HARTFORD – Today, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) released the committee assignments for Democratic Senators for the 2025-2026 General Assembly term.
The full list can be found here and is listed below.
Senator Norm Needleman — Senate chair of the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee and first selectman of the Town of Essex — urged his fellow Connecticut municipal leaders on Friday to resist fear mongering tactics recently employed by regulated utility companies.
The statement follows a letter received by many municipal leaders, including Senator Needleman, from Eversource executives on Dec. 30, 2024. The letter, framed as an “update,” suggested that recent rate decisions by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) would impede the company’s ability to serve municipalities and deter private utility companies from making capital expenditures meant to improve the grid.
“These monopolies have shifted their strategy,” Senator Needleman said. “Instead of engaging solely in the regulatory process, they’re now airing their objections in a modern news media that thrives on controversy and taking to platforms such as a letter to local officials to start a manufactured pressure campaign.”
Despite its claims to the contrary, Eversource’s gas and electric divisions continue to enjoy rate recovery for past and current investments. Since 2018, Eversource’s electric division has been permitted to recover $300 million per year in new capital expenditures in addition to the recovery built into its base distribution rates.
In fact, neither division of Eversource has applied for a distribution rate case decision from PURA since 2018, meaning the company has threatened to reduce its budget and quality of service while still collecting the same revenues in rates.
“Anyone familiar with traditional utility ratemaking will confirm what your pocketbooks are already telling you: these utilities have enjoyed extraordinary rate relief for decades,” Senator Needleman said. “So much so that the legislature acted on a bipartisan basis through Public Act 23-102 to sunset Eversource’s $300 million slush fund effective with the date of its next rate case decision.”
Senator Needleman criticized the letter from Eversource executives as an attempt to undermine Connecticut’s efforts to force transparency and accountability on private corporations with monopolies and convince municipal leaders to support future rate increases in the name of “investments.”
However, utility companies are unlikely to scale back infrastructure investments, as these expenditures are recouped with substantial returns. Currently, the authorized return on equity stands at 9.25% for Eversource electric and 9.10% for United Illuminating, providing significant financial incentives for such projects.
Senator Needleman encouraged municipal leaders to resist propaganda circulated by the utility companies with lobbyists and full-time employees dedicated to managing relationships with town leaders.
“When you get scary sounding letters like the one earlier this week, ask yourself questions about the underlying motive and do a gut check,” Senator Needleman said. “Despite their recent insinuations that the walls are caving in financially, Connecticut utilities are still seeing record earnings, an 82% increase in the dividend payouts to shareholders over the last 10 years and record salaries for top CEOs.”
Contact: Hugh McQuaid | Hugh.McQuaid@cga.ct.gov
A Republican mayor is now touting the public safety aspects of a “red light camera” bill that was approved overwhelmingly by legislative Democrats while opposed by most all Republicans – including those representing the mayor’s own hometown.
Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano — who is also Bristol’s longtime Republican Town Committee Chairman — recently told The Hartford Courant that he looks forward to beginning the process of installing red light cameras in Bristol after receiving numerous complaints from the public about Bristol drivers making local streets unsafe.
The Red Light Camera bill, which allows municipalities to install automated speed cameras around town and mail tickets to offenders, was passed last year as part of the 2023 Vision Zero Council pedestrian safety law which seeks to improve motorist, pedestrian and bicyclist safety in Connecticut.
CTNewsJunkie reports that speed cameras are also under consideration in big cities like New Haven and Stamford and even in tiny Washington, Connecticut (population 3,685).
But despite Caggiano’s praise for the new law, two-thirds of Republican state senators voted against the bill, including state Sen. Henri Martin, R-Bristol. In the House, 70% of Republicans voted “No”, including Bristol Reps. Cara Pavalock-D’Amato and Joe Hoxha. The only legislator representing Bristol to vote “Yes” on the speed cameras bill was Democratic Rep. Mary Fortier.
Meanwhile, 91% of Democrats voted to pass the bill, which was then signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont on June 27.
According to the Connecticut Crash Data Repository at the University of Connecticut, there have been 313 traffic deaths in Connecticut – a combination of drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists – as of December 13, with another dozen or so are expected by the end of 2024. There were a total of 308 traffic deaths in Connecticut in 2023, 367 in 2022, and 302 in 2021.
At the January 30, 2023 public hearing on the bill, dozens of people spoke in favor of it, including law enforcement and elderly advocates.
“We are proud to support the Vision Zero Council in their mission to eliminate transportation- related deaths,” said Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Cain of the Connecticut State Police. “The Connecticut State Police have been part of the Vision Zero Council since its creation and have worked with our partner agencies to improve transportation safety.”
