What’s When: Connecticut State House
If you’re new to state politics, calendars can be confusing. Each state has its own quirks and deadlines, and you may find yourself closely following the slow-moving proceedings in one legislature while another is in the middle of a flurry of votes. Especially if you’re a new staffer whose experience in politics has been campaigning and/or federal government, it can take time to understand when everything happens.
This is the second installment of a series that looks at the timetables of legislative bodies and what you need to know to stay on top of events.
Here, we’ll be looking at the Connecticut State House. To see our first installment on the Massachusetts State House, click here.
Year 1 are odd numbers (2021, 2023, etc) and Year 2 are even numbers (2022, 2024, and so on).
Two Year Cycles
The state legislature in Connecticut is bicameral, composed of a 36-member State Senate and a 151-member State House of Representatives. Members of both chambers serve two year terms and there are currently no term limits. The legislature is considered to be part-time and professionally-run; despite this, one in four legislators do not hold a full-time job in addition to their part-time duties in Hartford.
Starting Year One
Article III of Connecticut’s Constitution is quite explicit about when session must start and end. In odd-numbered years, the first regular session is held on the Wednesday following the first Monday of January, when assembly members hit the ground running. In 2024, that will be January 4.
According to the Constitution, that first day of regular session is technically the only required convening of the General Assembly -- other sessions are to be held “at such other times as the general assembly shall judge necessary.” During the first half of the session, both the House and Senate tend to meet on Wednesdays only, though as the workload increases throughout the term, so does the frequency of convening. By the end of the session, both houses are typically meeting each day to ensure that the work gets done.
There are 27 committees in the legislature on everything from Aging to the Environment to Transportation. Committees are divided into “A” committees and “B” committees.
“A” committees are typically more labor intensive, on topics such as Appropriations and Education. As such, “A” committees convene on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while “B” committees, which are a bit lighter in workload, convene on Tuesday and Thursday.
Bill Deadlines
There are a number of bill deadlines, which vary by committee, that members and staffers must be aware of.
The first deadline, for proposing bills, occurs towards the end of January.
The first committee bill deadline comes around in mid-February - this is only for bills that do not require public hearings.
The raised bill deadline also occurs in Mid-February - raised bills refer to fully drafted bills introduced by a committee that are not based on a proposed bill.
The final committee bill deadlines are rather spread out. These deadlines are for bills that require public hearings, and each committee has a different timeline and procedure for holding hearings. Therefore, the earliest committee bill deadline for bills with hearings occurs in late February while the last deadline doesn’t come around until April.
The Budget Sprint
The Connecticut State budget is biennial, meaning it is voted on every two years and determines spending for two years at a time. In odd-numbered years, the session is significantly longer to accommodate for the extra time it takes to negotiate the budget which, as one can imagine, can get contentious.
The budget is a drawn out process in Connecticut. In February of odd-numbered years, the Governor presents his or her budget to the General Assembly; agencies working on behalf of the Governor have often been working on the budget since the fiscal year begins on July 1. Once the budget is presented, responsibility is handed off to the General Assembly, where committees and subcommittees take charge of what is actually going to be signed into law.
In April, the Appropriations Committee passes the budget out of committee and the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee passes a revenue package out of committee.
Bipartisan negotiations commence as General Assembly leadership, the Governor’s Office, and the Office of Policy and Management try to agree on a finalized budget. This makes April and May crunch time in Hartford as the final budget must be signed into law by the Governor before June 30. Given that the fiscal year starts on July 1, this June 30 deadline is absolutely final.
End of Year One, Year Two
The Constitution is pretty specific about when session must end, too. Regular session in odd-numbered years shall adjourn “not later than the first Wednesday after the first Monday in June,” though special sessions can be called in June, particularly related to gubernatorial vetoes. Then, legislators are off for the summer, free to do their other jobs, spend time with their families, or even to get a headstart on campaigning.
Year two is similar to year one, with a few exceptions. Because the budget process is biennial, during even-numbered years the budget is simply reported on and adjusted. This makes the second year of governing a lot easier, and the session is shorter as a result -- it runs from February to May instead of January to June. The deadlines are shifted up (the final committee bill deadlines are all in March) and proposed bills and resolutions this year are restricted to being fiscal in nature. This means that more substantive governing gets done during year one, when bills can be on any topic.
During year two, assembly members are also busy campaigning. The filing deadline to run for a seat occurs in June, primary elections are in August, and the general election in November alongside Congressional races.
Both Representatives and Senators must run for their seat every two years, so the campaign season can be grueling.
Once the new General Assembly is elected in November, the process starts all over again in January -- where the budget is once again top priority.
How Legislata Can Help
Legislata is a productivity software launching this month. Our team has experienced firsthand the challenges of working in the State House, and we want to help those at the frontline of government serve their constituents in ways that make everyone’s lives easier. Get in touch for information on how Legislata can work for your office.