the passing of power from one president to another. Whether you agree with Donald Trump or don’t agree with Donald Trump, he’s going to be president. … Whether you like the man or not, whether you voted for him or not, he’s it.”

Proto estimated there will be at least “a few hundred” Connecticut residents traveling to the festivities, including Republican National Committee members John Frey of Ridgefield and Annalisa Stravato of Wilton. Members of Congress received tickets to be distributed because Congress runs the swearing-in ceremony, but the demand far exceeded the supply.

While many pundits say America is as divided as ever, Proto maintains that the country was sharply divided in 2000 when Republican George W. Bush defeated Vice President Al Gore in a dispute that was settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“This is nothing new,” Proto said in an interview. “We’ve just found new ways to do it on social media. This has been going on since we created politics.”

After four years out of power, Republicans are highly excited about returning to the White House and hardcore Trump supporters have been scrambling for tickets to the top events.

“Getting ball tickets is crazy,” said West Hartford resident Joe Visconti, a longtime Trump supporter. “The Starlight Ball, the Liberty Ball, and the Commander in Chief Ball — Trump’s speaking at all three. He only did one the last time. I was there.”

A major difference, Visconti said, is that virtually all Republicans and many corporations have rallied around Trump and dropped their skepticism.

“What a reversal from 2017 when I went,” said Visconti, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Democrat John B. Larson in 2008 and for governor against Democrat Dannel P. Malloy in a three-way race in 2014.

In a blue state like Connecticut, Visconti said he and others were working “behind enemy lines” to support Trump in November’s election.

The 2024 election marked a sharp turnaround from the early days of 2021 when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in an insurrection, leading to more than 1,500 arrests. At least 13 Connecticut residents were among those arrested.

“What a crazy world we live in,” Visconti said. “Four years ago at this time, I was waiting for the FBI to come to my house. Now, I’m going back” to Washington, D.C.

While Visconti was present for the rally on Jan. 6, 2021, he says that he never entered the U.S. Capitol building.

Visconti predicted that Trump will improve governmental operations during the coming four years.

“Donald Trump is going to do this cycle what he normally does when he buys property: gives it a facelift, changes the lobby, redecorates the rooms, makes it run more efficiently,” Visconti said. “But it’s still the U.S. government. He can really make it more efficient. It’s a good analogy.”

Democrats

While the Connecticut delegation will attend the inauguration, they are already making moves to block initiatives by Trump.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney of Vernon and others say they are looking for common ground but are ready to battle on conflicting points.

“I look forward to working with the incoming administration whenever and wherever possible to deliver the real-life results the people of eastern Connecticut expect,” Courtney said to The Courant. “I am bullish that the new administration will support my work in Congress to continue the recent growing investments in shipbuilding and our nation’s defense industrial base that, in Connecticut, tens of thousands of workers rely on for good-paying, family-supporting jobs. I am concerned, however, with President-elect Trump’s continued calls to usurp Congress’s ‘power of the purse.’ ”

U.S. Rep. John B. Larson of East Hartford says that Democrats are willing to negotiate with Trump where possible but would not compromise on core principles.

“These are challenging times, but where we can work together with the President-elect, we will,” Larson said following the election. “Where we are opposed on issues, from women’s reproductive rights to tax cuts for the wealthy, and expanding Social Security and Medicare, we are prepared to fight.”

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, a Wolcott Democrat, is concerned about repeated statements that the U.S. Department of Education could be dismantled.

“Given the troubling rhetoric around public education from the incoming administration, it felt necessary that my first bill of the 119th Congress be to safeguard this federal pillar,” Hayes said in a statement. “I am leading the Department of Education Protection Act to impede any attempts to shrink federal education resources or restructure the agency. Instead of depleting the agency of its resources, we must invest in its ability to promote student achievement, foster education excellence, and ensure equal access.”

But Visconti discounted various statements about Trump’s views as overblown.

“People think he’s going to destroy the Department of Education with [incoming education secretary] Linda McMahon,” Visconti said. “No, they’re going to move money in a different way. That doesn’t mean education or money has to go. They need to take the federal regulations off. It’s kind of like what they did with abortion, throw it to the states.”

Frigid weather

Based on the weather forecast, Trump’s swearing-in has been moved indoors because it is expected to be the coldest inauguration in the past 40 years dating back to the days of the second term of President Ronald Reagan in 1985. That, too, was held indoors at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as officials feared that it would be dangerously cold for those waiting outside for hours. Crowds can watch the festivities Monday from the nearby Capital One Arena that is the home for Georgetown University basketball games and other events.

“I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way,” Trump said in announcing the new location. “It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th. (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!).”

The enthusiastic crowds will still likely gather on the National Mall, and those who have tickets will have the best seats at the Capitol Rotunda.

“I’ve got my big fur coat because it’s going to be 26 degrees for the high Monday,” said Visconti, adding that the wind-chill factor will make it worse. “The winds will be 10 to 20 miles per hour. When it gets cold in Washington, it’s like Connecticut. It’s going to be zero.”

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com 

It’s also at risk of ending in the next two years.

Connecticut’s right to counsel program launched in 2022 with $20 million in federal COVID relief money through the American Rescue Plan Act. That funding runs out this year, making right to counsel one of many social service programs in the state facing a fiscal cliff as the one-time dollars run out.

From January 2022 to November 2024, Connecticut has saved about $36.6 million it would have otherwise spent on emergency shelter services, foster care placements and Medicaid spending, among other social services, according to a report published at the end of last month.

The program has also offered legal aid to nearly 5,500 households, representing close to 13,000 individuals, many of them children.

“If they don’t have an attorney to represent them or give them help at any point during these proceedings, the odds of them being evicted go up exponentially,” said Angela Schlingheyde, executive director of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, which oversees the program.

Evictions and homelessness have a widespread impact on families, particularly on children. Losing housing can affect physical health, mental health, educational outcomes, access to employment and access to transportation, among other things.

Program organizers are asking for $6.75 million in the biennium budget.

Lawmakers this year are in a debate with Gov. Ned Lamont’s office over the state’s spending caps, often referred to as the “fiscal guardrails.” Some say they want to see more spending on social services, while the governor has said the limits help ensure the state can pay down its debt.

The annual report on the right to counsel program, compiled by consulting firm Stout, highlights many of the financial benefits for Connecticut of keeping people housed, as well as information about who the program is serving, their outcomes after getting legal aid and their housing circumstances.

