Connecticut Lawmakers 'Close to a Deal' on Two-Year State Budget, Speaker Matt Ritter Says

Connecticut lawmakers 'close to a deal' on two-year state budget, Speaker Matt Ritter says

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- With the clock racing toward the end of the state legislative session on June 4, the Democratic Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives said leaders are "substantially close to a deal" on the next two-year state budget. "Hopefully, we'll have a handshake agreement tomorrow," State Rep. Matt Ritter, the House speaker, said late Wednesday evening. Lamont, State Democrats battling over length of budget Th…

Democrats consider one-year budget as negotiations stall

Budget talks between Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Ned Lamont hit a hurdle with one week left in the legislative session. Lawmakers think they have a solution: adopt a one-year budget and continue talks on the second year in the fall. “A one-year budget, in my opinion, looks more and more likely,” Rep. Matt Ritter (D-House Speaker) told reporters Wednesday at the capitol. That would mark a dramatic change, as the state has been adopting two-year…

House Speaker Floats One-Year Budget Proposal; Lamont Says That Would Be 'A Mistake'

HARTFORD, CT (Updated 4:30 p.m.) — The state legislature is eyeing a fiscal tactic not seen in half a century to deal with state budget uncertainty. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said Wednesday morning that a one-year budget was “very much in play” and looking “more and more likely.”

CT legislators discuss ditching 2-year budget as priorities clash

With spending on pace to exceed Connecticut’s constitutional cap starting in July 2026, legislators may suspend their requirement to adopt a biennial budget and craft a plan covering only one year, House Speaker Matt Ritter announced Wednesday. Talk of abandoning the two-year cycle — a planning tool enacted in 1991 to temper public frustration over the newly created state income tax — drew criticism from Gov. Ned Lamont, who said legislators nee…

Standoff between Governor and Dems could mean budget lapse

For the first time in eight years, the state may experience a budgetary lapse, and for the first time in decades, legislators are considering the passage of a one-year budget, instead of the standard biennial one.“A one year budget, which has not happened in about 45 years, is very much in play,” said Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Ritter (D-Hartford), in a press conference held before today’s legislative session.Ritter said that Democratic Hous…