Why the Structure and Processes of Our State Government Affect Us All

Representing the 149^th District has been the privilege of a lifetime.  Thank you to the citizens of the district for electing me to represent you in Hartford.

The legislative session in Hartford ended on June 4.  The work of the legislature is substantive policy issues, and I will continue this work unabated.   One thing I saw firsthand in Hartford in the 2025 session, however which I did not expect is how profoundly the structure and processes of our CT Legislature affect policy outcomes.  We have sound structures and processes in CT, but party imbalance (the supermajority) in CT severely undermines those structures, processes, and our state democracy.

A supermajority breeds lack of respect for tenets as fundamental as Constitutional questions.

In CT, as in many states, most laws are required to pass the legislature with a simple majority (51%) of both houses.  However, decisions which have more gravity may require more.  For example, an amendment to the CT Constitution requires a 3/4 (75%) vote, and a change to the spending cap requires a 3/5 (60%) vote, in both houses.

In March, the Education Committee on which I sit, considered a Bill for universal preschool, a worthy goal and $2-300 million expenditure requiring a diversion of funds away from paying down pension debt. Our CT Constitution states that such a diversion requires a 3/5 (60%) vote of each house.  I asked in the Education Committee whether this bill would require a 3/5 vote and was told by the Chairman, no.  The Office of Fiscal Analysis (a nonpartisan government office) stated that he was wrong – a 3/5 vote was required.  In May when the amended bill reached the House floor, I asked the same question twice and twice was told, no. Finally, on the third ask, the Speaker of the House called for a recess of the chamber, consulted with legal counsel and confirmed that a 3/5 vote was indeed required.  I appreciated Speaker Matt Ritter’s fair and accurate final conclusion.

When one party has the votes to pass any bill regardless of whether a 51% or 3/5 (60%) vote is required, it breeds disregard, intentional or unintentional, for even the most basic tenets of our government, such as what our CT Constitution clearly requires for major votes.

A supermajority can use the process to undermine the minority’s ability to review Bills.

On June 2, our 693-page state budget was posted (at 3:54 am) with 12 hours for the minority to review it before a vote.  HB 5002, the omnibus housing Bill, which started as one page, went to 93, and then 160 pages, was similarly “dropped” with inadequate time to review.  The supermajority controls this process.

There used to be no such 12-hour required review window – obtaining even this was a hard-fought win by the minority.  The minority proposed additional reforms including requiring a 24-hour review window of any bill over 50 pages; that was rejected.

What is the result of this practice of “dropping” hundreds of pages of legislation with insufficient time to review it?  Sometimes legislators are forced to vote on bills they have not even read or digested.  When this happens, the people have lost their right to representation.

A supermajority can undermine the committee process through “aircraft carrier” bills.

The committee process is the legislature’s deep dive into subject matter areas.  The committee drafts the bill, holds a public hearing, and votes on whether to recommend the bill to the full legislature.  When a bill is voted out of committee, it is supposed to mean that the committee’s work is complete.

However, it is a frequent practice that a committee (controlled by the supermajority) is required to vote on a bill which contains nothing more than a title. The bill is like an “aircraft carrier” with no cargo on it.  Later, multiple smaller bills are added to it and the now full aircraft carrier is brought to the floor for a vote.  The final aircraft carrier has little relationship to the bill the committee passed, subverting the committee process.

The structure of our state government matters a lot, and our lopsided legislature undermines that structure. This could be true regardless of which party holds the supermajority.  A legislature with party balance has a healthy amount of tension to keep these problems in check. Bipartisan balance is key not only to lasting policy, but to the very structures of our democracy.