The percentage of tenants who had legal representation in areas served by the right to counsel program has nearly tripled in the time since the program started, from around 7% to 18%.

“Having the attorney, it may not prevent them from having to move, but it can prevent them from having an eviction on their record, and it can help to get them an extended period of time to be able to leave their current home and find a new place to live, which will reduce trauma to the family and hopefully allow the children to continue going to school where they were always going to school,” Schlingheyde said.

Landlords have criticized the program, saying it slows down the eviction process when tenants have legal representation and if the process is slower, they will be choosier about who they allow to rent their properties.

Most program clients were able to achieve their goals, which commonly included preventing an involuntary move, preventing an eviction judgment and getting at least a month to find a new place, according to the report.

The report also found that right to counsel clients were more likely to be women and people of color, and that those populations were disproportionately impacted by eviction, compared to their share of the population.

For example, about 11% of Connecticut’s population is Black, compared to about 44% of right to counsel clients. While 63% of the state’s population is white, 15% of right to counsel clients are white.

And 51% of the state’s population are women, compared to 67% of right to counsel clients. Female-headed households were also more likely to have children in the home.

This is reflective of national data that shows that because of historic and systemic inequities, people of color are more likely to be impoverished and experience housing instability.

Giovanna Shay, litigation and advocacy director at Greater Hartford Legal Aid, said the program is also seeing more senior citizens who are facing eviction and homelessness. Right to counsel is overseen by the bar foundation and legal aid providers hire the attorneys.

“Landlords are seeking to raise the rent, and they’re seeking to evict tenants who can’t pay higher rents,” Shay said. “That’s also very, very hard on the elderly and those on fixed income.”

Over the past couple of years, more tenants and advocates have reported that renters are getting evicted by out-of-state, corporate landlords who purchase properties and evict people en mass.

Just over 1 in 5 right to counsel clients lived in properties whose owners live outside of Connecticut. Those clients were more likely to have month-to-month or oral leases rather than written, annual leases.

They were also more likely to have had problems with their landlord, including with subpar living conditions or previous eviction filings, according to the report.

Schlingheyde said the goal was to better understand “how that was impacting the overall system in Connecticut.”

Shay said since its inception, the program has grown. There are more attorneys, and the program has expanded geographically. Still, there are more people facing eviction than the program can help.

“Connecticut is in a housing crisis,” Shay said. “That crisis is affecting a lot of people, but our poorest residents really face losing their housing and potentially even being unhoused.”

In a meeting Tuesday, the committee voted to approve the funding, which will be distributed over the next four years for what’s known as the Housing as Recovery initiative. It’s by far the biggest investment OSAC has made since first convening in March 2023.

At a cost of $14.25 million a year, the initiative will help as many as 500 people annually. That includes vouchers through the state’s Rental Assistance Program and $9,500 per person to cover the cost of trauma-informed case management services, which include treatment programs, budgeting guidance and training for tenants to be successful, from managing responsibilities like security deposits and utilities to understanding their legal rights. Each client will also have $5,000 set aside to ensure they have basic necessities like furniture and utilities. Finally, the committee allocated $400,000 per year for program evaluation.

“This is a really exciting project, it really has implications for helping so many people,” said Nancy Navarretta, OSAC’s co-chair, during the committee’s Tuesday meeting.

The initiative passed with unanimous support from the OSAC’s 53 members.

The size of Tuesday’s funding approval was notable given frustration expressed by advocates as recently as December, when only $21 million in requests had been approved nearly two years after the committee first convened.

Connecticut has a lot of money to spend on this life or death issue. The state has so far received more than $158 million in settlement funds paid by pharmacies and opioid manufacturers following litigation. The state expects to receive $600 million over an 18-year period — and likely more once additional lawsuits are settled. OSAC is tasked with spending that money.

The committee’s decision this week to invest deeply in housing comes during a time when homelessness is on the rise. From 2023 to 2024, Connecticut’s homeless population increased by about 13%. Recent data from providers shows more than 5,000 people are experiencing homelessness.

Homelessness and behavioral health issues including addiction are deeply intertwined. Addiction can cause people to lose their housing, and often worsens when they become homeless.

The committee heard a presentation on the issue in November, its last meeting before Tuesday’s vote.

Alice Minervino, director of housing and homelessness services for the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, told the committee stable housing has improved the odds of recovery for people with addictions. She said people experiencing homelessness sometimes use drugs to cope with mental or physical health conditions related to their lack of housing. The department has some existing programs to house people with addiction, but this program would expand those services.

“They have to find a place to go,” Minervino said during the November presentation. “They can spend a lot of time on their feet walking around. There’s also an increased chance of being victimized, being in fights or being attacked, and this increases people’s medical issues, which increases their pain, and if they have a mental health condition, that can increase. So people use substances to try and mitigate those conditions.”

Dr. Gail D’Onofrio, a professor of medicine core addiction at Yale University, said during the meeting that it’s hard to find shelter beds for people with active addictions, particularly opioids.

Most Connecticut shelters don’t have sobriety requirements, but also don’t have the staff to handle people who aren’t following shelter rules because of their addiction, Kara Capone, chief executive at Community Housing Advocates in Hartford, said in an interview.

Service providers have said for years that they’re underfunded, which leaves staff salaries low and makes it hard to recruit and retain employees. “The issue is if somebody is not being cooperative or being combative because of intoxication, then that shelter can’t keep them housed,” Capone said. “It’s a risk to the health and safety of others.”

About a decade ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development adopted a policy called rapid rehousing to address homelessness. The concept calls for getting people housed as quickly as possible before addressing underlying issues such as addiction. Connecticut service providers have embraced this housing first approach, Capone said.

OSAC passed two other recommendations on Tuesday, including the expansion of harm reduction centers at a cost of $7 million over a three year period, and a safe use hotline for $1.5 million for three years.

This type of hotline, which would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, seeks to prevent overdoses by giving people who are using opioids a person to talk to on the phone while they’re administering the drug, so emergency services can be alerted if they overdose. People using alone were identified as having an especially high risk of death in a recent report produced for the OSAC by Yale researchers. People experiencing homelessness are also overrepresented in overdose deaths, according to the report.

There are no ready legislative solutions to either cost factor, but that didn’t dissuade Senate Democrats Thursday from proposing a “Ratepayers First Act” that is less a solution than a process by which they hope to find one.

