by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — A bill creating a $500 million reserve fund against potential federal cuts to social programs cleared the Senate Thursday afternoon, albeit on a much more partisan and contentious vote than had been the case in the state House the day before.
The House passed the bill, HB 8003, by a 126-20 vote with 28 Republicans, including Minority Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford, voting yes.
The Senate voted 27-8 with three Republicans, Tony Hwang of Fairfield, Heather Somers of Groton and Paul Cicarella of North Haven voting with the Democrats.
Prior to the special session, Democratic Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk described the bill as a bulwark against the “chaos and confusion and cruelty” at the federal level that had resulted in food programs like SNAP and WIC, and other programs that aided low-income Americans not being funded.
“We’ve had a shutdown that has now been the longest shutdown in our nation’s history, and it is important for us to take charge to make sure that we are taking care of our people,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, talks about the Senate special session on Nov. 13, 2025 at the Capitol in Hartford, CT. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said he had supported the bill until Wednesday, when the shutdown ended with a continuing resolution to fund the federal government.
But with the shutdown over, Harding said, the creation of a $500 million reserve amounted to a slush fund for Democrats’ pet projects.
“How can you say this is not politically charged, or simply a gaslighting scheme by the Democratic Party in our state to take $500 million from the taxpayer once again, and create a slush fund for the governor and other Democratic leaders to spend it how they see fit,” he said. “If … the Democrats really wanted to help people in this state, they’d turn that $500 million back to the people.”
When asked about comments by Candelora, who helped shape the reserve and the mechanism for distributing it, that it was not a slush fund, Harding said the two had a difference of opinion.
“I do believe this is a slush fund,” he said. “This came out as, this was going to offset federal cuts because of the shutdown. … The shutdown is now over, and half a billion dollars is still going into the hands of Gov. Lamont to operate as he sees fit.”
Harding agreed there could be more cuts coming from HR 1, the fiscal reconciliation bill passed July 4, that the reserve could be used to offset. But he said most of those cuts were coming in the next fiscal year.
Duff said HR 1 contained deep cuts to government programs that the state needed to prepare for.
“We know that there are deep cuts,” he said. “We know that there is cruelty when it comes to taking food away from people. There’s cruelty when it comes to taking away health care for people. There’s cruelty when it comes to taking away student loans from people who want to get a better education and get better jobs. There’s cruelty when it comes to taking away heating assistance from the poor.”
Before the final vote, Republicans had proposed an amendment that would have used the fund for tax refunds. That plan failed on a 24-11 party-line vote.
The final vote came shortly after 3 p.m., following nearly three hours of debate. The Senate still has three more bills on its special session agenda, including approval of a plan for UConn Health Center to take over Waterbury Hospital, a 53-part housing bill that the House debated for seven hours before passing along mostly party lines, and a youth behavioral health bill that also contains provisions regarding prohibiting federal agents from taking people into custody in courthouses and while masked and limiting the sharing of information between state and federal agencies.
Those measures are expected to be debated well into the night.