Connecticut Gov. Lamont looks ahead on Opening Day to tax cuts and legislative cooperation

Kicking off his second term, Gov. Ned Lamont looked forward Wednesday during his annual State of the State Address to middle-class tax cuts and bipartisan cooperation.

With a solid election victory behind him, Lamont appeared relaxed during the address and an earlier speech at the state armory following his swearing-in as governor for another four years.

“Maybe I am less guarded, a little more blunt, and feeling more urgency to get to yes,’' Lamont told legislators in the crowded Hall of the House at the state Capitol.

Lamont seemed to have a new lease on life, noting that he turned 69 years old this week and was looking forward to the Inaugural Ball on Wednesday night.

“So, if you make it over to the inaugural bash, party like a liberated governor,’' Lamont told lawmakers. “Let your hair down. Let’s see a little ‘Footloose’ on the dance floor, maybe with somebody you don’t know but you often see around the Capitol. Four years ago, after the inaugural, there were about 10,000 tweets to remind me never to dance in public ever again. But it’s my party, and I’ll dance if I want to, and so should you.’’

After the celebrations are over, Lamont’s first order of business during the 2023 legislative session is to continue the fiscal guardrails that allowed the state to generate record-high surpluses in recent years.

“The era of Connecticut’s permanent fiscal crisis is over. It’s over,’' Lamont told lawmakers. “It’s over. It’s over as long as we maintain the same fiscal discipline that has served us so well over the past four years.’'

Lamont was referring to the now-infamous quote in November 2014 by Ben Barnes, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget director. Barnes has since said that he had been referring to a book title and regretted the quote.

After hinting for weeks about a cut in the state income tax, Lamont called Wednesday for “a meaningful middle-class tax cut.’'

While Lamont did not provide details, both Democrats and Republicans said details will be revealed during the annual budget speech in early February. No final decisions are expected on tax cuts and the massive, two-year state budget until the legislative session adjourns in early June.

Senate Republican leader Kevin Kelly, who has often criticized Lamont over the past four years, was optimistic after Lamont’s speech because the governor continued to embrace the landmark, bipartisan fiscal improvements that were made during the 2017 legislative session when the Senate was tied at 18-18 and Republicans had more power than now. Those included spending and bonding caps that led directly to high surpluses and a rainy day fund that is expected to grow to more than $6 billion later this year.

“He’s singing our tune,’' Kelly said of Lamont. “We like to hear that. We want to keep the caps the way they are. This is not broken. These are positive steps. We agree with that. Keep the caps. We agree with cutting the income tax. We agree with workforce development because that’s going to give families the opportunity to not just make a minimum wage but actually a wage that can afford a home, raise a family, contribute to your community. It’s going to make our great state better.’'

Chris DiPentima, the chief executive officer of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, said that businesses will back Lamont’s plans and themes.

“I thought it was a good foundation,’' DiPentima said after the speech. “We’ve got to make sure the revenue cap, the bonding cap, the spending cap, the volatility cap all stay in place. That’s given us the rainy day fund we have today.’'

Broad themes

Referring to his three-decade career in business, Lamont addressed the state’s financial titans.

“Come on, insurance companies. Don’t just pass along those hospital and pharma costs,’' Lamont said. “Let’s reward patients and companies who seek treatment where they get the best quality and the best value.’'

He added, “Come on, electric utilities. Don’t tell me you are just passing along those high natural gas prices to the ratepayer and at the same time ask the taxpayers to subsidize it more. Let’s together get control over our energy supply chain so Putin and the Saudis can no longer control our destiny and our wallets.’'

Concerning affordable housing, Lamont said, “The answer cannot be more subsidies.’'

Senate President Martin Looney of New Haven, a key player as the highest-ranking senator, noted the governor was “in celebratory mode.”

“He feels good. He won by a huge margin — the biggest margin by any governor since 2006,” Looney said. “I think he feels that he has a popular mandate because of the margin that he won by, and I think he was just establishing some broad themes.”

Looney added, “We’ll get a lot more detail in February [on] his policies, his proposals, the actual bills he’s going to be supporting, and the budget proposals he makes, will all be before us on that day.”

Pomp and circumstance

On a day of pomp and circumstance, state legislators welcomed each other back to the Capitol as the session opened. On a ceremonial day of speeches and backslapping, legislators did not tackle any major issues like taxes or gun control. But those items will be debated over the next five months.

The day included the renominations of Rep. Matt Ritter of Hartford as House Speaker and Sen. Martin Looney of New Haven as Senate President Pro Tem.

In a brief speech, Ritter cited quotes from previous House Speakers who has governed during difficult times.

“We have challenges, folks. They did, too,’' Ritter said, referring to his predecessors.

Ritter mentioned his long family history that includes his father, Tom, serving as House Speaker for three terms in the 1990s and his mother, Christine Keller, whose long legal career culminated with a nomination to the Connecticut Supreme Court. When his father was Speaker starting in 1993, the young Ritter made visits to the House chamber.

“I was not born here. Let me just clarify that,’' Ritter told fellow lawmakers. “I was born in a hospital.’'

Ritter announced to all 151 House members that he intends to maintain the time-management discipline that has been evident in the past two years.

“I do have expectations,’' he said. “We will start on time, every single day. So if you’re coming from Greenwich, leave early. ... We will start on time. OK?’'

In a major change from the past, Ritter has essentially ended a long tradition of debates routinely running past midnight. During his first two years as Speaker, those marathons became rare.

“We only had one debate that went past 1 in the morning,’' Ritter said. “When we stay here until 5 a.m., it interrupts three or four days of your life.’'

Now that COVID has largely subsided, Ritter called upon his colleagues to be physically present as much as possible.

“You’re not going to change the course of the history of this state from behind a computer screen,’' Ritter said. “It’s nice to be flexible, but let’s get back to where we were.’'

Buffalo Bills injury

During her opening day invocation, the House chaplain, Rev. Erica Thompson, directly addressed the tragic injury of professional football player Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who collapsed on the field Monday night during a nationally televised game. Hamlin was taken from the stadium in an ambulance after suffering cardiac arrest after making a tackle.

Thompson called upon the House members to reflect on the tragedy and think “deeply, deeply why you’re here, what you’re doing here.’’

Noting the feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6, Thompson called upon the legislators to view “any epiphany you have had or any in the days going forward, as a precious, divine gift.’'

Courant staff writer Alison Cross contributed to this story.

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com