HARTFORD – Democrat Matt Ritter filed papers two week ago to seek a unprecedented fourth term as House Speaker, telling CT Examiner, the chamber “runs really well,” and that he has the support of his peers.
Ritter, son of former House Speaker Tom Ritter, told CT Examiner Thursday from his offices at the Legislative Office Building that he made the decision with his family in the late summer before making it official late last month.
“I think with everything going on in Washington with a lot of uncertainty and the dysfunction, people are like ‘we like the way you preside.’ People of both parties are saying that,” Ritter said. “Maybe stability is not a bad thing given these tumultuous times.”
Ritter, 42, enjoys a 100-49 majority, with two vacancies, in the State House, and prides himself on his cordial relationship with many on the other side of the aisle, notably House Minority Leader Vince Candelora.
With the 2026 short legislative session, which runs from Feb. 4 to early May, about two months away, the House Speaker said there is plenty of work to do until then.
“We are thinking about an election bill [focusing on absentee voting for all and early voting] next year with [General Administration and Elections Committee] and then the meeting requests come in pretty hot and heavy now. … Lobbyists want to start bringing their clients in with different issues. Monday [Dec. 8] I have meetings all day from 9 to 5, even though the session is not until February.”
Ritter discussed a variety of issues with CT Examiner Thursday afternoon ranging from the recently signed housing bill to Gov. Ned Lamont’s bid for a third term as governor to the high cost of utility bills.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity
CT Examiner: What is your number one priority for the 2026 legislative session?
Matt Ritter: Making sure that Washington does not devastate Connecticut, and making sure that we’re prepared with what we went through with the roller coaster of the government shutdown. That was a really difficult time. We created this [$500 million] fund that gives us a buffer, potentially, from what Washington was doing. But without that fund, we really did not have a way to respond to, for example, to the SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits expiring or not. So I think we’re going to continue to see that roller coaster. We just got a letter from the White House saying if you don’t turn over data to some secretary, they’re going to stop SNAP. I mean it’s kind of never ending. I don’t care what side of the fence you sit on, this type of tumultuous back and forth creates a lot of uncertainty and a lot of budget pressure for us
CTEx: What’s your one biggest out-of-the-box proposal or initiative you’d like to see tackled in Hartford over the next few years? And, please be specific
Ritter: I’ll give you one that I thought about four or five years ago. I got booed, so I probably shouldn’t bring it up again. We should not have an estate tax – the death tax – in Connecticut. It brings in less than $70 million a year now, and it is the number one reason why some people go to Florida, or other states like that. I would raise revenue another way to make up for it, through capital gains. And so it wouldn’t be a revenue loss to the state. I’ve been in these meetings, there are people with such high net worth that if we could get them to stay in Connecticut year-round, what they would pay in other taxes, the philanthropy they do, what they spend, I think would give us more money at the end of the day. The estate tax is just diminishing. Every year it goes down, if you look at the numbers.
CTEx: A recent Pew Research Center study shows that 85% of U.S. residents believe politically motivated violence is increasing. Connecticut’s seen its fair share. From the arrest of a man in October for repeatedly threatening State Sen. Matt Lesser to the disturbing threats earlier this summer against State Rep. Corey Paris over a post regarding ICE. What specifically can you do as Speaker to address the issue and do you think it’s possible that the temperature can be taken down, or is it just something we have to learn to live with?
Ritter: The first thing you can do is run the chamber in a manner that makes everybody feel heard and respected. We’re going to have disagreements, but we treat the minority party with the same respect as we’d expect to be treated with. You know social media is another thing. Everybody has to use their platform however they want. I try to use social media to inform people of the things that we’re doing, but I don’t use it to tear other people down. And Washington’s a little different, I’ll acknowledge, but I can’t imagine going on Twitter to blast representative [House Minority Leader Vince] Candelora. If I get into a disagreement with Vinnie, I’ll tell him. So I don’t know that we’ll ever fully be able to bring back the temperature in this environment, because of social media. But I do think that in Connecticut, at least, in our chamber, we treat people with respect. We work together, but it’s not perfect. Every week, we have a member who gets some alarming, threatening email – that’s probably every week.
CTEx: State Republicans talk about removing the controversial ‘public benefits’ charge from taxpayers’ utility bills as a way to soften the costs everyone pays in their bills. What is your answer to lessening the monthly cost of utility bills to residents?