“Common sense laws with processes in place to ensure a just and fair system is what we see proposed, and we believe will help further protect the citizens in the State of Connecticut,” said Waterbury Police Chief Fernando C. Spagnolo, Jr.
“AARP Connecticut is thankful for the work that the Vision Zero Council put into creating its recommendations, and we hope that you will join us in supporting HB 5917,” said Anna Doroghazi, Associate State Director for Advocacy and Outreach of AARP Connecticut.
On the floor of the Senate, on the day Democrats gave final passage to the bill before sending it on to Lamont for his signature, Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Branford, said, “The goal is to ensure that there are no fatalities related to traffic related incidents. And the thought is that these fatalities due to traffic crashes are often preventable. In fact, the belief is that they are all preventable. Whether you’re on a bicycle or you’re a pedestrian, or you’re driving in a car, we want to do all that we can to ensure that you are on those roadways in a safe manner.”
For more information on how to be a safer driver in Connecticut, please visit the Highway Safety Office.
Today, State Senator Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) issued a statement on the tragic passing of former State Senator Mary Daugherty Abrams.
“Mary was one of the finest people I have ever known,” said Sen. Lesser. “She was a ball of sunshine and a real force for good. She was tough, but joyful – a happy warrior. We worked closely representing Middletown together, on health care reform and on a great many issues. She was a friend and close ally. The Senate was at its very best with her around, and I will miss her greatly. My deepest condolences to her husband Jim, her children and grandchildren, and all who knew and loved her.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Garnet McLaughlin | garnet.mclaughlin@cga.ct.gov | 860-304-2319
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HARTFORD – Today Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Duff (D-Norwalk) released the following statement on the passing of former Senator Mary Daugherty Abrams. “It is with the greatest sadness that we share the news of the passing of our beloved friend and former Senate colleague, Mary Daugherty Abrams. Mary was a tireless advocate, a dedicated public servant, and a compassionate leader whose work profoundly touched the lives of so many across Connecticut. She was wise, kind, generous, and principled, with a lively intelligence and ready wit, always willing to take on the challenge at hand without drama or posturing. Her passion for education, health care, and the well-being of our communities defined her time in the State Senate. Mary approached every issue with integrity, a strong moral compass, and an unwavering commitment to the people she served. Beyond her legislative accomplishments, Mary’s decades as an educator left a lasting impression on so many. She was a loving and dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother. On behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus, we extend our deepest condolences to her husband, Jim, two children, Nick and Madeline, four grandchildren, friends, and all who are mourning this profoundly painful loss. We cherished our friend Mary and will always miss her.” |
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Contact: Kevin Coughlin | 203-710-0193 | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov |
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Connecticut will join 15 other states in a coalition to reduce and prevent firearm violence by coordinating efforts to uphold enforcement of state laws, state Attorney General William Tong announced last month.
The coalition is the first of its kind. It seeks to reduce the prevalence of gun violence and the lasting impact it has on those affected by working together to ensure civil liability and consumer protection laws are being followed and enforced, according to Tong’s office.
Under the first action taken by the coalition, the Attorneys General of Minnesota and New Jersey filed lawsuits in state courts against gun manufacturer Glock for violations of their state laws related to the ease with which the company’s handguns can be modified to fire automatically.
In a statement, the states said they were joining together to counter firearm industry business practices that lead to illegal sales, trafficking of firearms across state lines and additional outcomes that can threaten American lives.
Their concerns result from the results of commissioned studies. According to a report by the Joyce Foundation, firearm violence has killed more than 700,000 Americans from 2003 to 2022, including more than 420,000 suicides and 270,000 homicides.
The foundation found that gun violence can cause up to $500 billion in economic losses each year. While 13 states have introduced offices of gun violence prevention since 2019, many are small and have limits to their operations. The coalition of Attorneys General is meant to strengthen efforts to reduce gun violence by combining state-level resources on a wider scale.
Many states have found success individually filing lawsuits against firearms manufacturers operating illegally, meaning these efforts will be bolstered by collaboration.
“We are launching a groundbreaking multistate campaign to step up our enforcement and harness the power of our civil statutes to hold bad actors in the firearms industry accountable for dangerous misconduct,” Tong said. “I’m committed to using every ounce of my authority to keep Connecticut families safe.”
Such efforts could help reduce interstate transfers of firearms, as one example. The Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health reported that, from 2010 to 2019, the United States saw more than 500,000 firearms used in crimes traced to interstate purchase, transportation and trafficking, adding that inflow of guns from states with fewer restrictions contribute to gun violence in states with supply reduction strategies. States with such laws in place could step up enforcement if trafficked or transported firearms are discovered.
Under the coalition, Tong will join the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
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