The opening day of the legislative session is one of my favorite days of the year. It is not because I am a nerd (I mean, I am a nerd, but that is beside the point) but because of what it represents as a ritual, as part of the democratic process. On opening day, the newly elected and returning representatives of the people of our state gather at the Capitol, take an oath to serve, and begin their work of trying to make Connecticut a better place for all.
Every year, as part of the pageantry of this effort, the Governor comes to the House of Representatives to deliver his “State of the State” speech. This gives him a chance to lay down his vision and priorities for the coming months—the values that will guide his legislative agenda. The General Assembly will pick up some or most of it during the session, as leadership there also has a say in what happens, but the Governor’s words carry significant weight, even more so in a budget year.
In his speech, Governor Lamont outlined two clear priorities for his administration: opportunity and affordability. Both are incredibly important, urgent issues for families in our state, and the Governor deserves credit for singling them out.
Regarding opportunity, although Connecticut has some of the best schools in the country and an increasingly robust job market, our state also has some of the widest and deepest racial and economic disparities in the nation. We can close those gaps by fully funding our education system, supporting apprenticeship programs and job training, strengthening our higher education system—from community colleges to UConn—and ensuring that everyone in our state has an opportunity to thrive.
At the same time, the Governor rightly pointed out that Connecticut is expensive. This fact predates the pandemic and the inflation that followed. Our state had high electric rates, expensive childcare, and increasingly unaffordable housing long before COVID made things worse. Part of the reason behind our high cost of living is our own success — Connecticut is a wonderful place to live, attracting many people who want to move here, which drives up housing prices.. If we truly want to make our state the best place to raise a family, however, we need to find policy solutions to address these high costs, from ensuring electric utilities prioritize their customers over shareholders to building all kinds of new housing to meet demand and grow our economy.
Governor Lamont laid out an agenda focused on two issues that would make a big difference for working families. He suggested some strong policy initiatives in several areas and some intriguing ideas in others to address the problems. However, there was one thing missing from his speech: specifics on a way to pay for them.
It is not for lack of money. For the past few years, strong economic growth has produced record revenues for our state coffers. Connecticut has run massive budget surpluses year after year, to the point where our budget reserve fund cannot take in any more money, and we are using the excess revenue to pay down pension debt at a record pace. This, in turn, will slowly reduce our interest payments, giving us even more fiscal room in the long term.
The problem, however, is that while our revenues and reserves soar, a slew of incredibly restrictive budget rules have forced the state to cut spending across the board. At the same time that the Governor speaks in support of debt-free access to community colleges, for instance, his administration is legally required to cut funding to these institutions. Many critical programs—from healthcare to social services, from education grants to environmental conservation—are facing similar cuts. The so-called budget guardrails, in place since 2017, have become so restrictive that we cannot fund basic services.
Making Connecticut a place of opportunity that is affordable for everyone requires resources. Our budget rules, however, mean that we cannot fund additional childcare slots, good colleges, or better transportation infrastructure unless state leaders take the steps required to fix them.
Governor Lamont will deliver a second speech in the House chamber in February to introduce his budget. There, he will have a chance to lay out his plans to deliver on his two main priorities. If he wants to live up to his promises and truly make Connecticut a welcoming, vibrant place to live where everyone can thrive, we will need to fix those budget rules to make that vision a reality.