Ritter: Some of the public benefit charges are actually long term goals to ultimately provide lower costs by getting renewable sources and other things like that. So you know, as the governor says, you might just be shifting it to the General Fund, as opposed to the revenue that has raised your electric rate. I’m not convinced that that’s the right answer. But we did last year in a bipartisan bill pass pretty meaningful legislation that does reduce [costs]. It’s bigger than Connecticut — it’s a multi-state, regional networks — and I agree wholeheartedly with the governor on this, the way you’re going to get through it is not with one silver bullet. It’s not one thing that’s going to solve it. It’s renewables. It might be looking at nuclear a little longer. It’s going to be renegotiating maybe some of these deals that you have with other states, and then the federal government plays a role in all this as well. But the most important thing too in Connecticut is that we don’t, in a rush to save 1% on somebody’s bill, put ourselves in a position where 25 years from now, we didn’t make the necessary investments like other states did. And so that’s the that’s the balance you have to strike.
CTEx: You have overseen many important pieces of legislation in your years as Speaker. What is the one piece of past legislation you’re most proud of? And, why.
Ritter: I would probably say the children’s mental health bill from 2022. That was a really big piece of legislation. I would say I still get the most notes about that and I probably hear the most about that if I go speak at something because that’s often mentioned. That was a really proud moment. It was bipartisan. There are other things I’m very proud of, but that might stick out the most.
CTEx: Last month, the governor signed the all-encompassing housing bill into law. The bill attempts to address the affordable housing crisis and requires municipalities to create housing growth plans, among other initiatives. What is the biggest upside of the legislation and what are the biggest downsides to it?
Ritter: The biggest upside is that we have CCM [Connecticut Conference of Municipalities] and COST [Council of Small Towns] saying, ‘Okay, we felt listened to’ and we’re going to work with our mayors and first selectmen and women to work on plans that work for them. And the other big upside is we’re incentivizing towns to do it. We’re offering funds to do it. It’s out there. We’re dangling the carrot. We hope it works. I think the downside is we haven’t been able to get there – we’ve tried hard – in a bipartisan way. Everybody agrees affordability is so important … I’m surprised we can’t get there. I understand that. You know, some local folks didn’t love this provision or that provision, but every community needs housing for seniors, for young people. We can’t have people in America buying their first home at 40 — that’s not going to work. People should have the ability to find housing when they get their first job and to start building equity.
CTEx: Gov. Lamont is seeking his third four-year term. He faces a primary challenge from the left in State Rep. Josh Elliott and challenges from the right from State Sen. Ryan Fazio and former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart. What is your biggest pitch to voters on why the governor deserves another term?
Ritter: Stability. And Josh is a friend. I respect Ryan, and Erin, I have played in her golf tournament. But the governor has brought a tremendous amount of stability to a state that was not stable for a long time. There’s a lot of credit that goes around, right? No governor does it alone, and the legislature has been good partners, of course. But, he’s got a temperament, in a way, about him, that is even handed. And so I laugh, because I’ve had people tell me before he is so liberal that I can’t believe he signed these bills. And then I have people telling me he’s not, he’s the most moderate. You know, that means he’s probably getting it right. The temperature is probably just right. He has a unique ability to communicate with the public. I think about what he did during COVID and how well he did there. I think he’s running with a lot of broad based support. I would just say that if you’re looking at the overall picture, I think that the governor will win, because I think people respect the stability that he’s brought to the state. Right now, when you look at Washington and you look at the chaos, I think people like waking up in Connecticut knowing that they’re not going to see that kind of chaos.
CTEx: As you know, despite the reopening of the federal government, about 36,000 Connecticut residents are still at risk of losing access to SNAP benefits due to the new eligibility requirements that are in the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that was promoted by President Donald Trump. Is there anything legislators in the state can do to address that concern?
Ritter: The $500 million fund that we created is something that we could look at to potentially fund some of it. Again, we are not going to be able to fund all of the reductions from the federal government but SNAP is probably one of the more sympathetic [items] on a bipartisan basis to fund. People are not getting wealthy off SNAP. It is providing basic rations of food on a weekly basis so that people can eat and feed their families.
CTEx: The governor and Attorney General William Tong – specifically – have been the state leaders most vocal in their disapproval and disdain for much of the laws, initiatives and proposals coming out of the Trump administration. Other than what has happened with the SNAP benefits, what other policy from the administration is the most worrisome to you, and how will it affect residents in this state?
Ritter: I mean the list goes on and on. To rank one is going to be hard. I’ll give you one that many people don’t [talk about]. I’ll go back to vaccines. I am someone who worked very hard on that issue in Connecticut, to see the changes to the health boards and the advisory boards. Under the radar, there’s so much going on. The damage being done [by the administration] to science, or the grants that have been defunded from universities for scientific research. One of the things that goes under the radar is how far back we’ve moved [forward with] scientific research and advancement in our top universities. Sowing this distrust for vaccines – we are going to see outbreaks of measles which the country, no country in the world, has to go through anymore.