The legislation, Senate Bill 4, is a statement of purpose, the legislative equivalent of an IOU. Its text is 20 words: “That the general statutes be amended to provide for improved service and reduced costs for electricity ratepayers in the state.”

In other words, stay tuned, details to come. The Democrats made no attempt to say otherwise. They are looking for ideas, sifting through the barrage of energy bills filed since the 2025 session opened a week ago.

“This bill is an open book. There are no specific things that we’re going to talk about at this moment,” said Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee. “We’re going to listen to all the bills that are coming in, and they’re coming in at a rate much higher and faster than the energy committee has ever seen.”

Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney of New Haven and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk joined Needleman at a press conference Thursday acknowledging Connecticut’s consistent ranking near the top in electric rates — and the importance of signaling they understand what that means to ratepayers.

“We have obviously heard many, many complaints about about rates and about the volatility of rates,” Looney said. “And we are, of course, very sensitive to that.”

In tone, the Democrats echoed President George H.W. Bush’s effort to convince voters rocked by a weak economy in 1992 that he heard them, even if he had no quick remedies. Bush said, “Message: I care. We’re trying.”

Gov. Ned Lamont and lawmakers of both parties all say they’re trying, but the options are limited.

“One of our original sins is deregulation,” Needleman said. “It created a whole different marketplace. I think it was sold to the state as a panacea and something that was going to make it better and cheaper and more available.”

The deregulation law passed in 1998 forced the states’ two publicly regulated electric utilities, the dominant company that would become Eversource and the smaller United Illuminating, to get out of the business of generating electricity and focus on the distribution of power to homes and businesses.

Kimberly Harriman, the head of government affairs for United Illuminating and its parent, Avangrid, noted after the Democratic news conference that distribution costs regulated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority are only 30% of a typical electric bill.

“Is that inconsequential? No, but for too many years, we’ve been jumping over $10 bills to get to the pennies on the bill. We have not been focused on supply costs,” Harriman said.

The supply of electricity comes from a largely deregulated market, where the prices Eversource and United Illuminating pay primarily are set by competitive markets — but still influenced by public policies, most notably one that requires them to buy power from Millstone Power Station in Waterford at a higher rate.

About 60% of electricity in Connecticut comes from burning natural gas, and 33% is produced by the two active nuclear reactors at Millstone. They are the region’s largest source of carbon-free electricity.

In 2017, when Dominion Energy complained that its Millstone plant could not stay economically viable while competing with cheap natural gas, the General Assembly passed a law dictating that Eversource and UI, together, purchase at least half of Millstone’s output at a higher price negotiated by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

That negotiated price is contracted though 2029, and it is reflected in the “combined public benefit” portion of every consumer’s electric bill. Last summer, when rates skyrocketed, the Millstone charge represented 77% of the public benefit charge.

Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, the ranking Senate Republican on energy, said he was happy to see Democrats engage on costs.

“I think we saw concepts of a plan, so I appreciate that Senate Democrats would like to come to the table and discuss potential legislation on energy affordability. I think Connecticut residents have been asking us as a state legislature to lead and tackle questions of energy affordability for two years now,” Fazio said.

Some of the bills filed in the last week, including several by Republicans, would eliminate the public benefit charge without explaining exactly how that could be done.

Lesser expenses in the charge are things that lawmakers say could be either eliminated or moved from ratepayers to taxpayers, including relief for those who cannot afford their bills and the cost of building out an EV charging system.

They could mean savings, but at the margins, legislators say. The bigger costs of generating power are intertwined related to federal policies and the management of the New England grid.

“I look at my job here and the job of of the leadership of our committee to be ‘fix what you can fix.’ Some parts of energy policy are very difficult,” Needleman said. “When we deregulated, we became part of a regional grid operator, and a lot of the decisions around supply of energy were taken out of our hands.”

The legislature has largely focused on the performance of the regulated utilities and the ability of regulators to punish them over performance issues. On Thursday, the utilities said they welcome a shift to supply issues.

“I appreciate Sen. Needleman’s recognition that deregulation hasn’t generally provided all that we thought it would,” Harriman said. “And I appreciate the fact that he talked about we’ve got to look at supply. We’ve been asking them to look for supply for many, many years. So let’s work together on a solution about how do we grow supply.”

Eversource concurred.

“Sen. Needleman is absolutely right, that the restructuring of energy markets decades ago has presented significant challenges for customers and they are seeing those consequences in their energy bills,” said Tricia T. Modifica, an Eversource spokesperson.

“We support efforts to bring down supply costs and have a record of supporting the expansion of new supply sources including significant efforts to bring hydropower into New England. We strongly encourage these discussions and would love to have a seat at the table to provide the expertise on what will be necessary in distribution investments to deliver that power in the most cost effective way possible.”

“Nuclear power already provides most of our carbon-free power. That’s why we’re working with the federal government to find ways to expand nuclear capacity here in Connecticut,” he said, then added, “Before you rule out natural gas … that’s where most of our power comes from and will for the foreseeable future, especially without more nuclear power.”

So, is Lamont about to press for an expansion of pipeline capacity to the relatively cheap natural gas produced in the Marcellus Shale fields of western New York and Pennsylvania? Is there an energy company open to bringing in the next generation of nuclear technology — SMRS, or small modular reactors.

Not exactly. In an interview, the governor said his primary intent Wednesday was to discourage lawmakers from taking away any of the few policy options to expand the supply of electricity or bring down its cost, which generally ranks among the most expensive in the U.S.

That places him between the competing camps of clean and cost: Environmentalists who say carbon-free energy must be priority one, and opponents of procuring power from renewable sources that are more expensive than electricity generated by burning natural gas, including large-scale solar and off-shore wind.

Lamont recently rejected one offshore wind project on the basis of cost, a decision applauded by Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, the ranking Republican on the Energy and Technology Committee. But Republicans also propose statutory cost limits on future projects, essentially tethering them to market prices pegged to gas.

That is a step too far for Lamont, who says no sources of power should be off limits as the state faces a continuing struggle to balance reliability, affordability and climate impact in procuring electricity. When it comes to power, his administration’s motto is “all of the above.”

“I don’t want them to say, ‘You’re never allowed to pay more than two or three times the price of natural gas,’ ” Lamont said. Especially if “it’s the only way I can add generating capacity right now, because I can’t bring in more natural gas.”

Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, the co-chair of an Energy and Technology Committee that typically strives for a bipartisan approach to energy policy, said affordability is a shared goal, but the governor can expect support in defeating any arbitrary limits on the cost and sources of future procurements.

“I agree with him,” Steinberg said. “But I don’t necessarily like the moniker of ‘all of the above.’ ”

Fazio said, overall, he sees Lamont as an ally in making affordability a larger component in energy policy.

“I think first of all the governor believes there should be an upward limit on what consumers pay,” said Fazio, who nonetheless acknowledges the governor’s options on sources of power are limited. “That doesn’t mean they should have infinite discretion, and I think consumers should have a right to legal guardrails as to what they will pay in the future.”

Some of the likely conflicts in energy policy this year were evident Thursday at the committee’s organizational meeting, where members broadly outlined their goals.

Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, the other co-chair, said energy policy must rest on a three-legged stool of cost, reliability and climate.

“We are always looking at cost to the extent that we can control it in the deregulated market. We’re looking at reliability,” said Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, the co-chair. “And I’m always focused on environmental goals that, in my world view, that’s a lot more to do with air quality and some of the things that really affect people’s lives directly.”

Rep. Nick Gauthier, a newly elected Democrat from a district that includes Waterford, the home of the Millstone nuclear power plant that produces the majority of Connecticut’s carbon-free power, warned against increasing a reliance on natural gas or other fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.

Rep. Joe Canino, a Republican freshman from Torrington, said voters were clear as he campaigned: Cost must be addressed.

Gauthier unseated a Republican in November; Canino, a Democrat.

Rep. David Yaccarino, a Republican who has represented North Haven for 14 years, is returning to the committee he served on early in his tenure to advocate for a greater reliance on market forces that favor electricity generated by burning natural gas.

“I think we need to listen to constituents and the market,” Yaccarino said. “I don’t think it’s that complicated.”

Eversource and United Illuminating, the state’s two major electric utilities, are primarily in the regulated business of distributing electricity, not generating it. They purchase power in competitive markets, though not without state intervention.

The state mandates the purchases of some power from renewable sources and a higher price for Millstone.

In 2017, when Dominion Energy complained that Millstone could not stay economically viable while competing with cheap natural gas, the General Assembly passed a law dictating that Eversource and UI, together, purchase at least half of Millstone’s output at a higher price negotiated by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The law, which passed primarily with Republican support in a year when they occupied nearly half the seats in the General Assembly, expires in 2029, and the Lamont administration has begun preliminary discussions about how to keep Millstone open..

Dominion’s new chief executive, Robert Blue, was in Hartford on Thursday for separate meetings with key lawmakers and the governor. Steinberg said Blue and legislators spoke generally about the potential of additional nuclear capacity through small modular reactors.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has certified an SMR design for use in the U.S., but none have been built. Three have been built globally.

The second of two new reactors came on line in Georgia last year — the first new nuclear-powered electric generation in decades in the U.S. They cost billions more than originally estimated, though they are not SMRs. Lamont said there is an industry wariness about any new nuclear capacity in markets where power generation is deregulated and there is no guarantee of recovering costs.

“They don’t like Connecticut, because we’re deregulated. ‘The rate payers are not going to pick it up. My shareholders are,’” Lamont said. “So I’ve got to work through that.”

Mark Pazniokas is a reporter for the Connecticut Mirror. Copyright @ CTMirror (ctmirror.org) 2025.

Lawmakers began the session last week with high hopes of crafting solutions, but the veteran lawmakers realize the difficulty of untangling a sticky wicket of competing agendas as scores of divergent interests battle for funding in the next annual state budget that is expected to reach $27 billion.

Multiple mayors visited the state Capitol on opening day as they collectively seek billions of dollars in operational and bond funds for everything from public schools to paving local roads.

Lamont called on the legislature to tackle the high costs of electricity, health care and housing in a state where rents and mortgages are higher than many others across the nation. In an unusual move during his 28-minute State of the State Address, Lamont called on individual committees by name and asked them to find solutions.

“Insurance committee, very few of the businesses and homes which were impacted or destroyed by flooding in August had any flood insurance. What say you?” Lamont asked in the historic Hall of the House in Hartford. “Judiciary committee, how can we better protect our civil liberties, including reproductive rights, in the face of threats from Washington? … Education committee, let’s build on the blue ribbon child care commission. Let’s make a down payment on affordable, accessible early child care for all of our families.”

While Lamont offered various questions, Republicans charged that he did not provide enough answers.

“I think the speech didn’t say a lot,” said House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford. “I think he is clearly sending a message that he wants the legislature to do the job, and that concerns me.”

Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield agreed, saying Lamont should have provided more details.

“There was very minimal substance to it,” Harding said. “You can give us challenges, but give us some ideas with it. He basically just referenced the problem, and said, ‘You guys figure it out.’ That’s not an idea. That just says there’s a problem. We’re already aware what the problems are. Give us some ideas of what your vision is to fix the problems of the state.”

But Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, a New Haven Democrat, rejected Republican complaints by saying that the State of the State Address sets the tone and the annual budget address in February would provide a deep level of financial detail on scores of departments and agencies.

“I thought it was a very good opening day speech,” Looney said. “The major themes he hit were excellent. This was a general, thematic speech to start the session, not a nuts-and-bolts budget speech.”

Early childhood education

Looney noted that Lamont has made early childhood education a high priority in an attempt to help the youngest students who have already fallen behind by the time they reach kindergarten.

“Those 4-year-olds today that are not prepared for kindergarten next year are the ones who, a dozen years from now, would be part of that cohort of those 16 to 24-year-olds who are disengaged, not in school, not working, not employable in some ways,” Looney told The Courant in an interview. “So we need to make sure we have a massive level of engagement with young children so they are not — 12 years from now — the next cohort of disengaged kids.”

Guardrails

One of the key issues that Lamont did not mention in his speech is the so-called fiscal guardrails that have limited spending and poured an additional $8.5 billion into the state pension funds that had been largely neglected for 70 years by previous governors and legislators.

In the coming months, liberal Democrats are expected to clash with Lamont and Republicans over the guardrails.

Lawmakers will be debating the “volatility cap,” which blocks the legislature from spending any money above a certain threshold that is collected under the “estimates and finals” portion of the state income tax. The money includes capital gains that are largely paid by millionaires and billionaires in Fairfield County, a total that has exploded in recent years with large gains on Wall Street

The guardrails have become an all-encompassing issue at the Capitol that comes up on a constant basis.

