Welcome to The Hartford Portfolio, Yankee Institute’s update on what’s happening at the State Capitol during the legislative session.
Here’s some of what we saw in Hartford this week:
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The General Assembly’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee scheduled hearings on a mixed bag of tax proposals. They include a new tax on capital gains and a statewide property tax, either of which would test Governor Lamont’s stated opposition to broad-based tax increases. Lawmakers will also hear testimony on a proposed income-tax credit that would encourage donations to fund K-12 scholarships for needy families.
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Acting Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo on Wednesday appeared before a General Assembly committee ahead of her expected confirmation vote. Senator Heather Somers quizzed Bartolomeo about the Labor Department’s failure to enforce a state law designed to protect public-sector union members from having their dues stolen or misused. Bartolomeo appeared to confuse the rules with federal reporting requirements on private-sector unions, characterizing the neglected state law as “redundancy.” Her agency, meanwhile, filed a proposal to eliminate the state’s disclosure rules altogether.
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Melissa McCaw, Governor Lamont’s budget director, announced she was leaving for a local government post. McCaw’s agency, the Office of Policy & Management, came under scrutiny as part of the evolving criminal investigation into her former deputy, Konstantinos Diamantis. With the General Assembly preparing to counter the governor’s proposed FY23 budget adjustments, it’s a less-than-ideal time for Lamont to lose such a key aide.
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Republican lawmakers on Thursday called for a select committee to investigate some of the allegations that have surfaced in the Diamantis probe, which now stretch from the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney to demolition and construction projects to the State Pier.
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The Public Health Committee heard 11 hours of testimony on Wednesday from about 120 supporters and opponents of “aid-in-dying” legislation that would let physicians prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill residents. Similar legislation has been proposed more than a dozen times in recent years, and a version last year passed out of committee for the first time but did not get a vote in either chamber.
