Trump's shadow, energy costs and other takeaways from the first day of CT legislative session

Gov. Ned Lamont delivered his annual State of the State speech Wednesday, initiating a legislative session that will last until June.

Here are some takeaways from Lamont's address and the rest of a busy day at Connecticut's Capitol.

The Trump administration is hanging over the session

Repeatedly throughout his speech, Lamont, a Democrat, mentioned areas where President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration could affect Connecticut's plans.

He noted that Trump could cut health care subsidies, which would "hurt working families and small businesses hard." He warned that "the feds may try to weaken the right to organize" and told the legislature not to "let it happen here."

And he asked how Connecticut can "better protect our civil liberties, including reproductive rights, in the face of threats from Washington," drawing loud applause from Democratic lawmakers.

After the speech, Democratic lawmakers said they fear cuts to Medicaid and other key programs at the federal level, which could complicate the state budget this spring.

"Department of Labor, 90% of their budget is federal funding. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection gets a lot of federal grants," said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford. "What happens if those go away?"

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney called Trump's inauguration "the big shoe that we're waiting to drop."

Energy costs are on the governor's mind

Lamont devoted a large chunk of his speech to energy costs, an increasing subject of concern for lawmakers following spikes in electric rates last summer.

"These high prices impact all of us — working families, seniors on a fixed income, small businesses and large manufacturers," the governor said. "Everyone was mad as hell looking at their bills following the hottest July in recorded history, and I can see why."

To address the issue, Lamont proposed increasing Connecticut's energy supply through renewable sources such as wind and nuclear power, as well as through natural gas, which he described as essential to the state "for the foreseeable future." 

Though the remark about natural gas won't endear Lamont to Connecticut's environmentalists, the governor soon pivoted to the importance of energy efficiency.

"Of course, the cheapest and most timely solution to bring down demand is energy efficiency," he said. "The zero-pollution option is the electricity we do not use."

Less budget talk than you might expect

Given that the legislature's chief goal this session is crafting a new state budget, there wasn't too much budget talk in Lamont's speech. The governor spoke broadly about fiscal responsibility and paying down debts but offered few hints about the budget he'll propose next month.

Top Republicans said they were disappointed Lamont didn't explicitly defend the legislature's fiscal guardrails, a source of heated debate ahead of the session. Lamont, a Democrat, has generally joined Republicans in pushing back against an effort to loosen the guardrails to allow for more spending.

"There was no mention of fiscal guardrails. Is he punting on those already?" said House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford. "I would have thought that should have been the first and foremost part of his speech."

Added Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield: "The fact that he didn't even mention guardrails would indicate to me that he's moving back, potentially, from his position that he's been taking for for a year consistently."

Looney, however, said he wasn't surprised by the lack of fiscal talk, which he expects will come when the governor presents his budget Feb. 5.

"That's where he'll give us more detail and tell us with more particulars what he intends to do," Looney said.

Child care sounds like a priority

Asked his reaction to Lamont's speech, Looney immediately brought up early childhood initiatives, which are likely to be a major subject of discussion this session.

"I'm pleased that he paid particular note to the need for a major initiative in terms of early childhood," Looney said. "That's going to be critical for us to do, because we have so many kids who are unprepared for kindergarten when they get there, and sometimes they're behind then and never catch up."

Lamont, in his speech, called for a "down payment on affordable, accessible early childhood care for all of our families." 

"Let's get that done for our kids," he said.

Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, has said if the legislature ultimately decides to adjust its fiscal guardrails, child care programs would likely be a beneficiary. He reiterated that position Wednesday, arguing that making care more affordable would allow parents to return to work and "grow our economy."

Special education will be a focus, too

Special education will be a top issue to watch throughout the legislative session, as lawmakers weigh whether to allocate additional money to districts to cover costs of educating students with disabilities. 

Sure enough, when legislative leaders introduced their first proposed legislation Wednesday, both the House and Senate made special education their top priority bills, suggesting urgency in both chambers.

"If you ask a mayor or first selectman or woman, the single biggest driver of their budget is Board of Ed, and if you ask the Board of Ed, the single biggest driver of their budget is special education," Ritter said, adding that schools "need more money."

Looney, meanwhile, described special education as "a growing cost for both municipalities and the state" and urged reform to how funding is dispersed.

Lamont did not specifically mention special education in his address, though he did pledge to continue increasing funding for the state's Education Cost Sharing program, which allocates state money to local districts based on need.