“I know there’s a game out there: Drink every time you hear the word guardrails,” said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, an East Hartford Democrat.

Among Republicans, both Candelora and Harding said it was a missed opportunity for Lamont to reiterate his support for the guardrails in front of a large audience.

“I think it was an opportunity to send a clear message to the legislature and the residents of Connecticut that we are going to live within our means,” Candelora said. “It’s opening day. Maybe he wants to keep it light.”

But Lamont’s press office said he has not changed his position on the guardrails and does not have to mention the topic in every speech. Lamont has consistently reiterated his view recently, noting that the legislature re-approved the guardrails last year by extending them for another five years with an option for an additional five years.

Despite any thought to the contrary, Looney said Democrats are not interested in blowing up the guardrails completely.

“We recognize the merit of what the guardrails have done for us in the last seven years,” Looney said in an interview. “Building up a healthy rainy day fund of over $4 billion. Increasing the percentage of funding for both our state employee pensions and our teachers’ pensions. Those are substantial achievements. What we’re saying is we may be facing a huge fiscal crisis brought on by declining federal funding in so many areas because 2025 is not 2017. We need to look at the realities as they exist today. There may need to be some discussion on the guardrails and also whether or not federal cuts will constitute enough of an emergency that we have to look at the rainy day fund. We don’t know any of that yet.”

Potential changes in the guardrails, he said, are not drastic.

“I refer to it as a minor modification,” Looney said. “We would still have a volatility cap. We would still have a spending cap. We would still have a revenue cap where we commit not to spend 100% of the revenue that we anticipate coming in. The Republicans are trying to say the sky is falling if we even mention the word modification. But that’s part of their game, and it’s not real.”

 Electricity

Another vexing problem facing the legislature is the high price of electricity, which has been a problem for decades.

Among the disputes is whether the chief regulatory agency, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, known as PURA, should have three commissioners or five. Lamont has steadfastly maintained that only three regulators are needed, but the current state law says there shall be five members.

Sen. Norm Needleman, an Essex Democrat who co-chairs the energy committee, agrees strongly with Lamont, even if some other Democrats do not.

“The more people you have on a board, the more difficult it is to get consensus,” Needleman told The Courant.

But Sen. Ryan Fazio, a 34-year-old Greenwich Republican with detailed knowledge of energy issues, agreed with Republicans and some Democrats that the authority under the law should have five fulltime commissioners.

“The law, which we are all obligated to follow, prescribes five members to PURA,” Fazio said after Lamont’s speech. “I believe in following the law, and if people think it’s better with a different number, then they should change the law. Otherwise, they should fill the spots with five energetic and intelligent regulators who will protect consumers and enforce the law as it is. It’s not what I want or not. It’s what the law says.”

Behind the scenes, Republicans and Democrats have been working to gauge the political support for increasing to five seats, up from three. They have also been working to gain a spot on PURA for former state Rep. Holly Cheeseman, a veteran lawmaker from Niantic who lost her bid for re-election in November and is available to take a fulltime job on the authority. A package deal that could have placed Cheeseman on the board was not completed before the legislative session began Wednesday.

Another key point is that ratepayers were outraged during the summer over a large spike in their electric bills at a time when many residents learned for the first time about the “public benefits” charges on their bill that they had often overlooked.

Republicans want the charges taken off electric bills and instead switched into the expenses of the $27 billion annual state budget, where ratepayers would no longer see the charges on their monthly bills.

The public benefits charge is being paid over 10 months to cover a deal with the Millstone nuclear power plant and also unpaid bills for customers who avoided shutoffs for four years due to the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath. Millstone represents 77% of the current public benefits charge, and the other 23% pays for various bipartisan programs that include recovering charges from the four-year moratorium in which the utilities were blocked from shutting off various customers.

In addition, state utility regulators approved a plan for Eversource and United Illuminating to be repaid about $3 per month per residential customer — depending on their level of usage — in the public benefits charges for their costs in the electric vehicle charger program. That became effective on September 1 and will last until April 30, 2025.

Shifting the costs to the state budget, Fazio said, should be an early move by the legislature.

“It would make the most progress for consumers because those costs basically equate to a tax in the electric bill for discretionary budget programs,” Fazio said. “It would permanently reduce electric bills by hundreds of dollars per year for the average resident in the state, based on my calculations.”

The idea will not go away because it will be mentioned by lawmakers over the next five months in bills and amendments at both the committee level and on the floor of the House and Senate.

It was highly important, Fazio said, that Lamont immediately addressed energy costs in the opening minutes of his State of the State Address.

“Mentioning electricity as the first issue,” Fazio said, “reflects the fact that it is an issue at the top of voters’ minds.”

 Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com 

In his annual State of the State Address, Lamont told the crowd that he could not predict what will happen with state funding and the impact from the new administration of President Donald J. Trump that will start on Jan. 20.

While unable to control the federal agenda in Washington, Lamont said lawmakers need to focus at home on the high cost of electricity.

“This is a time of hope, sadness, and uncertainty,” Lamont said during his 28-minute speech. “Over the next month or two, we should have more insights into how the changing relationship with the new administration will affect our budget and our people, but today, let’s focus on what we can do here in Connecticut to build on the progress we’ve made over the last six years. As always, our north stars are affordability and opportunity, holding down costs of energy and healthcare and education, allowing you to keep more of what you earn and providing you the tools you need to earn more, buy a home, start a business.”

In front of a standing-room-only crowd in the historic Hall of the House chamber, Lamont cited his administration’s accomplishments as, he said, the state has been restored to fiscal health after years of deficits and tax increases. He noted that lawmakers have more time this session to tackle major issues, and he focused on the broad themes of affordability and opportunity.

Besides electricity, Lamont mentioned a wide variety of issues, including Medicaid, elementary and higher education, childcare, protecting abortion rights, and creating more affordable housing.

“OK, we have a longer legislative session this cycle, giving us an opportunity to get in the weeds, lift up the hood, not always arguing about more money, but better results – not just more, but better – delivering results that make a difference by reducing costs to you and expanding opportunity for all,” Lamont said. “Let’s start with the high price of electricity in our state. That has sparked a little discussion over the last six months. Two years ago from this same dais, I asked the energy and technology committee to work with us to evaluate how to best make electricity more affordable, by increasing supply and reducing demand. These high prices impact all of us – working families, seniors on a fixed income, small businesses, big manufacturers. Everyone was mad as hell looking at their bills following the hottest July in recorded history – and I can see why.”

