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Happy New Year!
The 2023 legislative session will begin later today. Governor Ned Lamont will be inaugurated into his second term at noon and will deliver his state-of-the-state address at approximately 1pm during a joint session of the General Assembly in the House Chamber. CT News Junkie has the breakdown of the ceremonies, including a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Connecticut’s own Grammy Award-winner Michael Bolton.
Hitting the Ground Running
With the legislative session kicking off this week, we wanted to share our top education agenda items at the Capitol. You can see our affiliate, ERN CT’s, 2023 policy priorities below. They are bucketed into five broad policy categories:
Resource Equity;
Teacher Quality and Preparation;
Accountability;
Higher Ed Quality and Affordability; and
Public School Choice
Lots to get done for students before the session ends on June 7th.
We’re excited to set it in motion!
What’s New at the Capitol in 2023?
Ken Dixon's Sunday article goes over the many new faces in the Governor’s administration, some of which include:
Jonathan Dach, Chief of Staff
Adam Joseph, Communications Director
Natalie Braswell, General Counsel
Alexandra Daum, Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development
Erick Russell, State Treasurer
Sean Scanlon, State Comptroller
Stephanie Thomas, Secretary of the State
The legislature also looks quite different in 2023. Although Democrats retained large majorities (24-12 in the Senate and 96-53 in the House), there are dozens of new members in the General Assembly. The legislature will also largely revert back to in-person meetings, following three pandemic years of conducting Capitol business virtually. Together, they will be tasked with approving a new biennial budget, with keen awareness that, as CT Insider observes, the state is projected to have a $2.8B surplus. This means they’ll need to sift through and balance many competing ideas and proposals. It’s a heavy lift, but a great position for the state to be in.
More to come next week!