Electricity is not going away as a problem, he said, because artificial intelligence, a key factor in the future, requires large amounts of electricity. He rejected various ideas that have been mentioned in the long-running electricity battle.

“Look, you can feel free to debate whether you want to shift electricity costs from the ratepayers to taxpayers, or you can move from three to five PURA commissioners, but these cosmetic changes aren’t going to make a dime’s worth of difference,” Lamont said. “What can make a difference, however, is increasing supply, especially low-carbon supply, starting with our investment in Revolution Wind, which is under construction right now, more commercial solar from Maine — you know, foggy Maine. Ironically, yes, since they have hundreds of acres of land for necessary commercial grade installations. And don’t forget hydro from Canada — our 51st state. These are really our only options for new [electrical] generation.”

Lamont’s speech marked the highlight of opening day ceremonies as lawmakers began the “long session” that ends on June 4. While laying out broad themes Wednesday, Lamont will provide more details next month with his annual budget address for a spending plan that will reach about $27 billion for the next fiscal year that starts in July.

No talk on guardrails

While Lamont covered many issues, he never once mentioned a key word: guardrails.

Guardrails is the Capitol nomenclature for a series of budgetary caps that have helped restore the state to fiscal health through spending, volatility and revenue restrictions. Passed in 2017 on a bipartisan basis by the legislature, the guardrails have been hailed for restoring the state to fiscal health by preventing spending above certain thresholds and instead redirecting the money to the long-underfunded pension funds.

But Republicans were stunned that Lamont never mentioned the guardrails at a time when some top Democrats want to tweak the rules in order to allow more spending on issues like special education and child care.

“There was no mention of fiscal guardrails. Is he punting on those already?” asked House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford. “I would have thought that should have been the first and foremost part of his speech. … I’m concerned that there was a white flag today being shown by not mentioning those guardrails.”

Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield had a similar view on Lamont’s speech.

“There was very minimal substance to it,” Harding said. “The governor is a nice guy, and he said some nice platitudes. But really, I would have liked to have heard more substance. Part of being governor is leadership and showing your vision for the people of this state. I think there was nothing really in the speech that showed that. … The fact that he didn’t even mention guardrails would indicate to me that he’s moving back potentially from his position that he’s been taking for a year consistently.”

But Lamont’s press office said he has not changed his position on the guardrails and does not have to mention the topic in every speech. Lamont has consistently reiterated his view recently, noting that the legislature re-approved the guardrails last year by extending them for another five years with an option for an additional five years.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney agreed, saying that the guardrails can be discussed more during Lamont’s budget speech next month and in the negotiations in the coming months.

“It’s more appropriate to be part of the budget discussion,” Looney said.

Legislators

Before Lamont’s speech, both the state House of Representatives and Senate formally elected their leaders for the two-year term and passed the joint rules for the new session.

In the House, Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford was sworn in for his third term as speaker, which is unusual in the chamber. The previous two speakers who served three terms were Ritter’s father, Tom, who started in 1993 and then Moira Lyons of Stamford. Since then, Speakers have served for two terms.

In the Senate, President Pro Tempore Martin Looney of New Haven was unanimously reelected by acclamation to serve another term as the highest-ranking senator.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk noted that Looney has maintained his enthusiasm through the decades and was “as excited to come to the state Capitol today to be sworn in as any of our new members.”

In a spirt of bipartisanship, Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield seconded Looney’s nomination and agreed with Duff about their colleague’s enthusiasm.

As legislators celebrated their first day back at the Capitol after their election victories in November, two members were not sworn in on Wednesday. Former Senate Republican leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford is leaving the chamber to become a Superior Court judge, while Rep. Christine Conley of Groton will be nominated as a workers’ compensation commissioner. They both officially submitted their resignations to the office of the Secretary of the State, who is the state’s chief elections official.

In addition, state Rep. Michael D’Agostino of Hamden did not seek reelection and is expected to be nominated as a Superior Court judge.

Opening Day

The new session marks the opportunity for thousands of bills that will be debated by more than 25 different committees on issues ranging from spending and taxes to education, energy, and the environment.

Like opening day at Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium, the start of the session is a time of great optimism, bipartisanship and backslapping before Republicans and Democrats begin clashing over major issues like taxes and education spending.

Even after 17 years in the legislature, House Majority Leader Jason Rojas of East Hartford said it never gets old to walk into the historic Hall of the House at the state Capitol.

“I’m in awe of the grandness of the room,” Rojas told his colleagues. “When I come in this room, the first thing I do is look up and wonder how I got here.”

With a fulltime job as chief of staff to the president of Trinity College in Hartford, Rojas juggles multiple responsibilities on a daily basis. Like others, he thanked his family for making it possible to work at the Capitol.

“As parents, we miss a lot of time in our children’s lives,” said Rojas, who had a difficult personal year in 2024 as his mother died in July. “For all you parents, life comes at you really, really fast. … I put 110% into anything I do. Thanks to my colleagues for this incredible honor of being majority leader.”

Bingo card

On a day of speeches and backslapping, Candelora told his colleagues to remain humble.

“When you get elected and go up to Hartford, you’re going to think that you’re the most important person in the world,” Candelora said. “And then you go home to your spouse, who reminds you that you’re not.”

Toward the end of his speech, Lamont pointed to the tourism office that has promoted Connecticut on a constant basis. He mentioned a state employee as predicted in Mike Cerulli’s Capitol Report “State of the State Bingo Card,” which listed Lamont mannerisms to watch for.

“OK, we can always spend more money promoting tourism, but a little creative juice goes a long way,” Lamont said. “Let me give a shout out to Anthony Anthony, our chief marketing officer. Bingo! His immodest road signs declaring Connecticut the “pizza capital,” “submarine capital,” and “basketball capital of the world” attracted over six billion media impressions. That’s free publicity money can’t buy.”

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com 

While the day brought a sense of optimism and the potential for improving residents’ lives, it also brought the reminder of political battles lost and passionately held issues that died in committee or were defeated by indifference. Many issues that have been raised year after year have made a reappearance, such as special education funding and climate change, but proposals on aid-in-dying and wine in grocery stores were yet absent.

Both Republican and Democratic leaders have said they will focus this session, which ends June 4 and will include setting the state budget for the next two years, on providing financial relief to Connecticut residents.

For the Senate, 53 pages of bills were proposed by lawmakers of both parties, the first 12 of which represent Democrats’ priority bills introduced by 23 Democratic senators on issues such as education, artificial intelligence, junk fees, Chinese drones, the housing crisis, health care and electricity costs.

A few bills aim to address the public benefits fees on electric bills that last year sparked an outcry from residents enduring soaring bills that peaked during a July heat wave. The fees, which pay for a combination of energy efficiency programs, solar and electric vehicle incentives, financial aid to needy customers, and the purchase of renewable and carbon-free electricity, were the source of petitions, protests and threats. Seventy-seven percent of the cost of the 10-month public benefits charge covers a 2017 deal legislators made to purchase energy from the Millstone nuclear power plant. The other 23% pays for various bipartisan programs and recovering costs from the four-year shutoff moratorium during the coronavirus pandemic.

Republican Sens. Tony Hwang, Rob Sampson and Stephen Harding proposed separate bills to eliminate or prohibit the collection of the public benefits charges.

Twenty-four Democrats, led by Senate President Martin Looney, introduced an energy affordability bill with the stated purpose to “improve service and reduce costs for electricity ratepayers in the
state.” While the bill text gives no other details at the moment, Sen. Matt Lesser wrote on X late Tuesday that “The first bill I’ve introduced will cancel the public benefits charge on CT electric bills – and spread the cost of the Millstone plant across all ratepayers in New England, not just the backs of CT Eversource and UI customers.”

Sen. Rob Sampson introduced 70 bills and three resolutions Wednesday, several of which relate to the “parents rights” movement and the culture war around LGBTQ rights, including bills on “developmentally appropriate” instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, “political bias in the classroom,” and the right for parents to visit their child’s classroom during the day.

Sampson introduced bills on school curriculum, social studies curriculum and reading curriculum. The social studies curriculum bill calls for a task force to be formed concerning the recommendation of the American Birthright’s Social Studies Standards, which the National Council for the Social Studies calls “a single narrative of U.S. and Western history that glorified selected aspects of history while minimizing the experiences, contributions, and perspectives of Indigenous peoples, people of color, women, the LGBTQIA+ community, the working class, and countless others.”

He also introduced “An Act Requiring the Disclosure of Chemicals Disbursed in the Air by the Federal Government and Weather Engineering Activities.”

One of the most conservative members of Connecticut’s legislature, from Wolcott, Connecticut’s most conservative town, Sampson’s bills rarely get enough support to advance.

House members introduced just eight pages of bills to start the session, with the first four jointly proposed by Speaker Matt Ritter and Majority Leader Jason Rojas on special education, housing costs and homelessness, child care and the renewable energy industry.

Other members’ bills range from prohibiting shark finning to increased law enforcement training, economic relations with Puerto Rico and recycling oyster shells. Allowing the processing of rabbit meat for consumption and a black bear hunt make a return this year, as in many previous years. Rep. Brian Lanoue has proposed exempting overtime pay from income tax.

Lanoue, and separately Reps. Lezlye Zupkus and Tami Zawistowski, have all proposed eliminating the highway use tax, which Republicans have previously said increases costs on groceries, department store items and any other goods shipped to Connecticut by truck.

Zawistowski introduced seven bills Wednesday, including an act to limit legislators’ pensions, a tax cut for emergency responders, a tax deduction for long-term care insurance costs and for home health care costs, eminent domain and to get municipal budget information online.

Looney, reelected to lead the Senate Wednesday with bipartisan support, touted the chamber’s part in enacting “policies that have transformed lives,” including paid family and medical leave, raising the minimum wage and workforce development. More remains to be done, particularly on the housing crisis, he said.

He pointed to the Democrats’ super majority after the November election as a mandate for Democratic leadership but noted that ” our most enduring achievements have always come from working together. Bipartisanship is not a relic of the past but a guiding principle for our future.”

In his speech, Looney quoted George Bernard Shaw, Zora Neale Hurston and Jonathan Swift and closed, saying, “Let us continue to build a state that believes in human potential, honors every generous dream, and dismisses no one as unworthy. That is the best tradition of the Connecticut State Senate.

May our deliberations and achievements in this term bring renewed hope to the people of our state in these troubled times and in doing so be an inspiring light to the nation.”

Gov. Ned Lamont is scheduled to deliver his annual State of the State Address at noon to a joint session of the General Assembly after members of the state House of Representatives and Senate are sworn in.

Lamont is expected to call for Connecticut to maintain its budgetary momentum through fiscal prudence, along with making investments in programs like day care that can help working families to get back into the workforce to support their children. Lamont wants to continue his fiscal policies that have helped lead to record-breaking surpluses and an additional $8 billion poured into the state’s $60 billion pension fund after decades of neglect by previous governors and legislators.

About 30 minutes before Lamont’s speech, a coalition known as Connecticut For All will on Zoom offer an alternative vision that calls for solving the state’s problems of rising health care costs, housing instability, food insecurity, and economic inequality.

While Lamont will set the broad tone Wednesday, many of the financial and policy details will be unveiled next month in his budget, which is expected to be about $27 billion for the next fiscal year.

As legislators will be celebrating their first day back at the Capitol after their election victories in November, two members will not be sworn in on Wednesday. Former Senate Republican leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford is leaving the chamber to become a Superior Court judge, while Rep. Christine Conley of Groton will be nominated as a workers’ compensation commissioner, officials said. Conley resigned effective at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a three-sentence letter to the Secretary of the State’s office.

A CT organization is giving a total of $2.9M to 29 towns. Here’s how and why.

The new session marks the opportunity for thousands of bills that will be debated by more than 25 different committees on issues ranging from spending and taxes to education, energy, and the environment.

Like opening day at Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium, the start of the session is a time of optimism, bipartisanship and backslapping before Republicans and Democrats begin clashing over major issues like taxes and education spending.

Education

Among the priority bills this year will be education spending, including boosting funds for the Roberta B. Willis Scholarships, which are named after a former legislator.

Senate Democrats cited a study that said 43 other states spend more money on student aid than Connecticut, where many students head to other states for their college careers. Connecticut is estimated to have about 90,000 unfilled jobs, with labor shortages in fields like nursing and manufacturing.

“Connecticut’s lack of investment into our students and young people has created a brain-drain,” said Sen. Derek Slap, a West Hartford Democrat who co-chairs the higher education and employment advancement committee. “We are losing highly educated and skilled workers to our surrounding states. Over the last several years, we have greatly expanded access to community college and workforce development opportunities. Looking towards this legislative session, as Senate chair of the higher education and employment advancement committee, ensuring that bachelor’s degrees are more affordable for students and their families will be one of my top priorities.”

State officials in the Office of Higher Education say that 2,282 students last year received a Willis scholarship, totaling more than $10 million. The number of students receiving money increased by 292 over the previous year.

Among those, 63% of the students lived in an alliance district, a designation given for the neediest schools in the state, including Hartford, Bridgeport, New Britain, New Haven, Meriden, Bristol, and Bloomfield.

The scholarships range from $3,800 to $4,500 for full-time students, while part-timers can receive $1,900 to $3,375.

Students must be Connecticut residents who attend in-state schools like UConn and the University of Hartford. They need to be ranked in the top 20% of their class or have SAT scores of 1,200 or higher.

History

The scholarships are named for Willis, an affable Litchfield County Democrat who battled for years for the money for students and was stunned when it was announced on the floor of the state House of Representatives that the scholarships would be named in her honor.

In 2018, Willis and others rewrote a budget bill and rejected then-Gov. Dannel Malloy’s plan to eliminate scholarships for Connecticut students who attend certain private colleges in the state. The elimination had been targeted for universities with endowments of more than $200 million. As such, the cut in 2018 would have reached $1.85 million for Quinnipiac University students in Hamden; $1.23 million for Fairfield University; $468,000 for Trinity College in Hartford, and $266,000 for Wesleyan University in Middletown. That funding was restored, along with an additional $1.2 million for a total of $5 million above Malloy’s proposal for scholarships.

“The governor had made significant cuts to the Connecticut Independent College Student Grant, known as CICS,” Willis said at the time. “The committee believed that number needed to be restored to last year’s level, which we did.”

Advocates 

Various groups of advocates are expected inside and outside of the Capitol complex on a cold morning Wednesday as legislators and their families gather for the ceremonies of Opening Day.

In the Zoom call, Connecticut For All will discuss inequality and the need for the state to address various problems as the group represents more than 60 community, faith, labor, and nonprofit advocacy organizations that have joined together to try to solve problems.

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Members of the LGBTQ community will be gathering in the House gallery at 10 a.m. to “urge lawmakers to support LGBTQ+ rights legislation, increase funding for queer health and human services, and to oppose discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, while showing queer joy, resilience, and unity,” the group said.

A group called Stop Solitary CT will be gathering at the Capitol complex at 1 p.m. to talk about their concerns about prisoners.

“We hope legislators, everyone with incarcerated loved ones or those impacted by the prison system can join us in our fight to strengthen the Protect Act and give the ombudsman more power to advocate for incarcerated people,” the group said.

In addition, the state chapter of the Sierra Club will be meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Legislative Office Building, which is connected by a tunnel to the Capitol.

“Over the past two years, Connecticut has failed to take bold action against climate change,” the club says on its website. “Now is the time to make our voices heard. We invite you to stand with us in solidarity for climate action and demonstrate our collective power on the first day of the 2025 legislative session. This is a unique opportunity to connect with your legislators and demand climate action this session.”

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com 

Sanchez cited a series of goals if he’s elected, with the top three being a stronger focus on neighborhood safety, improvements to local education and expansion of affordable housing in the city.

“I’m not going to abandon downtown, but the neighborhoods have been neglected while this administration was focusing on downtown,” Sanchez said Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before he was scheduled to host a campaign kickoff at the 5 Churches Brewing on Arch Street.

Rumors of potential candidates have been flying since Stewart announced in late September that she isn’t seeking another term.

Since she became New Britain’s youngest mayor in 2013, Stewart, a Republican, has been essentially unstoppable in a city that’s traditionally heavily Democratic. She won re-election five times without coming close to a defeat, even in years when voters rejected her running mates and elected Democratic majorities to the council.

Sanchez challenged her in 2021, but lost 5,854 to 3,464. Just two years ago, former council President Chris Anderson tried to unseat her but failed in a 4,895-3,074 vote.

So far no Republicans have announced campaigns for this year, but that’s likely to change soon. Local Republicans formally endorse candidates in July, but candidates typically step forward as early as January or February to begin fundraising and building name recognition.

Sanchez, an 14-year incumbent representing New Britain in the 25th House District, is the first Democrat to announce a campaign. The Democratic Town Committee will endorse a candidate in July. Before then, Sanchez intends to lay out his list of priorities if elected. On Tuesday, he offered some specifics.

“I’ve done quite a bit to bring all the new resources to our schools with 95% reimbursement from the state,” said Sanchez, who was co-chair of the Education Committee. “I think we need a brand new high school, and I want to see if I can get that covered by the state. We definitely need a new high school; the one we have is overcrowded and some classrooms don’t even have windows.”

Over the past several years, Sanchez served as co-chair of the Education Committee as New Britain arranged $125 million in renovations of the Holmes and Chamberlain elementary schools. City Democrats praised him for helping arrange 95% state reimbursement, compared to the 80% rate it usually pays.

Sanchez also said he’d work to attract more affordable housing for low-income people, noting that most of the wave of downtown apartment construction is market priced.

“Many of those apartments are out of reach of the working poor. And with taxes going up, rents have gone up so I’m hearing from some seniors who say they’re borderline homeless,” Sanchez said.

The new Ellis Commons affordable housing complex opened with rents set at four levels: 30% percent of the average median income in the region, 50%, 60% and 80%. The 30% units were leased almost immediately.

“A mother of two told me she’s living with her mother, working two jobs. She can’t afford the prices downtown, and said she applied for Ellis Street but all those (30%) apartments were taken,” he said.

“I’m sure we can reach out to certain developers and try to get state or even federal assistance,” he said. “I have those connections.”

Sanchez praised Stewart’s administration for its work on revitalizing city parks and doing streetscape improvements downtown.

“The upkeep of the parks, fixing sidewalks downtown, all of that needs to be continued,” he said. “But we need to do more for our neighborhoods. All of our neighborhoods. I’d like to bring back community block watches and community policing, you don’t hear much about that any more. It only makes sense that our residents should feel secure and safe.”